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.
It covers more than twenty-five thousand square miles, an area slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. There are more than two hundred thousand Navajos today. Tapahonso belongs to a matrilineal society in which women own the property and pass inheritance through their clans. In the Navajo kinship system, each Navajo child is born into four different, unrelated clans: the mother's clan, the father's clan, and the maternal and paternal grandfathers' clans. The kinship system also extends to the natural world and the gods.
One woman in the back is just cleaning or doing laundry a typical woman job. Teamwork is shown clearly, the villagers are working together to make blankets to sell. Each group was assigned different work task; first group had to get cotton, second had to make the colors and third had to resemble the product. The Chief is holding a scroll, which he is giving instructions on what the blanket should look like to his people. The illustration shows hard labor but it seems like they are getting treated well.
It has also been effective when a Navajo contracts illness from a non-Navajo person. A highlight of this ceremony is a dance involving young women or marriageable age. This tradition comes from the cultural belief that it was good to introduce young marriageable women to warriors returning from battle. In the past, and sometimes even today on the reservation, this dance is called the Squaw Dance. Since squaw is considered a derogatory term by most Native American women, Girl Dance is now the festivity’s preferred
There are several tribes but some of the popular ones are the Sioux, Cherokees, and Chippewa’s. The Sioux people live in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. The Sioux mothers carried their babies on cradleboards. Sioux women are in charge of cleaning, cooking, and the home. Sioux men are warriors and hunters and they find food for their families.
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.
After 1750 women in a typical village bore an average of 4 children in one lifetime. Because of the reduction in childcare necessities, women gained time to pursue other duties. Farm women made extra yarn, cloth, and cheese to contribute to the financial affairs of the family unit. As a result, the living standards of a family were increased. However, women’s lives remained tightly bound by a web of legal and cultural restrictions.
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
Due to their mode of subsistence, the Navajos lived within small groups. They have built their own homes and almost lived a nomadic life. Homes were designed and built easily and quickly for they moved often. The Navajos reside in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado areas. They are part of a tribe, which is a group of