Daily Life
The Dine are people that pay great respect to their mother Earth. Their constant devotion to their religious beliefs and outlook on balance and healing is embedded onto their daily lives. Their rich culture of visual arts and music are well integrated with their mentality of being one with mother Earth. These principles and beliefs are well embedded into traditional Navajo daily life and culture. Everything is revolved around the foundation of their location, the Earth and their entire being.
Architecture
Navajo built structures are always of necessary functional use. They have the Hogan, which is their primary traditional home. Other structures include the summer shelter, underground home and the sweat house – all for either social function, bodily health, cooling or warming. The Hogan as described in the Navajo’s religion song “The Blessingway,” is being built by the coyote with help of the beavers for man, woman and the talking God. The Hogan resembles a pyramid with 5 triangular faces held up by structural framework logs. Earth filling is used in between the framework to create thick insulated walls for the winters. Within the Hogan, women cook, weave, talk and entertain while the men tell stories and jokes. If a death should occur in the Hogan, the body is either buried in the Hogan and the entry is sealed to warn others away, or the structure is abandoned and burned. Entry doors are always on the east face.
Clothing
Navajo clothing initially was made of deerskin for shirts and skirts, later on, men wore cotton or velvet shirts with no collars, breeches below the knee and moccasins. Women began to wear the squaw dress, made of plain dark blankets.
Diet
The main foods of the Navajo is mutton and corn. Flour is also consumed due to trading. Meats such as antelope, deer, elk, sheep and rabbits are considerable in Navajo diets. Other foods such as acorns, beans, potatoes, nuts, squash, pumpkin, berries, grapes and yucca fruit are eaten.
Education
The formal education that the Navajo children receive today is mostly within a general American curriculum. The Navajo Nation has a preparation school in New Mexico which is the only Navajo-sanctioned, college-prep school for Native Americans. In addition to the general American curriculum, there are topics taught to invoke youth appreciation for the Navajo language, culture and history. The Navajo also have a sanctioned two-year community college which its main campus is in Tsaile, Apache County, with seven other campuses on the reservation. Within the community college includes Dine (Navajo People) Studies, which elevates student’s learning through Nitsáhákees (thinking), Nahat'á (planning), Iiná (living), and Siihasin (assurance) in study of the Diné language, history, and culture in preparation for further studies and employment in a multi-cultural and technological world.
Beliefs
The traditional Navajo way contains no concept for religion, rather as a realm of activity separate from daily life. Navajo religion has been described as “life itself, the land, and well-being.” All living things - people, plants, animals, mountains, and the Earth itself - are relatives. Each being is infused with its own spirit, or “inner form,” which gives it life and purpose within an orderly and interconnected universe. The interrelatedness of all creation is recognized through daily prayer offerings and an elaborate system of ceremonies. The purpose of Navajo life is to maintain balance between the individual and the universe and to live in harmony with nature and the creator. In order to achieve this goal, Navajos must perform their religious practices on the specific, time honored areas in which they inhabit.
Houses & Traditional Structures
A hogan (pronounced /ˈhoʊɡɑːn/ or /ˈhoʊɡən/, from Navajo hooghan [hoːɣan]) is the primary traditional home of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. It is usually round and cone shaped, but now they make them square, with the door facing east to welcome the rising sun for good wealth and fortune.
The hogan is considered sacred to those who practice the Navajo religion. The religious song "The Blessingway" describes the first hogan as being built by Coyote with help from beavers to be a house for First Man, First Woman, and Talking God[1]. The Beaver People gave Coyote logs and instructions on how to build the first hogan, now known as a "forked stick" or "male" (áłchʼįʼ adeezʼá) hogan[1]; which resembles a pyramid with five triangular faces[1]. Earth may fill the spaces between the framework logs, hiding the five faceted shape and creating thick, winter-protective walls. The "forked stick" or "male" Hogan contains a vestibule in the front and was used only for sacred or private ceremonies[1].
The "circular" or "female" Hogan (tsé bee hooghan), the family home for the Diné people, is much larger and does not contain a vestibule. In it, the children play, the women cook, weave, talk, and entertain and men tell jokes and stories. Navajos made their hogans in this fashion until the 1900s, when they started to make them in hexagonal and octagonal shapes. The change in shape may have been due to the arrival of the railroad. A supply of wooden cross-ties, which could be laid horizontally to form walls of a larger, taller home, allowed the retention of the "female" hogan shape but with more interior room. The doorways of the hogans always face east[2].
