Navaho

Introduction - (OSL-Nick)
The Navajo people speak in some kind of Athabasca language used in World War 2 for secret codes that Japan could not understand. They are located in the Arizona close to one of the top war stations in Texas. Even with the war Navajos always wanted the best for their people and there for their name means and always will mean: the people. It amazing how the Navajo form of government is sort of like ours because it has a president and a conical which is weird because we just had our election. Now finally for the moment we have all been waiting for the past history. Navajo has some very important past history they did not fight in the war but they helped by being flexible so that they could use their language for secret codes.



Habitat/Homes - (SLL-JacobB)
The Navaho lived around Northern New Mexico,all of Arizona and Southeast Utah. The Navaho habitat was mainly sandy deserts, plateues, canyons, and mesas. There were also mountains and rocky areas but very little grass. Their houses were called hogans, were dome like brown-orange houses that were made of sticks, dirt, and adobe clay. The normal hogan was only one room, had no windows, and had a tiny hole in the roof to let out smoke. The thick clay helped protect the Navaho from strong winds and bad weather, which was very common in the Southwest region. The hogans were usually about 26 feet in diameter. In a hogan the Navaho slept with the whole family which was usually four to five members. The Navaho also had special ways of arranging their hogan,their door always faced the east (to welcome the rising sun), the woman slept on the north side, the men on the south side, and the visitors on the west. The usual furniture in a hogan were beds. Special hogans had tables, chairs, and occasionally they had wood-burning stoves that they used in the winter to stay warm. Hogans were stationery, it would be almost impossible to move a hogan because adobe was so heavy and thick. Navaho lived in small villages but gathered for ceremonies, and usually lived five to ten miles away from each other. The Navaho even blessed their homes in ceremonies to bring them good luck. Today the Navaho live in trailers, apartments and normal houses, but they still build hogans for religious ceremonies. The Climate for the Navaho was veried depending on where they lived and what season it was. If you lived in New Mexico or Arizona on a summer day it would be very hot and humid during the day, and at night it would be warm and pleasent. If you lived in Utah it would also be hot and humid but at night it would get cool. In the winter in Arizona and New Mexico, in the day it would be warm, at night it would be cool. In Utah it would be cold in the day and freezing at night. The southwest had a lot of threating animals such as rattle snakes. Coytes also roamed the southwest with jack rabbits and antelope.
 * Where did the Navaho live?**
 * What their habitat like?**
 * What did they live in?**
 * What was their climate like?**
 * What kind of animals were in the southwest?**

Dress - (SLL-KatelynnH)
The Navaho men wore deerskin shirts, and leggings, but on occasions they wore velvet. They also adapted the Mexican style after the 1800’s, and wore b lanket s over there shoulders.
 * The Navaho Men**

The Navaho women wore deerskin dresses and also adapted the style of the Mexicans by wearing cotton dresses made by stitching two blankets together at the shoulders. The women also carried their babies on their back. The Navaho men and women both wore moccasins .They both also wore turquoise and silver homemade jewelry. The Navaho wear modern clothes now but still wear traditional cloths at ceremonies
 * Navaho Women **
 * Both Men and Women**



Food -(SLL-KatelynnH)
The Navaho Indians were primarily hunters and trappers. They hunted deer, pronghorn antelope, and rabbit. They also hunted mammoths until they became extinct, they robbed the Pueblo, and stole there crops. And then later they became farmers and sheep raisers. Their recipes were often passed down without being written down .They measured the ingredients by memory. I would have thought that if it was done by memory it would taste terrible. But the food none the less was great.
 * WHAT THEY ATE**

Customs - (OSL-Nick)
The Navajos worshiped Holy People. Some of their names were Talking God, Changing Women, Bear, Ant, and Corn People. They worshiped by singing or chanting so a singer was like a monk or a pastor in Navajo. The Navajo believed that every thing had a purpose. Whenever you did something wrong the earth goes out of balance you had to through a ceremony and if they liked it they restored the balance. A medicine man and a singer through the ceremony.

When you get married you must marry someone from a different clan. When a child is born it is placed in a different clan. When a child is born you need to announce it to public. The first time you meet someone you refer to them as brother or sister. When Navajos get in unusual surroundings they call to their brothers or sisters to take care of them.

Tool and Weapons - (SLL-JacobB)
The Navaho main weapons were bows and arrows for hunting. When they were hunting they would occasionally put poisons on the arrow. The boys even made their own sling shots. They also made bow cases and quivers out of mountain lion skins. While in war the Navaho used spears, clubs, shields, and bows. They used wooden hoes and rakes for farming, and for weaving they used looms and spindles. They also made baskets, pottery, hammers, and knives. Navaho also made cups out of gourds. The Navaho made most of their of tools out of natural recorces such as wood, bones, antlers, and stone. Their transportation consisted of walking. They did not use horses because Europe colinists did not bring them over to America yet. To carry heavy objects the Navaho built travois or sleds that dogs pulled so they wouldn't have to. They did not use canoes like most indians to travel beacuase they lived in the Southwest, which did not have any rivers to travel in. Their bows were about three to four feet long and were made of wood. The bow line was made of deer organs, the arrowheads were made of rock. Their bows were made of wood, and were two and a half feet long. The bows could be made in about four days. Their baskets were made of straw and thin strips of wood. The Navaho used very bright colors on their baskets such as yellow and orange. The basket making process has not changed for hundreds of years.
 * Navaho hunting weapons.**
 * Other tools.**
 * What the Navaho made their tools and weapons out of?**
 * Navaho Transportation.**
 * How were tools and weapons made?**