Navajo resources 5th grade
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. Now let's look at their History.
The Navajo came to the Pueblo lands - they raided the peaceful tribes for food and other goods. The Navajo, or Dine -they call themselves, is now the largest tribe of North American Indians. Over 1,000 years ago they began to travel south and reached the southwestern United States.
The Navajo were farmers, hunters and gatherers. The Navajo learned how to plant corn, beans, squash, and melons. They hunted on horseback. But they tended sheep and planted corn. The sheep were important. Sheep provided wool and food. Corn was even more important.
The Navajo also began to learn a similar style of weaving, making clothing and art from the Pueblo Indians. When the weather was cold, they wore clothing made from deerskin, sheepskin, and wool. These clothes were very colorful. They loved silver jewelry, decorated with turquoise, and wore a great deal of it. When the weather was hot, they wore very little clothing.
Small Family Groups: In olden times, the Navajo did not live in villages. They lived in small family groups. Each family lived near their corn ields. The men hunted deer and the women took care of the sheep and the crops.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.
Hogans: 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. They were dark and gloomy. They had no windows, and only a small hole in the ceiling to let out smoke. Hogans were usually one room affairs. People sheltered in the hogan at night. The only furniture in a hogan was bedding. Bedding was usually a sheepskin on the floor.
Winter and Summer Homes: Each Navajo family had two hogans - one in the desert and one in the mountains. The area in which they lived was subject to flash floods. Having two homes ready allowed them to move quickly. They moved seasonally. They might also move if they needed fresh grazing land, or if their food and water supply dried up.Women: Women owned the property. Property was passed down from mother to daughter.
Men: The men spent their lives with a small group of relatives on their mother's side. Whey Navajo men traveled, they looked for members of their mother's clan. He knew these relatives would offer shelter, food, and entertainment. When a Navajo man married, he moved to this wife's home.
In olden times, as part of the Navajo wedding ceremony, a bride and groom would eat out of the same basket. While they were eating, all their relatives would get a chance to lecture them about anything at all. A Blessingway was performed to bless the new marriage.
After the ceremony, the groom became a member of his wife's family. When he traveled, he looked for members of his wife's family with whom to stay, not his own family. The expression, "You're not losing a daughter, you're gaining a son," was not a Navajo expression, but it was the Navajo way.
Arts and Crafts
Jewelry: The Navajo are famous for their silverwork, an art they learned from the Spanish. They made belts, necklaces, earrings, and rings from sterling silver.
Ketohs: Ketohs (GAY-toes) are wrist guards worn by Navajo archers. The ketohs protected their arm from the snap of the bowstring, which let them shoot more accurately and for longer periods of time. It was an imporant tool to an archer. Navajo artists used silver to create decorative ketohs which could be worn by anyone.
Wool Blankets: The Navajo did not weave cotton. They traded for it, but they did not make it. Their weavers used wool. Their blankets were even more colorful, and the patterns more difficult, than blankets made by the famous