Many cultural taboos are associated with the hogan and its use. Should a death occur in the structure, the body is either buried in the hogan with the entry sealed to warn others away, or the deceased is extracted through a hole knocked in the north side of the structure and it is abandoned and often burned. A hogan may also become taboo for further use if lightning strikes near the structure or a bear rubs against it. Wood from such structures is never reused for any other purpose by a Navajo[2].
Today, while some older hogans are still used as dwellings and others are maintained for ceremonial purposes, new hogans are rarely intended as family dwellings.
Clothing
Navajo clothing for both men and women initially was deerskin for shirts and skirts. The men later wore cotton or velvet shirts with no collars, breeches below the knee, and moccasins. Women gradually wore the "squaw dress," made of plain dark blankets
Dress
Primitively the men dressed in deerskin shirts, hip-leggings, moccasins, and native blankets. These were superseded by what has been the more universal costume during the present generation: close-fitting cotton or velvet shirt, without collar, cut rather low about the neck and left open under the arms; breeches fashioned from any pleasing, but usually very thin, material, and extending below the knees, being left open at the outer sides from the bottom to a little above the knees; deerskin moccasins with rawhide soles, which come to a little above the ankles, and brown deerskin leggings from moccasin-top to knee, held in place at the knee by a woven garter wound several times around the leg and the end tucked in.
Diet
Find out what are some traditional Navajo foods still eaten today? What are some traditional Navajo foods from the past, but not commonly eaten today? What are the various foods prepared from a sheep? What are foods made with corn?
The principal food is mutton, boiled, and corn prepared in many ways. Considerable flour obtained from traders is consumed; this is leavened slightly and made into small cakes, which are cooked over the embers like Mexican tortillas.
The four days preceding the night of the ceremony are days of abstinence; only such foods as mush and bread made from corn-meal may be eaten, nor may they contain any salt. To indulge in viands of a richer nature would be to invite laziness and an ugly form at a comparatively early age. The girl must also refrain from scratching her head or body, for marks made by her nails during this period would surely become ill-looking scars. All the women folk in the hogán begin grinding corn on the first day and continue at irregular intervals until the night of the third, when the meal is mixed into batter for a large corn-cake, which the mother bakes in a sort of bean-hole outside the hogán.
Foods (Primitive)
English Apache Jicarilla Navaho
acorns chĭd-jí̆l na-tó-ka-tsĕ ché̆-chĭl bi-ná
antelope já-gĕ ta-gá-tĕ jú̆-dĭ
beans (native) bé̆s-tsoz ná-o-hlĕ-tsos-tĕt nú̆-o-hlĭ
cedar berries dĭl-tú-hla du-tlí̆sh-ĭ kal-tú-stĕ-ih dit-zé̆
corn na-tán na-tán na-tán
deer bin bi^{n) bin
elk bin nal-dé̆ tzĕs tzĕ
grapes (wild) dŭh-tsá tŭt-zé̆ tŭt-zé̆
juniper berries dĭl-tú-hla chĭl-há-zhĕ
mescal (agave) ná-ta ná-ta ná-ta
mountain sheep dĕ-bé̆-chụ zi-dĕ-bé̆ tsĕ-tú̆-dĕ-bĕ
piñon nuts o-bé̆ nĕs-chí nĕs-chí
potatoes (wild) ĭlh-tsú si-tsí̆n-nĭ pi-ji-né̆ ná-ma-si
prairie-dogs ăn klun klun
pumpkins bĕlh-kún na-yí-zĕ na-yĭ-zĭ-chí
rabbits (jack) gah-chú gah-tsó gah-tsó
rabbits (cottontail) gah-chi-lé̆ gah-chĭ-shé̆ gah
rats (wood) klosh-chú klé̆-tso klĕ-é̆-tso
squash gó-chi bĕlh-kún na-yí-zĕ na-yí̆-zĭ
yucca fruit gu-skú̆n kash-kán kŭsh-kán
The Dine are people that pay great respect to their mother Earth. Their constant devotion to their religious beliefs and outlook on balance and healing is embedded onto their daily lives. Their rich culture of visual arts and music are well integrated with their mentality of being one with mother Earth.
