Navajo Indian Culture

Vanessa Atine is a Navajo indian that was born in the United States. Her family
resides mainly in Arizona and southern Utah on the Navajo reservation. She was born
and raised as a Navajo but did not participate in her culture until she moved back onto
the reservation two years ago. They moved back because her parents couldnt find jobs
and they couldnt afford their house. The Atine family moved around frequently; they
have lived all over Utah and Arizona. When Vanessa was in third grade, they moved
into the Kearns area and stayed until she was in tenth grade. The constant relocation
was due to financial instability and job searching. Native Americans do not have all of
the opportunities other Americans do when it comes to finding jobs. This is because
there is a lot of prejudice and discrimination towards Native Americans that dates back
to before the 1800s. That prejudice has carried over to new generations.
Most people know that Native Americans predate America; they have been living
in the United States since before America was discovered by Christopher Columbus.
What people dont know is that the Native Americans must have emigrated from
somewhere and traveled to the present day United States. There are a few different
theories as to where Native Americans came from, and some of them even conflict with
what Native Americans believe. The most popular and widely believed theory is that
they came during the last Ice Age and crossed the Bering Strait from north or central
Asia. They ended up in Alaska and migrated south between 200 and 1300 A.D. The
people were called Athabaskan and later were called the Navajo people. The
Athabaskan had two separate groups: the Northern and the Southern. Another theory is
that Native Americans descended from the Tibetan and Mongolian people because the

Navajo people retain the same physical characteristics. This theory still retains the idea
that they must have crossed the Bering Strait. The Native Americans acknowledge
these two theories, but they have their own origin stories. Schools teach Native
Americans the anthropological theories, but at home, they are taught the traditional
stories. The traditional stories are about Changing Woman and how she created the
four clans and how they ended up at the Four Corners. The stories also mention how a
group, called Dine Nahodloonii, split from the main group of Navajos, and if they meet
again, it will lead to misfortune. None of the stories mention migrating from the north -they mostly emphasize originating from their homeland, which is the Navajo reservation
located in Arizona.
The four clans Changing Woman created are Hashtlishnii (Mud People clan), Kin
Yaaaanii (Towering House clan), Honagaahnii (One Walks Around You clan), and To
dichiinii (Bitter Water clan) (Twin Rocks Trading Post). The Mud People clan are the
creative ones. They weave, craft, and farm. They were given the Black Jet Gish by
Changing Woman which they used to get muddy water out of the ground. The Towering
House clan are the teachers and leaders. They were given the White Shell Gish by
Changing Woman, which they threw against a canyon wall because it would not give
them water. The One Walks Around You clan are the medicine men and women. They
were given the Turquoise Gish by Changing Woman, and they wore turquoise stones
for protection. The Bitter Water clan are the philosophers and educators. They were
given the Abalone Shell Gish by Changing Woman which they used to dig a hole that
gave them bitter water. The four clans were created because the Navajos did not want

to leave Changing Woman. She decided to gift them with the sacred stones and give
them everything they would need while journeying east.
The Navajo Nation is the largest indian nation in North America with 250,000
members, and more than 300,000 people claim they are also part Navajo. The land
owned by the Navajo Nation is about 27,000 square miles in Arizona, Utah, and New
Mexico (McIntosh). Navajo families are matriarchal, meaning they are led by their
grandmothers. The grandmothers are the head of the household and teach their
daughters how to weave and how to one day lead their own families. Marrying someone
within the same clan is considered incest, even though not everyone in that clan is
related, so men must find a woman outside of their clan when they marry. The men
become part of the woman's household, and the children are born into her clan.
Navajo religion is a complex subject. They believe that there are two types of
beings, the Holy People and the Earth Surface People. The Holy People are
supernatural beings (Religion and Expressive Culture); such as, animals, birds, reptiles,
wind, weather, light, darkness, monsters, Yei, and other deity type figures. Most of their
Gods and deities are anthropomorphic, meaning they have human characteristics
although they are not human. Some of the important deities are the Changing Woman,
the Spider Woman, the Sun God, and the Monster Slayers. The Earth Surface People
are the normal humans living on earth. The Holy People keep an eye on them. Certain
ceremonies have to be performed and taboos must be followed in order for the Earth
Surface People to stay in harmony with the Holy People. Some of the taboos include
not being able to watch reptiles eat and not letting a coyote cross your path -- those
things bring bad luck. The main aspect of Navajo religion is being in harmony with the

