The Navajos

The Navajos people lived in what is now southwestern America (Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah). Up until they had contacts with Pueblo and the Spanish they were hunters and gatherers, today the United States Of America has granted the land also known as A Reservation. Navajos lived in what was usually a Hogan, A Hogan is a square or conical with a distinct rectangular entrance made of wood or covered in mud, the Navajos usually had the door pointing west to welcome the sun every morning. A Hogan was a sacred place to the Navajos they respected it. The Navajo diet was that of nomadic hunter-gatherers who pursued deer and smaller game, gathered wild plant foods, and carried out raids on farming peoples. As the Navajo evolved under the influence of first the Pueblo Indians and then the Spanish, they came also to be shepherds and farmers. Mutton and goat became staple foods, as did corn, beans, squash, and some fruits from orchards. The Navajo looks at life as a learning experience for his chance to improve; they study nature and use it to its full extent. He tries to learn all that he can from nature without destroying its purpose. Navajos gave thanks to Mother Nature for providing them with nutrition and health. The everyday Navajo male dressed in deerskin shirts, hip-leggings, moccasins, and native blankets. The everyday Navajos female wore deerskin waist, skirt, moccasins, and blanket but as years went by they started wearing what they called a "squaw-dress” similar to a poncho, they knitted these and wore them. Art for Navajos was first developed in 1872 by a man named Astidi chon he first came to a place named Zuni to make silver jewelry for sale not only did he sell but in return for the Zuni’s hospitality he taught them how to make silver ornaments, this eventually led to the spread of his technique and they began to use them all around other tribes. The Navajos were very bonded to their family and the events that happened in there surrounding life, from this