Diné (Navajo) Background Info

The Navajo obtained sheep and goats from the Spanish and began a herding way of life, later adding some cultivation and becoming more sedentary, living broadly in what is today the four corners area.

The Navajo claim descent from Changing Woman and her two twin sons, Born for Water and Monster/Enemy Slayer. From them derive the system of matrilineal descent (kinship traced through the mother’s line), the Blessingway ceremony, the concept of harmony in society (hózhó), and healing and protection ceremonies.

The Navajo herding lifestyle led not only to using sheep for food, but also to shearing and preparing fleece to weave into textiles colored with natural and later manufactured dyes. The Navajo learned to weave from nearby Puebloan peoples, although according to Navajo tradition Spider Woman taught the people to weave. Navajo weavers continue to create textiles of extraordinary virtuosity in a variety of regional styles that are appreciated worldwide. The Navajo added silversmithing to their artistic repertoire about 1875.

Starting about 1600 the Navajo conducted bitter warfare against the Spanish. This warfare led to the Long Walk in 1864 from the Navajo homeland to Bosque Redondo in eastern New Mexico, where the Navajo suffered greatly until their return to their homeland (Dinétah) in 1868.

Diné (Navajo), David Chethlahe Paladin
Hide Painting, 1950-1984
Leather and paint