A Brief Look at the Navajo Nation

What molds a nation or group of people? As a member of the Navajo Nation, I’ve wondered how our history has impacted our nation. This research paper is a reflection of my curiosity. Throughout this paper I will explain how The Navajo Long Walk and The 1868 Treaty of Bosque Redondo contributed in shaping what the Navajo Nation today. During the mid 19th century tensions with the Navajo, U.S. government, and white settlers were tense. The third wave of the Navajo Wars would ultimately lead to the U.S. government’s decision to create a campaign against the Navajo and thus impose the Navajo Long Walk (Brooks 95). General Carleton, a U.S. Army General, had Kit Carson, the well-known Indian fighter, deliver his demands to the Navajo, he said, “Say to them: Go to Bosque Redondo or we will pursue and destroy you. We will not make peace with you on any terms. You have deceived us too often and robbed and murdered our people too long to trust you at large in your own country.” (Acrey 39). Thus, in 1864, Navajo people were forcibly removed by the U.S. federal government from their traditional homelands to eastern New Mexico. U.S. Army records indicate that at least 11,468 Navajos were forced to walk three hundred to five hundred miles to the internment camp called Bosque Redondo (Spanish translation is Round Forest) or Fort Sumner (Cheek 18). For four years, Navajo people were forced to stay in Bosque Redondo where starvation, disease, and restriction of their culture was prevalent.

Let’s start with the language portion of the Peoplehood matrix and the affects that settler colonialism has had on Navajo. In Peoplehood, it is stated that the language portion of the Peoplehood matrix is “a group-particular language, by way of its nuances, references, and grammar, gives a sacred history a meaning of its own, particularly if origin, creation, migration, and other stories are spoken rather than written” (Holm, et al. pg. 13). Especially in the late nineteenth century, Navajo children like many other indigenous children were sent to boarding schools. Settler colonialism resulted in a need to as Native Words Native Warriors puts it “eliminate traditional American Indian ways of life and replace them with mainstream American culture.”

Throughout Indian Country tribes have their own courts to address legal matters. However, the Navajo Nation has a court system that stands apart from other tribes. Howard L. Brown Esq. wrote, “The Navajo Nation’s Peacemaker Division: An Integrated Community-Based Dispute Resolution Forum” which was published in the American Indian Law Review 1999-2000 issue and was reprinted in the May/July 2002 issue of Dispute Resolution Journal. As a former judicial law clerk for the Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation, Brown gained firsthand experience with the Peacemaker Division within the Navajo Nation’s Judicial Branch. He details the history, development and ceremonies associated with this resolution forum. Two

The Navajo Nation Division of Social Services (NDSS) intake form is used by three agencies under the NDSS umbrella for various services including child welfare for reservation residents, Indian Child Welfare for ICWA/state collaboration, local and off reservation adoption, as well as clinical treatment services. The intake form was developed in 2011 with the intent to gather and report Adoption, Foster Care, Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS) data to the federal government and modified in 2015 to become more streamlined with NDSS’ electronic case management system. The latest revision incorporates various data elements needed to satisfy specific statistical requirements with NDSS’ various funding providers and grantees.

Every culture has their own way of life, their own religious beliefs, their own marriage beliefs, their own values and feelings on life and the options it has to offer. Each culture has their own way to run things within their own government, and own way to keep their economy up to their standards. Also each culture and society have their own primary mode of subsistence that makes them unique. Among the Navajo culture their primary mode of subsistence are pastoralists.   Pastoralists have an impact on different aspects with in the culture.   The aspects that I will be discussing will be the Navajo’s beliefs and values, economic organization, gender relations and sickness and healing.

The Navajo are centrally located in the Southwestern United States. Even though their culture is in America, it differs from the culture of Western America. The difference lies in everything from religion to personal expression. In fact, a significant portion of personal expression done by Navajo individuals is shown through their artwork. The artwork is a not only a representation of the Navajo lifestyle, but their significance to history. The Navajo artwork that will be discussed includes artforms such as sand painting, rugs, pottery, and silver making; these will be defined and the technique and/or creative process will be explained as well.

