The Navajo of the Southwest

Tribe: The Navajo, the largest Native American tribe in the United States.

Meaning of Name: "Navajo" is the Spanish version of the Navajo word "Naabeeho." They refer to themselves, now, as "Navajo," but prefer to call themselves the "Dine," meaning "People."

Location: Originally from eastern Alaska and northwestern Canada.  In the 1400s, the Navajo migrated to, and now live in, the "Four Corners" section of the adjoining states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

Original Language:  Na-Dene Southern Athapascan ("The People's Language"), and before that, Athapascan.

Tribal Affiliations: Pueblo, Apache, Ute, Comanche and Spanish. The Navajo were once part of the nomadic hunting-and-gathering Apaches, but then met the Pueblo and learned their settled agrarian  ways from them.

Traditional Enemies: United States Army, the New Mexico militia, Mexican settlers.

Traditional Style of Housing: A dome-like east-facing hut called a "Hogan" made of wood, bark and mud. Traditional Navajo, even if they live in modern housing or a mobile home, still have a Hogan on their property in order to keep themselves in balance and for ceremonial use. These Hogans can also have patios attached for cooking and working the loom. The Navajo have similar larger structures as medicine huts and smaller sweat-lodges.

Traditional Attire: According to the Navajo, they must dress in traditional Navajo clothing during ceremonies so that the Great Spirit will recognize them. Originally, they wore clothing woven out of yucca or sewn out of deerskin.  Nowadays, the women wear velvet or cotton skirts, matching or coordinating long-sleeved velvet or cotton blouses, ankle-length or knee-high moccasins, a conch belt or sash, jewelry and a shawl.  The men wear long pants and velveteen shirts, moccasins, vests and sometimes hats with brims. They're partial to silver and turquoise jewelry. Turquoise represents happiness, health and luck, and they are partial to the colors black (north/night), white (east/dawn), blue (south/day) and yellow (west/dusk).

Traditional Foods: The Navajo raise sheep and grow corn, so mutton and corn-based meals are the norm. They tend to avoid pork and pork products. They also eat goat-meat, drink goat-milk in their coffee, and eat a lot of fried flat-bread. Historically, they eat acorns, antelope, beans, chokeberries, sumac berries, rose hips, currants, raspberries, cedar berries, corn, deer, elk, grapes, walnuts, greens, prickly-pear, juniper berries, mescal, mountain sheep, pinion nuts, wild potatoes, prairie dogs, pumpkins, rabbits, rats, squash and yucca, which was processed into cakes and sweet breads, and was once also used for making clothing and sandals.

Position of Women: Traditional Navajo society is matrilocal; young men marry into their wives' clans and move into their wives' homes. Everything is owned by the women and bequeathed to the women. The mother's brother has a major part in raising his sister's children. Men represent their mothers' clans in tribal council meetings. They cannot date or marry someone from the same clan.

Navajo Courtship: While the wedding ceremony involves sharing corn mush out of a very symbolically-decorated wedding basket, and the wedding itself represents the union of the Earth Woman and the Sky Man, the Navajo Courtship before the wedding remains a mystery.

Interesting Tidbits: Like the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole and their "Trail of Tears" and the Potawatomi and their "Trail of Death," the Navajo had their "Long Walk" in which they were force-marched at gun-point from their traditional homeland in Arizona to Fort Sumner in New Mexico in 1864. This was an 18-day, 300-mile walk under grueling and cruel conditions in which 20% of the 1000 Navajo died on route, sometimes of gunshot wounds inflicted by US Army soldiers... The Navajo Reservation is the largest Native American reservation in the United States, is  27,000 acres and has a population of 200,000.... The Navajo Code Talkers were extremely instrumental in defeating the Germans during World War II.

Traditional Religion: Traditional tribal religion, Catholic, Mormon and Native American Church.

Slavery and the Navajo: The Navajo took captives in wars and skirmishes, while legally and technically, the captives were slaves, their Navajo masters treated them well, allowed them to come and go as they pleased, and considered them members of their families. Therefore, many of their captives stayed with them, even after their release. When the Navajo were enslaved by the non-Navajo, they were treated like slaves. It was an entirely different mentality.

Current Population: There are over 300,000 registered Navajo in the United States.

Current Sources of Tribal Revenue: Tourism, textiles, rugs, blankets, silver and turquoise jewelry, sheep, corn, pinion nuts, lumber, animal husbandry, pottery, land rental. The Navajo are probably one of the more affluent Native American tribes.

Famous Navajo: The list is long, but nobody that I have heard of.