The Navajo People

The Navajo People have descended from a rich and intriguing history to become an important modern American sub-culture. The purpose of this paper is not to comment on the brutal and horrific exploit forced upon these people during the migration of White people into their desert homeland. Rather, it intends to evidence a strong spirited people who did not surrender their beautiful culture in the face of cruel oppression. The pages that follow will examine the Navajo Tribe as it is today. The discussion will include a review of Navajo land, government, spirituality, people, language and education.

Unlike many Native American Tribes, the Navajo People have been fortunate enough to maintain the land of their ancestral heritage. The present day Navajo Nation is over 27,000 square miles, which makes it larger than ten of the fifty states in the U.S. Sites such as Canyon De Chelly, where ancient ruins can be found, and Window Rock have been considered sacred for many generations for their place in Navajo mythology. These sites continue to enjoy the protection and adoration of the Navajo people today.

The Navajo Nation's modern government is an exemplary demonstration of the exercise of sovereignty, yet this has not always been the case. Before 1892, the Navajo people prospered under a system of traditional justice that drew upon common law and group decision making. However, the Bureau of Indian Affairs forced the installation of an American Court System. Western-Style justice was completely adopted by 1959. Traditional systems of dispute resolution fell to the wayside as the people experienced nearly complete disenfranchisement with their government system. Fortunately, Navajo leaders recognized this problem and moved to make changes in the early 1980s. The Navajo Tribal Council passed the Judicial Reform Act in 1985. This act saw the incorporation of traditional Navajo peacemaking methods into the legal system. In fact, the Navajo Peacemaking Division was created to implement community-based mechanisms based on the Navajo concept of K'e, which implies responsibility, respect and harmony as cornerstones of interpersonal relationships between people. The current Navajo legal practice incorporates engagement with community leaders to reach a consensus regarding disputes between citizens. Today, Navajo law is practiced in the Navajo Supreme Court, seven district courts, five family courts. Lawyers practicing on the Navajo Nation must have formal training in Navajo law practices.

A study by the Harvard Project holds that Native American Nations cannot achieve economic sovereignty until legal sovereignty is established. The Navajo Nation is a prime example of this. Control over their legal system has allowed the Navajo people to exert authority over laws effecting commerce on the reservation. As a result, a township such as that of Kayenta, Arizona has levied a retail tax to capture gains from tourism in their area allowing the new town to quickly grow into one of the wealthiest communities on the reservation.

Yet, regardless of pressing economic or legal concerns, the Navajo Tribe is unified by a unique sense of spirituality. The Navajo's spirituality revolves around ritual and myth. The people use nahaga' (ritual) for blessing, curing and purification. The tribe has sixty known major rites and numerous minor ones. Blessings are used to make things and people immune from tragedy or illnesses. Land, livestock, crops, homes, property and people are often blessed during ritual. Cures are used to treat mental, physical and environmental disorders. Purification is applied to things, places and people after they have come into contact with potentially dangerous things. Ceremony is also used as a sacred space for the people to speak to the divine forces who will help the people see ways to bless sickness of all kinds. What's more ceremony is also used to teach the Navajo about their culture and history.

Myth and sacred stories are used by Navajo to teach language, ethical norms and spirituality. Navajo myth states that the tribe has descended from Diyin Dine'e' (Gods or Holy People), who sang the world into being. Hence, the Navajo contribute a great deal of power to song. The Diyin Dine'e' are said to first have walked on land in the Canyon de Chelly, making this one reason for the holiness of this site. The canyon is also located between four sacred mountains giving it an abundance of life force. The Navajo believe that the Creator of the Universe lives here, between the four sacred mountains. It is this creator that is said to have given to the people the Earth and the Sky. The Diyin Dine'e' then came and taught the people how to care for Mother Earth. The four mountains represent the four directions which have a great deal of significance in Navajo myth. East represents thought, as this is the direction of beginning where the sun rises, hence it is important to think before one acts. South is the direction for planning for action. West is the action of life, the things that one is doing. North is the evaluation position. The Navajo believe that each day a person has the opportunity to cycle though these directions.

The myth of the creation of man and woman as told by Navajo people in the late 1800s serves as an example of the powerful mythology of these people. This legend tells of four Gods who came to visit people, White Body, Blue Body, Yellow Body and Black Body. These Gods tried to communicate with the people using signs, but soon realized that the people did not understand their messages. Hence, Black Body spoke after four days. He told the people that the Gods wanted to create people who resembled the Gods. He reminded the people that they were like animals and smelled bad. Black Body asked the people to be clean for the God's return in 12 days.

