Navajo Nation's General Transportation Plan

Diné or Navajo Nation borders Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. There are four mountains that act as landmarks are Tsisnaasjini' (Mount Blanca), Tsoodzil (Mount Taylor), Doko'oosliid (San Francisco Peaks), Dibé Nitsaa (Mount Hesperus). Navajo Nation is the largest Native American Reservation in the United States, occupying 17 million acres.

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 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.

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 are the largest federally recognized Native American Indian tribe in the United States. The Diné Bikéyah or “Navajoland" encompasses 27,000 square miles residing within Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico and contains a population of over 220,000 natives. The

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.

Numbering roughly 250,000, the Navajo reservation covers approximately 25,000 square miles. Window Rock located in the North Eastern part of Arizona is the capital of the Navajo Nation. As one of the poorest regions in the country, isolation, culture, traditions, as well as economic status affect the Navajo communities’ wellbeing and healthcare. While the elderly Navajo population grows about three percent a year, life expectancy is “73.7 years compared to 76 years for the general population” (Mercer, 1996, p 184). Elderly Navajo members are revered due to their wisdom and life experience. Other things that negatively affect the healthcare of the Navajo are little running water or electricity, no phones, rough rugged terrain and most must drive more than one hour to a facility that provides health care. The Navajo home or hogan entrance must face east to welcome the sun for daily blessings. Made of tree bark, mud and wooden poles, the hogan is windowless. The majority of the Navajo population has no indoor plumbing. Merely 38% of Navajo people actually have electricity, heat and plumbing (McCauley, 2004, p. 47).

The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American group in America today, and is the biggest Indian reservation in the United States. Situated in the northeastern part of Arizona and in the northwestern part of New Mexico, it is comprised of nearly ten million acres, or roughly fifteen thousand square miles. In this research paper the author will discuss at least three aspects of the Navajo culture that will include the kinship that the Navajo have with each other, the social structure within Navajo society, the economic organization that sustains the culture and their beliefs and values that

The purpose of the San Carlos Apache Tribe (Tribe) Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP) is to define the long-term direction for managing the Tribe’s resources. This IRMP includes a vision of the future landscape of the reservation based on a desire to restore ecosystem function to resemble pre-reservation conditions as closely as possible. The IRMP directs all natural resource managers on the reservation, tribal, non-tribal and within the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), to work together with tribal leaders, tribal members and all other federal agencies, local entities or businesses to achieve desired future landscape conditions on the reservation.

American culture is made up of many different people, and many of those people come from Indian tribes. The United States Governments Federal Register lists 566 tribes recognized as of August 2012. One of those tribes is the Navajo which can be found primarily in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Navajo culture is one that many people associate with by what is portrayed in movies. People view the culture as land raiding individuals that pillaged and wreaked havoc with anyone and anything they came in contact with.

The Navajo Nation has an arid climate, with deserts and high plateaus covered with alpine forests, mesas, and mountains reaching over 10,000 feet in elevation (Navajo Nation Economic Development, n.d.). It lies on top three aquifers, the (Navajo) N-Aquifer with 290 million acre feet of storage, the (Coconino) C-aquifer with 413 million acre feet of storage, and the (Dakota) D-aquifer with 50 million acre feet of storage (Four Corners Area Drinking Water GIS, n.d.). The Colorado River

Throughout history, the Navajo tribe hasn't always been what it is today. Although the Navajos first location of existence is not well known, they’re one of the most studied Native American tribes.Their culture was affected by relocation of environment, wars between the Spaniards and the U.S. Government, and more. Even though most people would think in today’s world, Navajos don’t exist anymore, they have a population of 250,000. Located in the states of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, the Navajo nation covers 27,000 miles of land. Even through wars, The treaty between the United States and the Navajos, and the colonization of Christopher Columbus, the tribe has been able to maintain what they can from their culture throughout the years.

The most phenomenal thing about each individual culture though they may be similar in some ways they vary in the most impeccable manner that makes that group of people unique such as the Navajo Tribe. “The Navajo are natives of the Four Corners region (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado). The Navajo people are still living in their traditional territory today. The Navajos live on a reservation, which is land that belongs to them and is under their control. The Navajo Nation has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. However, the Navajos are also US citizens and must obey American law.) Redish, L., & Lewis, O. (2011). Every belief or tradition are what make the very aspect

The times have changed, but the spirit lives on. The Navajo are a Native American tribe that resides as their own nation in the southwestern part of the United States. The land consists of desert and mountains, so the Navajo had to learn many skills to live and adapt with the land. They gathered plants and nuts to eat, hunted animals for meat, and used the skins to keep warm at night as the temperature in the desert drops to below freezing. As times changed the Navajo adapted their skills to benefit them. They got herds of goats and sheep and used wool from the sheep to weave amazing blankets. Today, the Navajo tribe teaches their cultural traditions and beliefs to their children and followers. They believe nature is sacred and they give thanks to the animals and plants they use for food. The Navajo passed on their beliefs that the people emerged into the world to escape a flood in the lower world. The Navajo also tell many stories to show respect for nature and the spirits and neglect the ones of being treated unlawfully. The Navajo Nation allows these people to try and maintain the lifestyle that their ancestors lived, with some modern exceptions. Most Navajo people live on the reservations, but sadly, they are poverty stricken. However, it is a place where they are sheltered from a growing society. Due to all of this, the Navajo’s unique traditions and beliefs, along with its prior mistreatment, justify the formation of their own nation.

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.