Sha-de’ Thomas Navajo Culture Research Paper Anthropology 101 Professor: Megan Douglas September 16, 2012 Who are the Navajos? It has been said that they are the largest Indian tribe in North America covering 27,000 square feet miles consisting of over 200,000 people. They live in the southwest region also called the four corners. The four states that connect to one another making up the four corners consist of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. The Navajo tribe originated from Canada about 1000 A.D.
The Navajo are the largest Indian tribe in the United States. They live on the largest reservation in the U.S. which covers over three states on 17 million acres in the Four Corners area of the southwest. The states include Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and a small part of Colorado. The current population is at least 160,000 and projected to grow to a quarter of a million by the year 2000. Growth in commerce on the reservation promises to make the Navajo one of the wealthiest tribes in the country, but it does not seem that way.
The Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the United States, comprising about 16 million acres or about 25, 000 miles, approximately the size of the state of West Virginia. In studying the Navajos
Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry 1940 - 1970 Preface The Navajo Nation today is the largest Native American tribe in both population and geographical size (27,000 square miles; 300,048 people).The reservation is primarily in northern Arizona, stretching west to Grand Canyon National Park, north into Utah and east into New Mexico. The Pueblo people are a Native American people in the Southwestern United States. (Fig.2) Their traditional economy is based on agriculture and trade. When first encountered by the Spanish in the 16th century, they were living in villages that the Spanish called pueblos, meaning "towns". Of the 21 pueblos that exist today, Taos, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are the best-known.
Their reservation covers a large part of Arizona, New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The Navajos came to live on the reservation when they were finally returned to their homeland after four years of living in confinement in Fort Sumner. When they returned to their homeland they rebuilt their homes or hogans, and returned to their self-sufficient lives of farming, sheep hearding, and weaving. They also became
Furthermore, as the author of the biography of Silko, the writer of “The Man to Send Rain Clouds ,” and “Coyote Holds a Full House in His Hand,” remarks, “She concentrates on the everyday life of the people she knows, the distinct mythical, historical, and present-day worlds in which they simultaneously exist.” Consequently, living between two worlds and two cultures adds to the life experience of many Native Americans who blend their ancient traditions with modern life to create a unique life experience. Their connections to their ancestral cultures allow them to incorporate many aspect of the Native American culture into the modern world, which they now have to experience. For instance, in the “The Way to a Rainy Mountain,” the old man who died under the big cotton tree is being buried with Native Americans and Christian traditions. This tradition is incorporated when Leon asked the priest to sprinkle holy water over the dead body of the old man who was wrapped around a red blanket, and whose face was painted with
Ethnography of the Basseri Tribe of Iran The ethnography study of the distinctive ethos (the fundamental character or spirit of cultures) of the tribes of Basseri of Iran is a great example of the way pastoral cultures exist amongst today’s industrial societies. Pastoralism is a lifestyle adopted by a people that involve the herding of various animals for the purpose of survival utilizing the animals as a food source or as a means to produce monetary value from the animals’ existence (Nowak & Laird, 2010). The Basseri are a Farsi dialect or Persian speaking people of Persian Gulf ancestry, the total population of Basseri is thought to be about 25,000 to 30,000 individuals both nomadic and settled. The Basseri tribes are a unique nomadic and pastoral people inhabiting the Fars providence of present-day Iran. Basseri tribes migrate throughout the year following routes from the steppes and mountains of south, east, and north Shiraz.
“Earth-Diver: Creation of the Mythopoeic Male” Matthews, Washington. “Myths of Gestation and Parturition” Reader's Guide Background The Cheyenne, a Native American people, have inhabited the North American continent for centuries. During the seventeenth century, the Cheyenne migrated from the Great Lakes region to the central plains. Their life on the plains was firmly linked with nature in general-and with the buffalo in particular. They came to depend upon the buffalo for their livelihood, and they made use of virtually every part of the animal: its flesh, its hide, and even its bones.
We learn that the villages were composed of a number of large communal houses, each being occupied by a bunch of families. Men around these tribes would be in charge of tending the fields, fixing houses, also helped get food by going out and either hunting, fishing or even trapping animals. Woman were in charge of cultivating garden plots, plant, weed, and harvest the “Three Sisters,” which was corn, squash, and beans. They even harvested tobacco which they would smoke on ceremonial days. Just like today woman were still in the kitchen making food for the family, by preserving, preparing, and actually cooking the food.
Navajo Shavonda McClennon Cultural Anthropology Dr. Newton February 6, 2012 The Southwestern United States is famous for it’s fascinating and enchanting land and the people who live there. Many different native people including the Paiute, the Zuni, the Apache, the Havasupai, the Yavapai, the Pima, the Maricopa, the Papago, the Tewa, and the Hopi, live and work in the area. Many of these tribes are known as the Pueblo Indians, a name obtained from their custom of living in apartment-style adobe dwellings. By observing these natives the Navajo people learned valuable ways to survive in the harsh desert. This ability has helped the Navajo to remain a powerful nation that it is today.