Transcript Title

The Navajo
The Dineh: The People
Prepared by Rebecca Baird
7/7/2015
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When and where the religion was
established:
• The Dineh, or "The People," as the Navajo
call themselves, migrated to the Southwest
from the North around the 15th century. They
were first noticed by other peoples between
the 14th and 15th century, between the
Champa and upper San Juan rivers.
• The Spaniards brought sheep and horses
which the Navajo adapted to their nomadic
lifestyle. It is thought that the Navajo originally
consisted of four clans and today has
expanded to include over 60.
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Number of adherents:
• There are more than 210,000 Navajo
today, but not all practice the traditional
Navajo way of life.
• Most adherents live in the Four Corners
area.
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Location of most people who practice the Navajo Religion
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Map of the Navajo Reservation
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Dzil Na’oodilij
Dzil Na'oodilii (El Huerfano Mesa ) is considered to be the
"lungs" of Navajo country. It is also the home of Yódí'ashkii
(Goods of Value Boy), and Yódí at ééd (Goods of Value Girl),
and one of the homes of 'Altsé Hastiin (First Man), and 'Altsé
'Asdzáá (First Woman). In the beginning DzilNa'oodilii was
decorated with pollen, rugs, hides, cloth, and Male Rain for the
coming of a special child (Changing Woman).
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Shiprock Peak
• A long time ago the Diné were hard pressed by their enemies.
One night their medicine men prayed for their deliverance,
having their prayers heard by the Gods. They caused the
ground to rise, lifting the Diné, and moved the ground like a
great wave into the east away from their enemies. It settled
where Shiprock Peak now stands. These Navajos then lived on
the top of this new mountain, only coming down to plant their
fields and to get water.
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The Hogan: A Connection
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The Hogan: Place of Life, Place
of Ceremonies
•
The performance of the
Blessing Way ceremony would
take place within a hogan, a
lodge used to symbolize the
universe, where a fire
representing the sun is located
in the middle. The diviner marks
out four posts with cornmeal by
moving within the hogan in a
clockwise fashion. In this way,
the four posts become symbolic
of the four cardinal points within
the hogan as that of the
universe.
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The Hogan: Place of Healing
• Holy Way diviners aim to cure the sick
person through song, prayer, and drama
by placing the individual in the middle of
the hogan in order to identify them with
Hozho as expressed by the deities.
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Hogan Healing Ceremonies
• Inside the hogan, the patient undergoes
curative rites administered by those of a
hand-trembler for those whose disease
origins are not known. The hand-trembler
diagnoses the further medicine rites that will
be used to restore harmony to the particular
patient. The hand-trembler feels his hand
over the patient's body in order to decipher
the nature of the disease.
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Hogans and Sandpaintings
• The ritual of an Holy
Way Healing
Ceremonies, if it is
chosen as a treatment,
carries the symbolism
of sandpaintings made
in the first day of the
ceremony as models of
the cosmos in order to
gather the universal
power of motivating
forces.
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Influential practitioners:
• The CodeTalkers of
World War II
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Growth of the Religion
• Causes: After the
Long Walk
• Effects: Changes
from influence of
other cultures, yet
resurgence in
general practices
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Holy Days
• Every day is a holy day
to the Navajo. There is
no “Sunday” equivalent
to Christian tradition.
• Holy events take place
all year long.
• Ghost Ways and
Healing Ways usually
take place in the
season when thunder
sleeps (Winter).
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Holy work:
• There is no holy work.
• The holy works are preserved in the
sand paintings and ceremonies of the
haatalli (medicine men and women).
• The legends of the holy people are
preserved in oral tradition and in the
enactment of ceremonies.
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Ecclesiastical law?
• One who is Navajo lives by the Navajo
Way.
• The Navajo do not punish wrong doers,
but work to bring the people in harmony
with the Blessing Way.
• They believe evil/wrong is done if one is
out of harmony (hozro).
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Clergy
• Hand-tremblers
• Crystal-gazers
• Singers
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Function of Clergy
• Both men and women may be handtremblers, crystal gazers, and singers, but
most singers are male.
• Hand-tremblers and crystal gazers determine
how the patient is out of hozro.
• Singers perform the ceremony to bring one
into hozro again.
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Rites/Rituals/Ceremonies
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•
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Communion with God(s)/holy ones
birth
rites of passage/puberty rites
baptism
marriage rites
death rites
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Communion with God(s)/holy
ones
• The diyin diné, generally translated as
Holy People, are the beings whose
actions are recounted in the stories and
myths that are the basis for the Navajo
ceremonials [Diné binahagha'] and who
are pictured in the sandpaintings
['iikááh].
