Facts about the ancient Navajo tribe?

Question: Facts about the ancient Navajo tribe!?

Can you tell me facts about the ancient Navajo tribe!? Please! Thank you!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The Navajo occupied ancestral territory in what is now northern Arizona and New Mexico, plus a much smaller part of southern Utah and Colorado!. The heart of their territory was situatied on th elower part of the Colorado between the San Juan and Little Colorado Rivers!. The Navajo came to the southwest later than other Indians, some time before 1400!.

In their own langauge, the Navajo are the Dineh or Dine, meaning "the people"!. They call their homeland Dinetah!.

When the Dineh first came to the Southwest, they survived in the rugged, dry environment as nomadic bands of hunter-gatherers!. Along with their kinsmen, the Apache, they launched many raids on the agricultural Pueblo Indians for food, property, women, and slaves!. throughout most of their history, the Navajo were feared by Indian, spanish, Mexican and American inhabitants of the Southwest!. Although they continued their raiding activities, the Dineh, through contacts with Pueblo Indians, gradually adopted new cultural traits!. From the other Indians, they learned farming, in addition to skills like weaving and sandpainting!. They probably also learned how to make pottery, as well as new basketmaking techniques, from the Pueblo Indians!. The Navajo acquired sheep and goats from the Spanish!. But they did not use up their supply for food, as the Apache did!. Instead, they raised them to increase their herds, which they kept for meat, milk, and wool!. Livestochkespecially sheepherding, soon became essential to Dineh economy!. The dineh first acquired horses at about the same time they acquired sheep and goats - the mid to late 1600s!. Horses gave them greater mobility on their raids!.

The Dineh lived in shelters called hogans!. These were generally cone-shaped, but later they were built with six or eight sides!. Logs and poles were used for the framework, which was covered with bark and earth and, in later years, with stone or adope!. The doorways of the hogans always faced east!.

For the Dineh, as far all Native Americans, art and religion were intertwined!. Art served a ceremonial purpose, as a way to relat to spiritual beings that the Dineh bleieved existed in both the natural and the supernatural wolrds!. It was also a way to be closer to one's ancestors and to influence the spiritual beings to affect the weather or cure the sick!. The dineh had highly developed art and rituals for these purposes!.

One dineh art form was oral chants!. The dineh, and most other Indians did not use the written word to record their legends!. Rather they recited their myths in songs and poetry, usually to musical accompaniment!.

The coyote plays an important role in the mythology of tribes all over North America!. Native Americans respected the animal for its cunning and its ability to survive in forests, mountain, prarie and desert country!. In some Indian stories, the mythical culture hero Coyote helps oeple!. But usually he is a practical joker who plays tricks on people, or a meddler who ruins people's plans!.

Coyote was one of the Holy People in Dineh religion!. Changing Woman, or the Earth mother, was another!. Unlike coyote, she was always kind tot he Dineh and gave their ancestors corn!. Spider Woman, who according to legend, taught the peiple weaving, and Spider man, who warned the people of coming danger, could be mean like Coyote!. The Hero Twins, who killed the monsters to make the world safe, could also turn nasty!.

In addition to the mythology, poetry and songs, the Dineh developed an art form known as sandpainting!. The sandpaintings were altars used in healing ceremonies!. The animals and designs had symboloic meanings!. The Indians created these intricate and colourful dry paintings by tricking powders of mindrals such as ochre, ground sandstone, gypsum and charcola into patterns on clean sand!. At the end of the rituals, the paintings were destroyed!. Participants took some of the powder away with them for its magical properties!.

The dineh learnt weaving from the Pueblo Indians!. Dineh women learnt to spin wool from sheep, dye the threads, and then weave them on a loom!. The finished blankets and rugs had bright geometric designs or in some cases, pictures of animals!.

Another Dineh craftr considered a fine art is jewelry making!. The dineh learned the art of silversmithing from the Mexicans in the mid-1800s, and passed this skill on to Pueblo Indians!. The dineh became famous for their silverwork, especially necklaces, bracelets, and belt buckles!.Www@QuestionHome@Com