NAVAJO

THEIR ART AND RELIGION MERGE AS THEIR ART WAS USED DURING CEREMONIES. THEY EXISTED IN BOTH THE NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL WORLDS. IT WAS ALSO A WAY TO BE CLOSER TO ONE'S ANCESTORS AND HOW TO INFLUENCE THE SUPERNATURAL AND SPRITUAL BEINGS. I VISITED THEIR RESERVATION SEVERAL TIMES AND REALLY ENJOY THE DESERT SCENES AS WELL AS MEETING SOME OF THE CRAFT PEOPLE.

SAND PAINTINGS

THE SAND PAINTINGS ARE ONE PART OF ORAL CHANTING. THEY DID NOT USE THE WRITTEN WORD TO RECORD LEGENDS. THEIR CHANTS WERE VERY LONG AND THEY WERE RYTHMIC TO MUSICIANS WHO PLAYED DRUMS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS. THEY, LIKE MOST NATIVE AMERICANS, HAVE CREATION MYTHS. THEY ARE USED IN HEALING CEREMONIES. COYOTE PLAYS AN IMPORTANT PART IN NATIVE AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY, COYOTE IS A CLEVER ONE. HE WAS A HOLY PERSON IN THE NAVAJO RELIGION. SPIDER WOMAN TAUGHT THE NAVAJOS WEAVING AND SPIDER MAN TAUGHT THEM OF COMING DANGER.

SAND PAINTINGS WERE USED AS ALTARS IN HEALING CEREMONIES. THEIR ANIMALS ALL HAD SYMBOLIC MEANING. THEY CREATED THE PAINTINGS BY TRICKLING THE SAND AND MINERALS INTO PATTERNS ON CLEAN SAND. PEOPLE NEEDING TO BE HEALED TOOK SOME OF THE SAND WITH THEM. NAVAJOS APPARENTLY LEARNED WEAVING FROM THE PUEBLOS. THEY GOT THEIR SHEEP AND WOOL AND GOATS AFTER THE SPANISH ARRIVED. THEIR WEAVINGS ARE TREASURED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

BOTH MEN AND WOMEN ARE FINE JEWELERS AS WELL. THEY LEARNED IT FROM THE MEXICANS IN THE MID 1900'S. THEY BECAME FAMOUS FOR THEIR SILVERWORK. THE NAVAJO HOMELAND WAS ON A PLATEAU ON THE BANKS OF THE SANJUAN AND LITTLE COLORADO RIVERS. THEY SPEAK ATHABASKAN LANGUAGE AND CAME THEIR AFTER OTHERS SUCH AS APACHES. THE APACHES PROBABLY CAME THEIR FROM AD 825 AND THE NAVAJO CAME ABOUT AD 1025.

NAVAJOS REFER TO THEMSELVES AS DINE AND SURVIVED AS NOMADS. THEY WERE HUNTERS AND GATHERERS AND HAD RAIDS ON THE PUEBLO INDIANS FOR FOOD, PROPERTY, WOMEN, AND SLAVES. FROM THE GOATS THEY GOT MEAT, WOOL, AND MILK. DURING THE MID TO LATE
1600'S THEY ACQUIRED SHEEP AND HORSES.

THEY LIVED IN HOGANS, ORIGINALLY CONE SHAPED, AND LATER BUILT WITH 6 TO 8 SIDES. LOGS WERE USED FOR THE FRAMEWORK AND COVERED WITH EARTH AND BARK. THE DOOR FACED EAST. THEY MADE RAIDS ON EARLY TRAVERS AND COUNTER RAIDS ON MEXICANS WHO CAPTURED THEIR CHILDREN. THEY ESCAPED INTO CANYON DE CHELLY WHICH WAS THEIR SACRED AREA SO THE SOLDIERS WOULD NOT FIND THEM IN THE WINTER.

AFTER 1849 THE NAVAJOS SIGNED TREATIES SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE ATTACKED. AFTER BEING CAPTURED IN THE CANYON DURING A RAID THEY STAYED AT A FORT IN NEW MEXICO FOR FOUR YEARS. A GROUP OF CHIEFS TRAVELED TO WASHINGTON TO GET BACK TO THEIR HOMELAND. THEY WERE GIVEN 3.5 MILLION ACRES OF RESERVATION LANDS AND REBUILT THEIR LIVES. THEY ARE THEY LARGEST TRIBE IN NORTH AMERICA AND HAVE NOW 16 MILLION ACRES IN ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO, AND UTAH.

TODAY MANY STILL PRACTICE TRADITIONAL ARTWORKS , OTHERS RAISE ANIMALS, AND THEY USE MODERN IRRIGATION METHODS TO FARM. THEY HAVE SOLD SOME OIL, GAS, COAL, AND URANIUM ON THEIR LANDS. SOME SEEK WORK OFF THE RESERVATION.

THE NAVAJO LAND SURROUNDS THE HOPI AND TODAY MOST FEEL THAT THEYBEFRIEND THEIR NEIGHBORS. MANY STILL PRACTICE THE ANCIENT ART FORMS AND RELIGIOUS RITUALS.

FREDERICK HOXIE