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.
Government b. Business c. Culture Who Were and Is the Navajo Indians The Navajo Indian culture is one of great pride filled with sacred traditions, beliefs and ceremonies that have been handed down from generation to generation. Their cultural background and beliefs have been infused throughout their people and they take pride in making sure that their story and experiences are known throughout all of their cultural members, young and old. The background of the Navajo people, including their primary mode of subsistence, their beliefs and values (consisting of the use of medicines and ceremonies for rituals), gender relations as well as economic and social organizations can teach us a great deal. 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.
This larger category of nations, so named for the language they speak, are called Athabaskan people. Beneath the Dene umbrella are nations of Dogrib, Chipewyan, south and north Slavey, and Gwich’in of northern Canada; and the Navajo of the South Western United States (Ryan, 1). The Word Dene literally means “people”, and the area they have always occupied in the Northwest Territories, Denendeh, was appropriately named to mean “land of the people” (“Welcome to the Dene Nation”, 2012) It is difficult to speak of one aspect of Dene culture without speaking of all others. Their history, spiritual beliefs and political values are all intertwined. The Dene have always had strong ties to each other, to animals, to the earth and to the spiritual world.
For many years the Navajo adopted many practices and regulations from the Pueblos Indians. Another name of the Navajo people is Dine which means the people because they all are considered one. The Navajos, a semi-nomadic from the 16th to 20th century hail from the south western United States and are considered the largest federally recognized tribe in the U.S(Linford 2000). The Navajo are a matrilineal society in which they move often in search of naturally occurring pastures to feed their heard.. This culture began as large hunters and gathers until the Spanish arrived and introduced the practice of animal herding into this culture.
The Culture of the Navajo People Rusty Keller G h August 11, 2013 Authors Note: This majority of the contents within this document was originally prepared for Introduction to Anthropology course that was instructed by Amy VanSurksum. I. Introduction II. Description of the people III. Social organization a.
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.
Some of the most prominent tribes that made up the Sioux nation include Oglala, Brule, Sans Arcs, Hunkpapa, Yankton, Minnwkonjou, Sisseton, Mdewakantonwan and Wahpeton. The Sioux Nation was comprised in 3 major sub-division: LAKOTA OR TETON – with Seven Bands: Oglala – They Scatter Their Own or Dust Scatters Sicangu – or Brule: Burnt Thighs
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.
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. Many Cheyenne religious rituals, such as the Sun Dance, were designed to ensure the abundance of buffalo. This Cheyenne myth is in many ways a "typical" creation story. It contains several common motifs, or recurring story features. Of special interest is the "earth-diver" motif.
Native American healing is a subject that last for a lifetime of each native. Native american healing is very holistic in nature and takes place over the entirety of each individual natives life. In this paper I will discuss just a few of the native healing techniques, ranging from the taking of hallucinogenic sacrament such as the holy Ayahuasca and Peyote to meditative vision quests and herbal remedies. The sacred Ayahuasca is used traditionally by natives in south america, such as in Peru. However, like most native healing practices it is a practice that is open to non natives as well as natives as a healing techniques for just about any discomfort or dis-ease.