Navaho Indians

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Navaho Indians
Blake Nichols
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Location

• The Navaho homeland is Dinetah
• it is located on the lower Colorado Plateau,
  between the Juan and Little Colorado Rivers about
  75 miles northwest of Santa Fe

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Customs Rituals

• Marriage- a girl was to be married a year after
  puberty
• Child Raising- Almost every Navaho child born on
  a reservation after 1940 had to go to a boarding
  school
• Religion- The Navaho way, and they also believe
  in Christianity

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Customs Rituals

• Death rituals-when the Navahos died they were
  burned, and their belongings were destroyed
• How They Get Their Names- the only way to get a
  traditional Indian name is from an elder
• Coming Of Age Rituals-A girls 4 day puberty
  ceremony is ranked among the most important
  occasions

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Famous People

• Navaho Code Talkers
• The Navaho Indians that were used by the Marines
  to transmit and receive messages using their
  native language.

                                                
                                   
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Relations With the USA Other Outsiders

• The Navahos often raided the Spanish, the Ute,
  and the Pueblo Indians
• Navahos traded with other people
• The Pueblos taught them how to farm
• Weapons-bows and arrows, and guns
• The arrows were first made of stones then later
  they used metal
• Bows were made of oak

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Weapons

• Bows and arrows, and guns
• The arrows were first made of stones then later
  they used metal
• Bows were made of oak

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Everyday Life

• Games
• Chart of the
  Moccasin Game
• Education- children were taken away when they
  were young to a boarding school.

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Everyday life

• Arts Crafts-Navahos learned the art of weaving
  blankets and rugs from the Pueblo Indians.
  Navahos also did sand painting.
• Medicine- ceremonies were held to heal the sick,
  the sick also went to the medicine man. The
  medicine man does chants and a quick blessing.

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Everyday Life

• Shelters- They lived in Hogans, these were made
  of logs, brush, and earth
• Clothing/Jewelry-Navahos dressed in aprons and
  breechcloths, then later buckskin, a feathered
  headgear, and moccasins.
• Then later women wore long colorful skirts and
  blouses.
• Men wore cotton pants and shirts.

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Everyday Life

• Transportation- horses
• Animal Usage- transportation, pulling loads, and
  clothes
• Pets- dogs
• Sheep were given to them by the Spanish

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Everyday Life

• Foods and cooking
• The Navahos hunted with snares and traps, they
  also grew corn, beans ,and squash

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System of Government

• Navahos were organized in bands, each band was
  led by a head man and a clan leader
• The leaders met only every few years

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Language Communication
boy ashkii house Kin (also trading post)
brother ánaaí (older) mother amá
brother átsilí (younger) mountain dzil
corn naadáá no dooda
coyote maii rabbit gah
deer biih rug diyogi
dog lééchaaí school ólta'
earth nahosdzáán also ni' sheep dibé
father azhé'é silver béésh ligaii

• Their language is Athabaskan, it was an unwritten
  language until recently
• A Navaho would not say I am hungry, they would
  say hunger is hurting me.

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Origins
The Navahos believed that the First man
and woman were created by the Holy People ,and
brought to the surface through a series of
underworlds
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Works cited

• http//www.usncva.org/books/book-03.html
• http//wwwcrystalinks.com/navajos.html
• Hand out
• http/www.library.thinkquest.org/J002073F/thinkque
  st/Language.htm
• video