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The Navajo Pantheon
• The core group of the Holy
People contains First Man [Á
tsé hastiin], First Woman [Á
tsé asdz ], Coyote [M 'ii],
otherwise known as "first
scolder" [Á tsé hashké], First
Boy [Á tsé ashkii] and First
Girl [Á tsé at'ééd], Talking
God [Haashch'éé ti'í] Calling
God [Hashch'éoghan], and
Changing Woman.
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Changing Woman
• Changing Woman is seen as the source for
all good in the Navajo world.
• She is almost an earth mother figure and
represents the cyclical path of the seasons
[nináhágháhígíí], birth (spring [daan d go]),
maturing (summer [sh sh go]), growing old
(fall ['ak'eed]) and dying (winter [haigo]), only
to be reborn again in the spring [daan d go].
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Changing Woman and the Clans
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The “Good” Afterlife
• The goal of the earth-surface people, by
aiming for knowledge gained over a
long and happy lifetime is to join the
diyinii (the holy people) at the end of
their lives.
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Navajo Blessing for a Newborn
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"Today, we are blessed with a beautiful baby
May his feet be to the east
may his right hand be to the south
may his head be to the west
may his left hand be to the north
May he walk and dwell on Mother Earth peacefully
May he be blessed with precious, variegated stones
May he be blessed with fat sheep in variation
May he be blessed with respectful relatives and friends
May he be blessed with the essence of life in old age
May he be blessed with the source of happiness in beauty
We ask all these blessings with reverence and holiness
My Mother the Earth
My Father the Sky
My Sister the Sun
All is Peace
All is Beauty
All is Happiness
All is Harmony“
Source: navajo-coop.org
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Yeibichai
During the Nightway
ceremony, a team will be
composed of fourteen
dancers: the leader
Yeibichai - the Talking
God, six
male dancers, six women
dancers, and finally, the
Water Sprinkler - the God
of Precipitated
Waters. On
the final night, teams of
dancers appear in public in
what is referred to as the
Yeibichai Dance until just
before dawn. The
ceremony ends with the
chanting of
the "Bluebird Song" which
celebrates the happiness
and the peace that the
bluebird symbolizes.
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Yei in a Navajo Rug
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Whirling Log Rug from Sand
Painting
Mrs. Sam Maurelito, weaver, after
Hosteen Klah, Dineh healer,
Whirling Log Ceremony Sand
Painting ca. Navajo nation, 1925.
tapestry taken from sacred sand
painting. Native American.
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Sand Painting as Communion
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Spider Woman and Weaving
• Spider Woman taught
Navajo ancestors of long
ago the art of weaving upon
a loom. Her husband, Spider
Man, made the first loom,
using sky and earth cords for
the cross poles, sun rays for
the warp sticks, rock crystal
and sheet lightning for the
herarlds, and a sun halo for
the batten. The comb was
made of a white shell.
• Spider Woman lives on
Spider Rock in Navajo lore.
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Rug Weaving
Circa 1920
From the Tom O. and
H. Lucille Kimball
Indian Collection.
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Rug Weaving at Hogan
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Symbols used in Navajo Prayers
and Art
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The Swastika
Many people have commented on the swastika in Navajo artwork,
specifically in carvings, in blanket designs, and in sand paintings. It is the
result of basket weaving where the ends of a simple cross design are
turned either to the right or left, depending on the direction of the weaving,
to form a swastika. Its meanings are as diverse as its worldwide origins.
For the Navajo, the symbol is known as the Whirling Log.
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Yei
Yei depicted in
a
contemporary
navajo rug.
Source:Verkamps.com
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The Four Sacred Stones
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turquoise
white shell
abalone shell
black jet
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Turquoise (Doot kl'izhii)
• Turquoise is considered one of the four
sacred stones of the Navajo. For
centuries they have regarded it as a
valuable talisman and take pride in its
possession. Sheepherders have carried
a turquoise fetish to insure fertility of the
sheep, hunters to insure success in the
hunt, and warriors to insure victory and
a safe return.
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Powers of Turquoise
• Traditionally a bead of turquoise was
fastened to a lock of hair to protect the
Navajo from being struck by lightning and
believed to be a safeguard against snake
bite. Every household would have a buckskin
pouch of herbs, turquoise and shell to add
protection against any unexpected event or
catastrophe.
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Turquoise Squash Blossom
Necklace
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Four Sacred Colors
• The white [ igai] light of Dawn [hayíí k ]
in the east [ha'a'aah],
• The blue [doot 'izh] light of midday ['a
ní'ní' ] in the south [shádi'ááh],
• The yellow [ itso] light of twilight
[nahootsoii] in the west ['e'e'aah],
• The black [ izhin] of Night [t 'éé'] in the
north [náhook
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Sacred Pouch: Medicine Bundle
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Birth
• Blessing Way Ceremonies are typically
used for pregnant women, at weddings,
and for girl's puberty rites.