supernatural powers. This harmony is called hozoji. They believe that the reason people
get sick is because they are out of harmony. When someone is sick, they consult a
crystal gazer or a trembler who then suggests the right healing ceremony, which is
conducted by a medicine man. The ceremony restores harmony and cures illness.
These ceremonies can only be performed by a small number of medicine men because
it takes years to learn the songs used in healing ceremonies.
The number one issue facing Navajos is poverty. The average income for those
in the Navajo Nation is $20,000 a year. Since Navajos live in rural areas, most do not
have electricity, plumbing, or telephones. Fifty-four percent of Navajos in the Navajo
Nation do not have plumbing, forty-eight percent do not have a telephone, and forty-six
percent are unemployed as of 2003 (McIntosh). Most of the roads on the reservation
are unpaved and are inaccessible during the winter months. The largest medical facility
on the reservation, the Monument Valley Hospital, was closed, and the plans to build a
new hospital have not been finalized.
Another major issue is water shortages. There is not enough water for the people
or the livestock, even the Atine family is being impacted by this. There is an oil company
called Mobil Oil near the Navajo reservation. In 1978 Mobil Oil closed eight hundred
wells and years later only reopened sixty-three. Today, many Navajos are forced to haul
water to their homes. This water shortage has lasted so long that it has wormed its way
into the daily lives of the Navajos. Since the reservation is located in the desert, it does
not bode well; the winters are scarce on snow, the streams dry out in the summer, and
there is a very low percentage of rainfall per year. The wells dry up as well, which
means Navajos must go buy water from stores that are many miles away. Farming on

the reservation is no longer plausible. Corn, watermelon, and other crops do not grow
anymore on the Navajo reservation since the land is extremely dry. The wells that do
have water in them are contaminated with uranium and other unsafe contaminants -over 50,000 Navajos get their water from such contaminated sources.
This ties into the next major issue: uranium radiation. Uranium was discovered
on the Navajo reservation in 1950. The uranium was poisonous, but no one told the
Navajo miners. Many Navajos became ill and died of cancer. The mining stopped in
1969, but the radiation still affects Navajo lives today -- thirty percent of water on the
reservation is still contaminated. Even the rocks they use to build their houses are
radioactive. Although the government started to clean up the uranium poisoning in 1984
and gave money to the victims in 1990, the real clean up led by the Environmental
Protection Agency didnt start until 2008.
The cruelest of these actions was sending the Navajo children to boarding
schools. A lot of the children were forcibly taken from their homes and placed in
boarding schools where they were forced to act like white children (McIntosh). Their
religion and language was prohibited, and if there was any sign of Navajo culture, the
children were severely punished. The schools had no interest in the welfare of the
children; they were poorly fed, poorly sheltered, and poorly clothed. The Navajos that
were forced into boarding schools still regret going because they were separated from
their families and removed from their culture. There were schools built on the
reservation in 1930 that replaced the boarding schools that were much better for the
children to attend. These new schools let the children be close to home, and they were
no longer forced into acculturation.

Music is everywhere in Navajo life. They bring music into their religion,
ceremonies, and daily life. Some of the Navajo music styles include traditional,
shoegame, childrens songs, peyote songs and meetings, contemporary popular
Navajo, Powwows, and squaw dances. The traditional songs are used for ceremonies,
healing, expression, and recreation. These songs always use vocals and sometimes
include instruments such as drums, drumsticks, rattles, flutes, and whistles. The
shoegame songs are sung when they are playing the shoegame, a game that was
created by an owl and the Yeiitsoh. Childrens songs are about animals and other
things happening in early life, and they are sung to children. These songs are usually a
gateway for children to learn the traditional songs. Peyote songs and meetings are used
in the sacramental taking of peyote. They are very ceremonial and are usually part of
the Native American Church. Contemporary Popular Navajo songs are a mesh between
popular musical genres and traditional Navajo music; the younger generations relate to
this type of music the most because the contemporary songs discuss the social issues
Native Americans face on a day-to-day basis. One of these popular contemporary
songs is Exile by Blackfire, which is told in the point of view of the Native Americans
that have been discriminated against and beat down by the white man. Powwows are a
social gathering where singing and a dance competition usually take place, and they
can last from one day to a week. It is a way to meet other Native Americans, socialize,
dance, and honor their culture. Squaw dances are a curing ceremony that lasts for three
days. The dance is described as a war dance, and it is the only dance in Navajo culture
where couples dance together. Navajo music has not changed much over the years

because Native Americans strive to retain their culture. Contemporary Popular Navajo
songs are the only style that is different from the original Navajo music.
The Atine family arent the only ones who have to deal with the social issues that
come with being Navajo -- all Native Americans do. The prejudice and discrimination of
Americans is directed towards every minority group in the United States. The Navajos
have a rich culture filled with religion, music, and tradition, and it is unfair that they have
to deal with poverty, water shortages, uranium radiation, and most of all, being forced to
change their identity all because they are a minority race. Navajos have been pushed
around and forced to change for centuries, yet their heritage and culture has been
preserved the best it can by its people resisting acculturation.

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7.

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