• Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center
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| “I am sitting outside my hogan. I am thinking, Looking at the red rocks, the ridges, the sheep, the plants, and all in my world. I am thinking What it will be like here In the Future.” Thomas Littleben, Rock Point Community School, Rock Point, Arizona |
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| The Navajos call themselves Dineh, “the People.” Related to the Athabaskan tribes that live along the northwest Pacific coast and in Canada, the Dineh traveled eastward from the Pacific coast reaching what is now Farmington, New Mexico. Dinetah, a term referring to the Navajo territory of canyons and mesas, means “among the people” or “Navajo homeland.” | |
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| Navajo diet changed greatly since their contact with whites. Coffee or tea became an indispensable part of every meal. Bread and meat (usually mutton or goat) are the staples of the Navajo diet. | |
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| Philosophically, the primary goal of Navajo ceremonialism is to restore universal harmony once it has been disturbed. Practically, however, ceremonialism serves three purposes: first, to restore and maintain health; second, to obtain increase of wealth, the well-being of home, flocks, and fields, and security for the residence group; and third, to acquire ceremonial property such as a token to be worn as protection from lightning and snakes. | |
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| Sheep and wool have become a major resource for the Navajos since they first acquired sheep and horses from the Spaniards in the seventeenth century. Residence groups, consisting of a number of households and organized around a sheep herd, place their sheep in a common and share caring tasks. A cooperative enterprise, the sheep herd is closely linked to the identity, welfare, and status of the resident group. | |
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| This co-educational group plays
a game perhaps similar to the stick dice game. Usually played by women
only, this game uses three dice that are tossed on a flat rock in
the center of a circle formed by pebbles. The Pomo Indians of California stick dice game includes 6 stick dies and 12 counting sticks. One side of each of the 6 sticks is decorated with the same design. Players take turns tossing the stick dice and keep score using the counting sticks. Different combinations will score different point values. Examples are: 6 blank side up sticks and 0 painted side up sticks, score 2 points; 3 blanks and 3 painted sides, score 1 point. The first player to earn all 12 counting sticks is the winner. |
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| The social and economic residence group is the fundamental unit of Navajo social organization. It is organized around a head mother, a sheep herd, and a customary land-use area, all of which are called mother. Navajo communities are organized around a head mother. From her all residence rights are derived. The husband of the head mother resides in the unit on the basis of his marriage; the spouses of the children reside in the unit by virtue of their marriages. | |
| <<Exhibit Photographs, Page 2 | |
