Navajo Indian Woman

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.

The Navajo economy depended on two primary sources-agriculture learned from the pueblo peoples and livestock such as sheep, goats, and horses obtained initially form the Spaniards. Because the San Juan River was one of the few reliable sources of water in Navajo territory, during the summer months

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).

The Navajo Indian is the largest tribe in North America, how did their culture develop over time and where are they today in regards to modern times?

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

Origin myths are traditional stories pass down from generation to generation. The Earth’s on Turtle’s Back, When Grizzlies Walk Upright, and from The Navajo Origin Legend all revealed different customs, attitude, and beliefs. These aspects showed the lifestyles and culture of each tribe and how they all came to be. Each myths are far original and different, yet at the same time similar. They focused on natural aspects of how the world came to be. In the story of The Earth on Turtles Back, the Onondagas believed in the world came from a turtle’s back, this showed their beliefs in the animals are the original owners of earth and respects for the animals. Similarly, the Modoc’s also have great deference to animals and especially to grizzlies.

Many were forced to evacuate to other regions within the country and endure the infamous Trail of Tears. While Native Americans are not forcibly removed from their homes anymore, this story shows a modern-day example of mistreatment or borders that Native Americans deal with. While the mother faced many different conflicts, externally and internally, she readily accepts the challenge and is not willing to step down. She displays the pride of the Blackfoot Indians and is not willing to let the government tell her who she is and let them define her. She sets an example for Native Americans, standing up against a government that has held them down for so long. That they should always have pride in who they are, and where they came

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.

Cherokee women played an extremely important role in their tribe’s society especially compared to women in America during the time period. In the 1800s, Cherokee women played a much more influential role, impacting the tribe on a daily basis. For example, they were farmers, craftswomen, builders, and in some cases, even warriors. Women were essential to the survival of the tribe. In many cases, the women of the tribes were in charge of gathering materials and building homes for their family to live in. In addition, women would often help men hunt deer, then would skin, cut, and cook the animal. Women also served important purposes in medical circumstances in the tribe. There were plenty of medicine women in the tribes; in fact, many tribes believed that women had more healing power than men.

power and authority amongst the groups. Instead, leadership is earned slowly over time by how well he takes care of his sheep. Initially a newly married man will leave his sheep with his parents group, slowly moving his herd to his wife’s family group after children and marital stability have been established. Leadership is usually held by men who own the healthiest and largest herds of sheep, but they don’t have the ability to impose authority or their will over anyone. And in times of action, unanimity is the cultural rule among the Navajo leaders (Nowak, Laird, 2010).

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.

Lena tells the story as a narrator. Ezol, “a Choctaw woman from the past” experiments with time, educating Lena through her notion that “time is not the same for whites and Indians” (Howe, pg. 24 & 52). Readers leap between important moments of the past and present. Howe’s magical writing allows for a sense of traveling with the characters, back and forth through time to experience it “like a majestic dance” (Howe, pg. 44).

Navajo is a Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dene family; it has similarities and is related to spoken languages across the western areas of North America. The Navajo refer to themselves as the Diné or “People” and their language is known as Diné bizaad or “People’s language”. The earliest recorded history appears to between the years 1581-1583 when the Spanish made their first contact with the Navajos. Nearly 200 years later the Navajo were able to drive the Spanish settles from the Eastern regions off their land. 30 years after that in 1805, Spanish soldiers returned with a vengeance and killed more than 100 Navajo women, children and elders hiding in a cave; this tragedy is known as the Massacre at Canyon de Chelly. Nowadays, the Navajo language is predominately spoken in the Southwestern United States and currently the majority of the language is being used in the Navajo Nation political area. Navajo is one of the most widely spoken Native American languages and according to an article titled, “Navajo (Diné bizaad)” in 2011 it was estimated that there were nearly 170,000 Americans speaking Navajo. Though the number of speakers may seem large, the language has had difficulties keeping a healthy speaker base. This was caused by an aggressive effort made on the part of the public and mission schools on the western reservations, which taught young Native American students English. As referenced in Language, Culture and Society school administrators used such

According to the history of the Navajo Tribe, the Holy People lived in the underworld and helped by guiding the First Man and First Woman to earth (McCoy 1988). The Holy People are said to be attracted to songs, dances, and chants during the ceremony along with the creation of Sandpainting. The Sandpainting is used in the healing process of the ceremony to draw a picture that tells a story of the Holy People. The Navajo culture have amazed so many people to how beautifully constructed the rituals are performed.

Since the beginning of the colonial process, Indigenous bodies have been seen as disposable. The dehumanization of the Indigenous body and the creation of the other, has allowed for the destruction of Indigenous Femininity. A system rooted in epistemic violence created by the colonial era. Continues to affect how Indigenous women are treated in modern societies. The demotion from “Indian Queen”, an exotic and powerful presence in colonial societies, to the “Dirty Squaw”, a figure depicted as lazy, and troublesome. Indigenous women have struggled to be seen as human people, rather than sexual object in the minds of the white settlers. A systematic dehumanization though through the process of epistemic violence. Which continues to affect how Indigenous women are treated today.