US Department Report - NAVAJO NATION

NAVAJO NATION

Felix Jaggi

Intro:

The Navajo Nation was one of the many Indigenous tribal groups in present-day North America, specifically the United States. The majority of their settlements were in present-day Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. They were one of the first tribes in the area that were enslaved by the Spanish. Without further ado............I will start.....................right.......................NOW!

Earliest Settlement:

The earliest settlement was near the southern part of the Rocky Mountains, in present-day Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Originally, they were Hunter-Gatherers, one of the first Homo Sapiens Sapiens species, as they hunted native animals in their region. Along with the Apaches and Pueblos and Comanches, they were one of the most important and well-known tribes. They arrived in this part of the "New World" on June 1st, 1768. They are believed to have ancestors descended from Asia. The earliest tree-ring date is in 1541.

CULTURE:

The Navajos are among the tribes linked to the Grand Canyon. Today, they still perform ceremonies for ritual purposes, including visiting their sacred sites in the Grand Canyon. Navajo culture is a blend of old traditions adapted with new technologies and practices which traces back to early times based on their mythology. It revolves a lot around kinship and a complex clan system. The oral history of the Navajos talks about the nomadic lifestyle as hunter-gatherers. Like the Pueblos, they became farmers and harvested corn. They wove blankets from wool when the Spanish came.

The Navajos usually farmed vegetables especially beans, squash, and corn. It was eaten either dried or fresh. They hunted small mammals (especially deer) for protein. For their blanket source, they used sheep's wool. A fry bread that dates back to their biggest time is still considered a sacred tradition. In the Navajo region, it was used as the foundation of the "Indian taco" or "Navajo taco". Nowadays, it's served with honey or jam. The Navajos got flour and sugar and water from the government after their 300-mile walk from the Spanish.

FOOD:

Languages and Religion:

In addition to English and Spanish (the latter not so much until the Spanish came) they had their own language called the Navajo language. It was heavily influenced by English and Spanish when the Europeans came to their part of the modern-day USA. It is part of the Athabaskan language family spoken by the IP tribes of the Western United States. As for religion, the Navajos had their own religion called the traditional Navajo religion. It explains the Universe as beautiful and harmonius. Many Spanish people then converted them into Christianity.

CONFLICTS PART 1:

August 1846: The Spanish arrived with the intent to make it their home. The Navajo leaders concluded a treaty with American soldiers. February 1848: Navajo land became part of US government as a result of the Mexican-American war. 1851: Fort Defiance was erected in Navajo country to create Arizona, planning to expel the Navajos. The Americans planned to move the Navajo, but they rebelled. 1858: The US Army started a war against the Navajos after the Navajo chief brought 1000 Navajo leaders to attack Fort Defiance after American soldiers killed a lot of their livestock. Then, the Americans either killed or expelled over 8000 Navajos. 1863: Kit Carson, a new American leader, had drove Navajos from their land under his "Scorched Earth Policy".

CONFLICTS PT 2:

Carson made his soldiers kill their livestock, poison their food source, destroy the homes that they built, and burned crops. Thousands of Navajos hid in the canyon, and Carson's soldiers had begun guarding the canyon and shot any Navajo citizen who was trying to escape. March 1864: Carson's men began rounding up the Navajos to walk all the way to a reservation called Bosque Redundo in present-day New Mexico. During a spring blizzard, over a thousand Navajos were either killed or starved to death. 1864-1868: The Navajos experienced extreme hardships in the reservation, because it had very bad soil so they couldn't grow any more crops. They also got serious diseases from the other Indians. 1868: A treaty had been signed with the Navajos. This gave them permission to move into a better reservation established at Four Corners and provided them with new livestock.

NAVAJO TODAY:

As of 2021, the Navajos are the largest Native American group still around, at about 190,000. The largest concentration is on the Four Corners of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. The larger reservations are in AZ and NM. The Code Talker Navajos of World War 2 are still there too. Navajos have been great contributions to the US history of specific industries like sports too. Examples include Corey Witherill, a famous race car driver and Jacoby Ellesbury, a famous MLB player.

Issue 1: Lack of Water

There are so many Navajos with no running water at home. This is mainly because Arizona and New Mexico are now prone to droughts and it is very rare to get rain in these places. Most of these Navajos are drinking between two to seven gallons a day. That is a fortieth compared to almost all other Americans, with between 80 and 100 gallons a day. They have to travel far away for such little water. Problems have been significantly aggravated by the increase in climate change, with very little clean water for them. We should give the Navajo rights to free water from their local rivers and freshwater sources. Another thing we can do is stop using so much of their water to make water fountains all over cities. We can add on to the pump systems that they are building now. The Navajos could also get jobs out of this and make money out of irrigation systems.

Issue 2: Physical Health-Related

We know that most, if not all Native Americans have lower rights to health-related meds, or any other kind of health care. The cost of prescripted meds and specialized health care for the Navajos have been significantly increased over the past few decades. Their life expectancy has declined to about 72 years. Adding on to that, the two main death causes are unintentional injury and heart disease. Navajos also have higher risk to alcohol and substance abuse problem, with the chances being 5.6 times higher than US citizens for related deaths. These problems were significantly aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and due to the lack of telecommunication in these remote lands, as many as six Navajo children in the same family lose their father or grandfather and aren't raised well. It is a very sad picture of treatment, with the increased health risks, and with no hospitals nearby, conditions will be fatal. To solve this our workers can build hospitals nearby and donate free health care items to the Navajos.

Issue 3: Telecommunication

Navajos are deserted in terms of telecommunication networks, but they are soon ready for significant improvement. They have already got over 1,400 towers near their reservations, but most of them were unregistered for this specific purpose. This creates another issue worsened by the pandemic, as the Navajo Nation doesn't have any sufficient coverage on parts of their land to give more service to those who require constant service since they are very sick. The Navajos can register themselves for telecommunication by connecting their towers to the boundaries outside of their land, for the US citizens to hear them and provide them with everything that would reduce, or even end, their major conflicts with water and housing.

https://blog.nativehope.org/past-present-future-of-the-navajo-nationhttps://www.ducksters.com/history/native_american_navajo.phphttps://grcahistory.org/history/native-cultures/navajo/#:~:text=Navajo%20culture%20today%20is%20a,turkey%20who%20gave%20them%20corn. https://www.visitutah.com/articles/navajo-fry-bread-tacos-pizza#:~:text=Traditionally%2C%20the%20Navajo%20farmed%20vegetables,tribe's%20most%20popular%20food%20sources.https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1171.htmlhttps://searchlightnm.org/on-the-navajo-nation-a-life-without-water/https://www.usccr.gov/files/2020/2020-07-17-Jonathan-Nez-Testimony.pdf

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