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Traditional Definitions of Din�tah: According to the mythological history of the Navajos, they live at the center of creation, the very center of the universe. "Boundaries [are those] ....ultimate points [that are] most distant from the center [and] still under the influence of the....forces that hold up, sustain existence, or regulate the Navajo world." Being associated with "the center" is important to the Navajo's relationship with the world. This "notion of center" appears to provide the main point of reference in daily Navajo life. "Anything from outside the Navajo world is understood to cause trouble or chaos: the alien is looked upon as a source of 'noise' (bad influence, chaos)." The importance of being at the center may explain more than a general Navajo-centric world view or lack of tolerance for the other. It may also explain the lack of consensus on such things as the identity of the Sacred Mountains, the location of the Place of Emergence, and the location of the Center of the Universe and World. It appears that the locations and identities of these sacred places vary depending on the historical period and location of the informant. These variations may have been due to the shifting perspectives of the people as the heartland of the Din�tah shifted around in response to outside pressures. It has become common practice to define the Din�tah by simply using the Sacred Mountains as markers for the boundaries. This practice is an overly simplified way of defining the territory that does not take into account the mobility of the Din�. The entire Navajo world is "bounded by the Four Sacred Mountains," but the boundary points of the Din�tah are "unstable" and "may move continuously with expansions of population and/or territory." They do, however, remain "within the region defined by the Four Sacred Mountains." The Sacred Mountains simply mark the extreme exterior of the Navajo world and are quite possibly the farthest visual contacts of early settlements. According to Hester, the definition of the boundaries of the "traditional" Navajo homeland based on the Sacred Mountains is a concept that is identifiable with the "period of Navajo settlement in the Southwest dating after 1700." Ellis' suggestion that the "Navajo borrowed the concept of sacred mountains, [that their] selection.... was conditioned by Pueblo beliefs, [and that] some of the specific mountains....changed as the tribe moved westward," supports Hester's assertion. / In Locke's condensed version of the Navajo story of their origin, when the people emerged into the fourth world they found themselves at a point where there were four "great snow covered peaks" on the horizon - one in each of the four directions, East, South, West, and North. / The Arizona Republic stated that "Traditional Navajos believe that when their tribe emerged from the pit of the Earth, the deities created four mountains to mark the boundaries of their sacred land" and listed the Four Sacred Mountains as follows: *East: Sisnajiini - Mount Blanca, in the Sangre de Cristos of north-central New Mexico *South: Tsoodzil - Mount Taylor, near Grants, New Mexico *West: Dood'o'oosliid - San Francisco Peaks, north of Flagstaff, Arizona *North: Dibentsa - Mount Hesperus, near Durango, Colorado There are many sources of information on the identity of the Four Sacred Mountains all providing slightly different versions. The main controversy is over the identity of the Eastern Sacred Mountain. There may be an explanation for this confusion. As outside pressures increased, the people expanded west and south from their early settlements in the Largo and Gobernador Canyon areas. As they moved west, the identities and locations of the east mountain(s) became vague. It may also be that as they moved they became familiar with new "Sacred" landmarks. None of this truly addresses the issue of defining the early Din�tah (tin�txah) other than to define the absolute extreme boundaries within which, by tradition, the Din�tah must be confined. It does, however emphasize the illusive and fluid nature of the terms traditional and aboriginal. The aboriginal lands (Din�tah) of the Navajo may have been, and probably were, much smaller than the area defined by the boundaries formed by the Sacred Mountains. Their boundaries were probably also in constant motion and flux, adding to the difficulty of establishing a definitive description. -- Andr� Cramblit, Operations Director-Northern California Indian Development Council NCIDC (http://www.ncidc.org) is a non-profit that meets the development needs of American Indians and operates an art gallery featuring the art of California tribes (http://www.americanindianonline.com) ============================================================ Rent DVDs Online! For a Limited Time, Try Netflix FREE! Tired of video stores? Poor selection, lines, late fees? Try a better way to rent DVDs. Rent Online from Netflix. http://click.topica.com/caaafkob1ddNBb2HgmNf/Netflix ============================================================ Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. 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