When they returned, the Gods brought 2 sacred buckskins and 2 ears of corn, one white and one yellow. They placed on buckskin on the ground, then the ears of corn and then the other skin. They also placed a white eagle feather under the white corn and a yellow eagle feather under the yellow corn. The Gods walked around the ceremonial skins. They called great winds from the East and West. Then eight Mirage people came and walked around the corn. When the ceremony was over, the corn had transformed into a man and a woman. The Navajo people say that the wind gave the people life. Hence, when the wind stops blowing we will die.

The first man and woman lived as husband and wife. They produced 5 pairs of twins who all married one-another, except the first pair who were hermaphrodites. Eventually, the children went to live with the Mirage people. They remarried these people. The women produced babies every four days. These babies grew up in four days. Hence, the world was populated.

The eagle is a common theme in Navajo Legend and feathers from these magnificent birds are used in nearly every Navajo Ceremony. Interestingly, the Navajo are in the midst of a legal debate with their close neighbors, the Hopi, regarding the right to gather Eagle feathers for spiritual use. There is concern by some that they Eagles are endangered.

The ambiguity between these tribes is much older than the debate about gathering feathers. This is illustrated in the story of the adoption of corn. This legend says that the Kisani built their camp close to the Navajo after emerging from the Fourth Word. These people had brought with them an ear of corn and a young band of Navajo people demanded this ear. The Kisani broke the ear in half and allowed the Navajo to pick the piece they wanted. However, the coyote trickster grabbed the best end and dashed away. That is why the Hopi grow better corn than the Navajo people. This myth evidences the longstanding rift between the Navajo and Hopi.

Yet, it is not in the nature of the Navajo to resent people. Family is of great importance to the Navajo people. The tribe is divided into a total of 103 clans. Membership in a clan tells a great deal about one's heritage. According to legend, the Holy People originally created four clans. These include Towering House, Bitterwater, Big water and One-who-walks-around. Today some Navajo people proudly claim memberships to these original clans. The history of Navajo people involved social class systems differentiated by economic, hereditary and intellectual attributes. During the 1880s and 1890s, the ancient class system dissolved as the war chiefs disappeared. Weavers, silversmiths emerged in the 19^th century creating new systems of class and economic stratification. However, the Navajo social stratifications were never absolute nor gender specific. Until the early 1800s, these were known for equalitarian attitudes and acceptance.

The Navajo language is a very important part of this tribe's culture. Throughout their history Navajo Language represented sacred thoughts and ideas. It is relevant to ceremonies. Today, many tribal elders advocate the preservation of cultural identity through the process of teaching the Navajo Language to the tribe's youth. Many Native American tribes feel strongly connected to their idiom, yet the Navajo also have used their language to make a significant impact on American History.

During World War II, over 400 Navajo served the US Military as Code Talkers. These heroic individuals took part in every operation that the US Marines completed in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. They used the Navajo language to create a code that the Japanese were never able to break.

Language is also an important aspect of education for the Navajo people. The Navajo philosophy on education can be reviewed by an examination of the curriculum philosophy at the Dine College, a system of higher education located on the Navajo Nation. The present philosophy of this school is known as "Sa'ah Naaghai Bik'eh Hozhoon. These words represent the natural living order of things including the interaction between the earth and other celestial bodies. In order to implement such a philosophy, the model addresses four content areas of traditional knowledge: Bik'ehgo (direction in life), Nihigaal (sustenance), Alha"ana"oo"nil (gathering of family) and Haa'ayiih doo hodilzin (rest and reverence for creations. Finally, these traditional processes are included in this philosophy: Nitsahakees (thinking) Nahata (planning), Iina (living or life), and Siihasin (reverence or reflection). These Navajo ideas are the basis for cultural training provided to the teachers at the college. The curriculum incorporates these concepts with Western academic thought.

The Navajo culture is compromised of intriguing history and colorful myth. These people thrived in the beautiful desert lands for centuries before it was called the American Southwest. They created an intricate social system and generated deep spiritual contact through myth and ritual with the earth and the beings around them. This tribe brought a beautiful language into being with song and story. What's more, the Navajo, like all other American Indians faced the unyielding oppression of the white settlers who forced their land, their children and their way of life away from them. Yet, this tribe is rising again. With established control of their government and economy, the development of tribal education and an incredibly resilient spirit of survival, the Navajo People remain a powerful and awesome force in the beautiful desert land which they inherited from their ancestors.