Description
The Navajo are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members as of 2021, the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States; additionally, the Navajo Nation has the largest reservation in the country. Archaeological and historical evidence suggests the Athabaskan ancestors of the Navajo and Apache entered the Southwest around 1400 AD. The Navajo oral tradition is said to retain references of this migration. For example, the Great Canadian Parks website suggests the Navajo may be descendants of the lost Naha tribe, a Slavey tribe from the Nahanni region west of Great Slave Lake.
Language
Navajo or Navaho or Naabeeho bizaad is a Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dene family
Culture
The Navajo were largely hunters and gatherers. Later, they adopted farming from Pueblo people, growing mainly the traditional Native American "Three Sisters" of corn, beans, and squash. They adopted herding sheep and goats from the Spaniards as a main source of trade and food. Meat became essential in the Navajo diet. Sheep became a form of currency and familial status. Women began to spin and weave wool into blankets and clothing; they created items of highly valued artistic expression, which were also traded and sold. A hogan, the traditional Navajo home, is built as a shelter for either a man or a woman. Navajo spiritual practice is about restoring balance and harmony to a person's life to produce health.