History The Navajo people have long been pastoral people since before the first man travel the

The Navajo people believe that creation began in another world. Originally the Navajo began as insects on the first world. Due to continuous quarrelling the leaders of the realm force them

Navajo culture distinctively took hold in the four corners area of the Colorado Plateau around 100 A.D., although they are believed to have been around for centuries before then. Disliking the term “Navajo Indians”, they refer to themselves as the “Diné” which means “The People” or “Children of the Holy People”.

During the Pacific portion of World War II, increasingly frequent instances of broken codes plagued the United States Marine Corps. Because the Japanese had become adept code breakers, at one point a code based on a mathematical algorithm could not be considered secure for more than 24 hours. Desperate for an answer to the apparent problem, the Marines decided to implement a non-mathematical code; they turned to Philip Johnston's concept of using a coded Navajo language for transmissions.

The traditional Navajo Indians have a very primitive lifestyle. This means that they don’t necessarily have the best living conditions and

The Diné means “The People” and it is what the people that we know presently as the Navajo went by. The Red Nation article “Considering a Navajo Name Change: Self-Identification, Land, and Liberation” by Majerle Lister states that “‘Navajo’ is not a Diné word or concept, despite its use as our [the Diné] official name for more than a hundred and fifty years.” This is a clear example of how settler colonialism has impacted the Navajo Nation. Settler colonialism has had an impact in the Peoplehood matrix of the Navajo from language and sacred history to place/territory and ceremonial cycles, yet it has not stop efforts from the Navajo Community to mend the damage that settler colonialism has had on their culture over the years.

In order for the plan to go into action, on October 31, 1862, the establishment of the Fort Sumner was declared and war was made against the Mescalero Apache and Navajo Indian tribes (Robert 2004). As shown in figure 1, a 300 miles route was walked by children, women, and men for about two months. Once they reached the destination, an estimation of 200 people had died from starvation. A couple years later had gone by when the United States decided to introduce a treaty in1868 that allowed the Navajos to return to their homes also now called the reservations.

Raiding had been something to Apache had only done once in awhile but now that they couldn’t hunt buffalo any longer raiding became necessary for their survival. The hostility between the Apache and the Spanish settlers increased when New Mexico became a Spanish Colony . From the time of the Spanish colonization until 1886 they were noted for their warlike disposition. According to the written history of whites, Apaches have always been hostile; in truth, serious warlike behavior could usually be attributed to belligerent behavior on the part of the whiteman, or misunderstandings between the two peoples.

Chester is confused when it comes to religion. After being taught his whole life about Navajo beliefs he is now being introduced to Christianity. This is very confusing for him because as is his begin presented with all this new information, for example the birth of jesus, the trinity, saints, and sacraments. While learning this he beings to question if a navajo belongs at a “white man’s church”. He questions this because of the differences between the two religions; christianity as chester says stands in awe over the creation of the world by god, whereas the navajo focuses on forming a relationship with nature. Because of this when the children are forced to choose between the two religions, they could not. (Nez & Avila, 2011).

“Navajo trading has been a crucial component of that tribe's localized economy for generations and has been the subject of much scholarship over the years (Kiser, 2012).” Trading is what has really distinguished the Navajo from other cultures. They traded with the Spanish at first and then on to other tribes. They were first introduced to a horse from being able to establish trade with the Spanish in the 1620’s. Many other native cultures went

For instance, in response to the 800 flawless messages transmitted by Navajos at Iwo Jima, Major Howard Connor- who was the signal officer of the Navajos at Iwo Jima- said, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima” (“Navajo- Unbreakable Code”). The third Amphibious Corps was thought to have been the ones to report that, during Guam and other missions, the Navajo were “considered indispensable for the rapid transmission of classified dispatches” (Paul, 69). Besides transmitting vital information, the Code Talkers sometimes transmitted “dummy” messages (Takaki, 52). These false messages drove the enemy crazy, trying to decipher them, but getting nowhere (Takaki, 52). Meadows even puts forth the idea that if the Navajo and Comanche Indian communication units had been expanded, the war may have even been shortened (Meadows, “Comanche”, 50). As stated by Campbell, “In the year 2000, Federal legislation was enacted to award Congressional Gold Medals to the Navajo code talkers for their contribution to America’s victory over the Japanese Empire in World War II” (qtd. in “Hearing”). According to Tim Johnson, “There is no doubt that the bravery and the courage of the Navajo code talkers helped to make the United States the free and proud place it is today” (qtd. In “Hearing”). To an extreme extent,

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 Indians used to live in northwestern Canada and Alaska. 1,000 years ago the Navajo Indians traveled south, because there was more qualities they had seeked there. When the Navajo Indians traveled south there was a lot of oil in the 1940’s. Today the Navajo Indians are located in the Four Corners.

The Navajo, also known as the Diné, are one of the largest Native American Tribes in the world. Their culture is made up of very distinct and unique characteristics that have been passed down from generation to generation. They have been taught to adapt to their surroundings and to the land. Each moral, standard, belief and value are what make the Navajo so unique to the Native Americans. In the following, their primary mode of subsistence, kinship system, beliefs, values, and economic organizations will be briefly examined to gain a better knowledge of the Navajo culture.

The world view of the Navajo who had lived for many centuries on the high Colorado Plateau was one of living in balance with all of nature, as the stewards of their vast homeland which covered parts of four modern states. They had no concept of religion as being something separate from living day to day and prayed to many spirits. It was also a matriarchal society and had no single powerful leader as their pastoral lifestyle living in scattered independent family groups require no such entity. This brought them repeatedly into conflict with Spanish, Mexicans and increasingly by the mid-nineteenth century, Americans as these practices were contrary to their male dominated religiously monolithic societal values. The long standing history

Fort Defiance was built in eighteen-fifty-one. It was located about thirty miles southeast of Canyon de Chelly. The Navajo people, to graze sheep, had used this land. And now it had been taken over for use by the soldier?s horses. A long barrage of attacks and reprisals had begun. These battles peaked in 1860 when one thousand warriors waged an attack on Fort Defiance. The army was forced to abandon the fort, but revenge was the word that would cut across the Navajo nation. The Navajo?s crops were burned, livestock was confiscated or slaughtered, and they faced the threat of starvation.