Navajo Culture - The Navajo are people very geared toward family life and events that surround their lifestyle. Many games and traditions have emerged from their love of the land and their attachment to it. Long winter nights and the seclusion of the reservation has brought about most of the customs and activities used by the People to entertain and amuse themselves.
Ceremonies
The Navaho life is particularly rich in ceremony and ritual, second only to some of the Pueblo groups. Note is made of nine of their great nine-day ceremonies for the treatment of ills, mental and physical. There are also many less important ceremonies occupying four days, two days, and one day in their performance. In these ceremonies many dry-paintings, or "sand altars," are made, depicting the characters and incidents of myths. Almost every act of their life—the building of the hogán, the planting of crops, etc.—is ceremonial in nature, each being attended with songs and prayers.
The Navaho life is particularly rich in ceremony and ritual, second only to some of the Pueblo groups. Note is made of nine of their great nine-day ceremonies for the treatment of ills, mental and physical. There are also many less important ceremonies occupying four days, two days, and one day in their performance. In these ceremonies many dry-paintings, or "sand altars," are made, depicting the characters and incidents of myths. Almost every act of their life—the building of the hogán, the planting of crops, etc.—is ceremonial in nature, each being attended with songs and prayers.
The formal education that the Dine receive today is mostly within the grasp of common American educational systems. Although Dine do have a Navajo Preparatory School in New Mexico which is the only Navajo-sanctioned, college-preparatory school for Native Americans. Its goals are to offer students a challenging, innovative curriculum in science, math, computers, and other traditional academic subjects, as well as help the youth gain a deep appreciation of the Navajo Language, culture, and history.[3]
Located in Farmington, New Mexico, a few miles outside the Navajo reservation, Navajo Preparatory School's mission is: "To educate talented and motivated college-bound Navajo and other Native American youth who have the potential to succeed in higher education and become leaders in their respective communities."
They also have a Dine College, a two-year community college which has its main campus in Tsaile in Apache County, as well as seven other campuses on the reservation. Current enrollment is 1,830 students, of which 210 are degree-seeking transfer students for four-year institutions. The college includes the Center for Diné Studies, whose goal is to apply Navajo Sa'ah Naagháí Bik'eh Hózhóón principles to advance quality student learning through Nitsáhákees (thinking), Nahat'á (planning), Iiná (living), and Siihasin (assurance) in study of the Diné language, history, and culture in preparation for further studies and employment in a multi-cultural and technological world.Religion
The traditional Navajo way contains no concept for religion as a sphere of activity separate from daily life. Navajo religion has been described as 'life itself, the land, and well-being.' All living things - people, plants, animals, mountains, and the Earth itself - are relatives. Each being is infused with its own spirit, or 'inner form', which gives it life and purpose within an orderly and interconnected universe. The interrelatedness of all creation is recognised through daily prayer offerings and an elaborate system of ceremonies. The purpose of Navajo life is to maintain balance between the individual and the universe and to live in harmony with nature and the Creator. In order to achieve this goal, Navajos must perform their religious practices on the specific, time honoured areas which they inhabit.
Notes & References
Houses, Clothing, Diet, Daily Life, Education, Religion
Children of fathers God
One with Nature
Taboo with Death
Navajo aren't suppose to bother the dead
get rid of their bothering, get rid of their house, don't have photos of them
We were free people, things are changing
Hunger, poverty, given alcohol
Gas, paint sniffing, vapor abuse, all the cans have holes, mouthwash drink, hairspray, gas, antifreeze
All these people are intelligent, caring, try hard.
Why do they have a destructive behavior?
The 2' law, no water
Navajo People:
300,000 Strong
Alot of medicine people
Alot of the ways
Dineh
Largest in the US
14 Million Acre of reservation land
Operates in Window Rock, Arizona
Seek of balance between Culture and Commerce, in a way of preserving lifestyle
They would like to be independent from the US Government
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ustcINCDffA
Navajo Culture and Life
4 Cycles, 4 Elements, 4 Seasons
Summer Fire
Spring - Earth
Winter - Water
Fall - Air
4 Stages of Life - Childhood, Youth, Adult and Old Age
As a Person - Physical, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual
Male and Female are not opposites
All part of one, were all in this boat together.
They count age by how many winters they have endured
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeM0l9P9oc4&NR=1
http://navajopeople.org
http://www.xpressweb.com/zionpark/index3.html
http://www.navajoprep.com/about-us.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Preparatory_School