Imagine living in a house called Hogan. It’s a house that the Navajo tribe lived in its quite fascinating. The Hogan houses were not that difficult to make all that was needed to make it were a few poles put together then on the surface it would be covered with branches, leaves, and mud. On the other hand, not everyone back then lived in Hogans like the Spanish colonies lived in actual houses from what we see today, but much smaller it had its own style. Back then or long ago not everything or everyone was similar it was quite different. There’s many differences between tribes and colonies like the example above the Spanish Colonies are very different then the Navajo tribe. The Spanish colonies are different than the Navajo tribe because the

The process for reintegration of civil or criminal offenders back into the folds of the community provides healing, restores relationships, and strengthens community. The Navajo peacemaking system practices that the reintegration of an individual is more important than the crime or punishment committed. Since 1959, Navajo culture attempts to incorporate tribal peacebuilding and restorative justice traditions that have been lost from active use in today’s legal court systems. The Honorable Robert Yazzie retired as Chief Justice of the Navajo Nation Supreme Court after spending 18 years on the bench being an advocate for the use of traditional Navajo law in restorative justice practices. He also worked tirelessly in that time to convince the United States Supreme Court to restore full tribal sovereignty to the Navajo Nation (Mirsky, 2004, p.1). The Hualapai

A Lost Navajo Knowing my Navajo language, and culture, is my identity as well as how I represent myself in today’s society. In Chester Nez’s story of how he was shipped off to boarding school, he told his story of the heartbreaking truth, and his experience he had to be stripped of his own native language. Still my story is the opposite, but similar to Nez’s story the roles are reversed, Navajo children do not know their language fluently as our ancestors did. Growing up not being able to speak my own native language has given me negative advantages, yet I refuse to give up learning my language to one day I will be fluent in my language as a Navajo. Over the years I have also learned it is a privilege to be Native American.

Economic development is vital to address the unemployment rate on the Navajo Reservation. Gaming has become one the Navajo Nations successful enterprises and largest employers. It has created 1200 jobs, 83% are held by the Navajos. Gaming has invested in the cattle ranchers, Navajo owned subcontractors and contributed 7.4 million dollars to the reservation land. The National Congress of American Indians started the Native Financial Education Coalition expand and enhance financial capability in Native communities. Partner organizations include tribes, tribal organizations, national, regional, local Native and non-Native organizations, financial institutions, federal agencies, Congressional offices, and others interested in Native financial education.

In the 19th century the United States federal government had a vision to expand and utilize the country, but the indigenous tribes complicated their plans of expansion. Years of constant “negotiations” with the natives resulted in millions of acres of land evicted from the natives. Assigning tribes to reservations for them to inhabit was the government’s hope of finally avoiding violent and political conflicts with the natives. However, Indian reservations led to controversy and frustration of the natives since they were succumbed to poor living conditions. As years passed federal policies started to change once federal officials and Indian rights organization groups started to recognize that the reservations were unlivable to the people. John

Located at the intersection of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah lies the Four Corners. Their borders form a 90-degree angle. This vernacular region contains deep influences from the culture surrounding it. Their boundaries are not physical, but more so imaginary lines that are perpendicularly intersected. The region resides on the northwestern edge of the Navajo Nation Reservation. “The Navajo Nations operates the site, which is about as large as West Virginal,” and has strong influences from the culture of the Navajo tribe (Seminara 2013). This Native American reservation is the largest area of land occupied by a U.S. tribe.

Residing in the Southwest United States, the Navajo Indian tribe is one of the largest tribes in America today. In their own language, they refer to themselves as Diné which means “the people”. They are an old tribe with descendants tracing their roots back to the thirteenth century. The first contact that the Navajos had with white settlers was during the Mexican American War in 1846. The United States conducted peaceful relations with the Navajo for over fifteen years. Forts were built to help protect the Navajo from Spanish/Mexican raids on the Navajo’s cattle. Eventually, a new military commander, James H. Carleton, was named in New Mexico and he began to raid Navajo lands with a vengeance. He ordered the Navajo to surrender. When

“Our world had changed. What was going to happen now?” A question asked by many, usually after a tragic event has taken place affecting many lives. Kaii Yazhi was a six year old boy when he was forced to leave his mother and be sent away to boarding school. There he was thought that the Americans hated the Navajo people and that they are to be punished if any of the staff was to hear them talk in their native language. The Navajo weren’t accepted, they were thought to adapt to the mother country’s culture. But, It wasn’t until America was threatened by war that the Americans realized that they needed the Navajos. Without them, they would’ve lost the war. But, had the world really changed for the Navajo people. When Kaii came back from the war,

My summary is about the navajo. First is their food. They farmed a lot. On their farm they grew corn,beans,and squash. The men hunted deer, antelope, and small game. The women gathered nuts, fruit, and herbs. Next is tools. They used bows and arrows, spears, and rawhide shields. They used hoes and rakes for farming.