And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 23:33:41 -0700
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Origins Based on Archaeology and Ethnology:
The Navajos and Apaches are a group of Athapaskan speaking Indians
believed to have migrated far from the main Athapaskan groups in Canada
to the Southwest. Even though there are many opinions concerning the
"origins of the Navajos and their migration route into the Southwest,"
the linguistic, historical, archaeological, and ethnographic evidence
indicates that the Navajos and the Western Apaches probably "entered the
Southwest from the north and northwest via a route which took them
through the Rockies."
Pre-Southwestern Navajo culture is difficult to describe or locate due
to a shortage of archaeological information. Any discussion of a
"pre-Southwestern Navajo period" would be largely hypothetical. / It
may, however, be safe to presume that prior to contact with the Pueblos,
Navajo life was "probably characterized by a Plains Apache way of life"
which would include a hunting economy and a semi-nomadic life style.
Brugge, however, feels there is enough evidence to state that by 1300
the Apachean tribes had probably reached the northern "periphery" of the
Anasazi region, north of the San Juan River basin.
Early Southwest Settlements:
Early Apache and Navajo archaeological sites are difficult to
distinguish. This adds to the problem of defining Navajo aboriginal
territories based on migration evidence. "Navajo sites are identified
by the presence of the hogan, sweat houses, towers [Pueblitos], and
three [distinct styles of pottery]." / "The total of Navajo
archaeological [site] studies is amazingly small....." Identifying
them with certainty is difficult because hogans are made of logs making
them "ephemeral structures" and because the artifacts at the sites have
little consistent commonality.
Even with all of the problems identifying early Southwest Navajo sites,
there is still strong evidence that the initial settlement of the
Din�tah region took place in the early 1500's. Until more
archaeological sites are discovered that are undeniably attributable to
the Athapaskan immigrants to the Southwest, the time they arrived
remains difficult to verify and their culture remains illusive.
The earliest distinctly Navajo sites were found in the Gobernador, Largo
Canyon, and Chaco regions of northwestern and northcentral New Mexico.
The solid evidence to support this is "a hogan on Chacra Mesa firmly
dated 1600; before this....three tree-ring dates.... in the Gobernador
locality....from 1491 to 1521" indicate Navajo settlement in the area
prior to 1600. (See Map, Appendix "C"). According to tradition, the
Tin�txah (old-time Navajo homeland) gradually shifted eastward slightly
from this area and then the tribe expanded to the west and south.
The Spaniards were "not particularly interested in describing or
preserving Indian culture...." Therefore, there is a shortage of
descriptive material from the period of initial contact that would have
been invaluable in determining and understanding the pre-contact
aboriginal social and cultural characteristics of the early Southwest
ancestors of the Navajos.
They did leave behind some maps, however, that have provided evidence
for establishing Navajo territories during the 1700s. According to
Hester, an examination of historic maps of the Spanish possessions
revealed that "(1) No map prior to 1701 very accurately locates the
Navajos; (2) maps [from] 1701-1770....agree [that]....the Navajos [were
located] west of the Continental Divide, South of the San Juan River,
northeast of the Hopi villages, and north of Zuni." /
Underhill refers to a map made by the priests Dominguez and Escalante,
in 1776, a time when "the Navajos were well embarked on their western
expansion." Her report also includes a photo of a map captioned
"Escalante's map, showing the 'Provincia de Nabajoo' (lower right)."
This map may have been the map that was used to produce the one in
Ellis' report referred to as "The earliest known map of the Navaho
[sic], after Dominguez and Escalante." The boundaries on this map are
consistent with Hester's description in the previous paragraph. (See
Map, Appendix "D")
Brugge's map of "Approximate Navajo settlement" in 1700 agrees with
Escalante's map in its eastern, southern, and western boundaries but is
more generous in its northern boundary. It extends considerably north
of the San Juan River while Escalante's map uses the river as the
northern border. (See Map, Appendix "E")
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.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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