Navajo



NAVAJO INDIANS Navajo, or Dine -they call themselves, is the largest tribe of North American Indians. Long ago, the ancestors lived in Northwestern Canada and Alaska. Over 1,000 years ago they began to travel south and reached the southwestern United States. They met farmers who are known as Pueblo Indians, and the Navajo began to settle near them and learn from them. The Navajo learned how to plant corn, beans, squash, and melons. The Navajo also began to learn a similar style of weaving, making clothing and art from the Pueblo Indians. The Navajo Indians lived in homes called hogans. They are made from wooden poles, tree bark, and mud. The doorway opened to the east so they could welcome the sun. After the Spanish settled in the 1600’s, the Navajo began to steal sheep and horses from them. The Navajo started to use the animals in their daily life. They used the sheep for its wool to make clothes, blankets, and rugs. They also used the sheep for food. They used the horses to travel longer distances and also used them to begin trading. The Navajo began making items to trade in towns. There were also trading posts built on reservations to sell their handmade crafts, such as pottery and blankets. The Navajo reservation is currently the largest in the United States. It has over 140,000 people with 16 million acres most of which are in Arizona. They still weave from wool and use natural vegetable dyes for color. Today, people live like the old days the best they can with the modern lifestyle, but others use modern technology to live.

For more about NAVAJO FOOD, CULTURE & RELIGION, click here.
Navajo National Monument Navajo National Monument preserves three intact cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people.

**Navajo Nation** Click here for a MAP of Navajo Nation. **Location:** 260 miles northeast of Phoenix The Navajo refer to themselves as the Diné, or "the People". In 1868, a peace treaty was signed allowing the Navajo people to return to their homeland. Today, the Navajo Tribe represents the largest Indian Tribe in the U.S. and stretches across the high deserts and forests of the four corners region. Tourism has a significant role in the Navajo Tribe's economy, as it is home to natural wonders such as Canyon de Chelly and Rainbow Natural Bridge. The Navajo Nation is also home to Diné College, the first tribally controlled community college in the country. The college features a six story, hogan shaped cultural center.
 * Population (2000 Census):** 104,565 (Arizona)
 * Enrolled Tribal Members:** 255,543 (Total)
 * Land Area:** 18,119.2 square miles (Arizona)
 * Gaming:** No