Navajo Culture Research Paper
Navajo Culture
Dustin Goins
Anthropology
Instructor Douglas
June 10, 2013
The Navajo, or Dine`, cultures are pastoralists. Pastoralists are those who regularly move in search of naturally occurring grass and water (Nowak & Laird, 2010). Navajo’s are an Indian tribe that reside on reservations and sometimes live on public domains outside of the reservations. These people have lived among us for centuries and have paramount survival skills for the desert area. This pastoralist culture has many fascinating characteristics. The primary aspects of this paper will focus on three of those characteristics, the Navajo’s beliefs and values, kinship, and their social organization.
Pastoralists depend on animals for their survival, …show more content…
This resilient value of family is the foundation of the kinship bond between the Navajo. They are a people that love their homeland and are spiritual connected to it. The Navajo Nation is one of the largest tribes in the United States, and the Navajo reservation encompasses over 16 million acres (Davina, R. T. B. 2006). As for kinship, the Navajos are a matrilineal society, where property, status, etc. are inherited through women. The Navajo people have a kinship system that follows the lineage of women (Carey, 2013). Women either bring a clan name with them, or are assigned a clan on acceptance into the tribe. Some come from existing clans of other tribes, while others may be created out of circumstance. The Diné society is based primarily upon kinship arising from clan affiliation, as each person is a member of the tribe by reason of his or her affiliation to one of the numerous clans (Carey, 2013). Each Navajo belongs to four different, unrelated clans. He or she belongs to his or her mother’s clan. He or she is born from his or her father’s clan. He or she has maternal and paternal grandfather’s clans. Traditionally, the people were forbidden to marry into the first two clans; today they are still strongly discouraged from doing so. The Navajo people are always living among relatives. This is an essential element that bonds this pastoral culture. Caring for and raising animals is a fundamental part of the culture. Younger family members learn the pastoral ways from grandparents, mothers and fathers. Even today, many Navajo children raised on the reservation continue to herd sheep and livestock. Although Navajo traditional life remains strong, like many cultures they’ve adapted to modern
Dustin Goins
Anthropology
Instructor Douglas
June 10, 2013
The Navajo, or Dine`, cultures are pastoralists. Pastoralists are those who regularly move in search of naturally occurring grass and water (Nowak & Laird, 2010). Navajo’s are an Indian tribe that reside on reservations and sometimes live on public domains outside of the reservations. These people have lived among us for centuries and have paramount survival skills for the desert area. This pastoralist culture has many fascinating characteristics. The primary aspects of this paper will focus on three of those characteristics, the Navajo’s beliefs and values, kinship, and their social organization.
Pastoralists depend on animals for their survival, …show more content…
This resilient value of family is the foundation of the kinship bond between the Navajo. They are a people that love their homeland and are spiritual connected to it. The Navajo Nation is one of the largest tribes in the United States, and the Navajo reservation encompasses over 16 million acres (Davina, R. T. B. 2006). As for kinship, the Navajos are a matrilineal society, where property, status, etc. are inherited through women. The Navajo people have a kinship system that follows the lineage of women (Carey, 2013). Women either bring a clan name with them, or are assigned a clan on acceptance into the tribe. Some come from existing clans of other tribes, while others may be created out of circumstance. The Diné society is based primarily upon kinship arising from clan affiliation, as each person is a member of the tribe by reason of his or her affiliation to one of the numerous clans (Carey, 2013). Each Navajo belongs to four different, unrelated clans. He or she belongs to his or her mother’s clan. He or she is born from his or her father’s clan. He or she has maternal and paternal grandfather’s clans. Traditionally, the people were forbidden to marry into the first two clans; today they are still strongly discouraged from doing so. The Navajo people are always living among relatives. This is an essential element that bonds this pastoral culture. Caring for and raising animals is a fundamental part of the culture. Younger family members learn the pastoral ways from grandparents, mothers and fathers. Even today, many Navajo children raised on the reservation continue to herd sheep and livestock. Although Navajo traditional life remains strong, like many cultures they’ve adapted to modern