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Cradle Board Use and Blessing
•
Many Navajos still use a
traditional cradle board to keep
their babies safe and protected.
Made with cottonwood, pine or
cedar laced together with thin
strips of leather, the Cradle
Board feature a wide, wooden
hoop over the baby's head that
protects the child. Navajos
believe the flat boards will give
the baby a strong, straight back,
and that a soft supporting pad
will help the infant form a nice
rounded head. The Cradle
Board is blessed with corn
pollen, prayers, songs and good
thoughts for the baby.
•
Source: native-american-art.org
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Purification Rites
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Evil Way Ceremonies
• Evil Way (Ghost Way) ceremonies
involve purification rituals such as those
of exorcism in order to realign the
harmony of universal forces. In these
types of exorcisms, the "ghostway" is
usually incorporated as a way to restore
a sick person to Hozho by rescuing
them from the malevolent forces of
ghosts.
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Rites of passage/puberty rites
• The Navajo
celebrate a girl’s
turning thirteen or
her first and second
menses with a huge
ceremony:
• The kinaalda.
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Kinaaldi
• In the Blessing Way ceremony of the
girl's puberty, sacred matter of cornmeal
or cornpollen is applied to the body for
blessing, signifying the changing of girl
into woman--one of beauty, symbolic
regeneration, and rejuvenation.
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Changing Woman’s Ceremony
• The Kinaaldi Ceremony
was first performed by
Changing Woman who is
one of the most important
of the Navajo Holy
People. Changing Woman
represents the earth and
as such is the source for
all life and its sustenance
on the earth.
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Modeling Changing Woman
• Many young
Navaho girls are
painted with a white
clay mixture on different
parts of her body and
costume. The painting
and costume of shells
and other ornaments
depicting Changing
Woman are like a mask
enabling her to stand
out from the others, to
aid in her walk through
womanhood.
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Activities in Kinaaldi
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•
•
•
The girl must
grind corn,
race,
prepare a cake
called 'alkaan,'
• Undergo hair
washings and
combings
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Baptism
• There is no baptism in the
Navajo way of life.
• However, corn pollen is
sprinkled at many holy
ceremonies and in a daily
greating to the holy ones
• Corn pollen is sprinkled on
an infant.
• Corn is the gift of the Holy
People.
• When the Navajo emerged
into the fourth world (this
world) they were hungry.
• Turkey shook himself and
kernels of corn fell from his
wings.
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Corn Pollen Pouch
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Wedding tradition
• Navajo Traditions
White corn meal symbolizes the male and
yellow the female. The Navajo combine the
two meals into a corn mush and put it into a
wedding basket before the traditional
ceremony.The Navajo bride was an equal
partner to her husband. The couple would
share the maize pudding during the
ceremony to symbolize the marriage bond.
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A Navajo Wedding
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From a Navajo Wedding
Source:agaveproductions
Navajo Wedding Ceremony
Arizona Humanities Council
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Death Rites
• The Navajo do not have funerals or bury their
dead.
• For 4 days after the death, family members
must stay home and not mention the dead
person for fear of convincing the chindi to
stay in this world.
• Volunteers take the body to a crevice in the
sandstone and cover the sandstone.
• Both family and volunteers must then
undergo a four day purification ceremony for
having had contact with the dead
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A Dying Place
• People who are dying ask do go outside
to die. Dying inside a home means the
home can no longer be occupied.
• A death hogan has its wall caved in to
allow the chindi to escape.
• Navajo do not like hospitals because of
the chindi who live there.
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Preparing the Body
• Bodies must be
ritually washed.
• Hair must be
washed with Yucca.
• Shoes must be put
on the wrong feet so
the chindi cannot
find its way back.
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The Chindi
• The Navajos believe that, when a person
dies, a ghost—what they call a chindi—is
released with the last dying breath.
• This chindi is always an evil force who returns
to avenge some offense.
• Contact with a chindi is very dangerous, and
causes sickness or misfortune. So the Navajo
are quite fearful of and take every precaution
to avoid contact with a chindi, especially the
malevolent witches knows as Skinwalkers.
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Appearance of the Chindi
• The chindi are seen
only after dark and may
appear in various forms
as apparitions of the
coyote, owl, mouse,
spot of fire, whirlwind,
human form, and
indefinite dark objects.
• Ceremonies purify after
chindi contact.
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Journey to the Afterwordl
• That aspect of a Navajo’s spirit which
represents the good in his or her life may, at
death, go to an afterworld (ciditah). In a
journey that take four days, the spirit of the
newly dead is guided to the afterworld by
deceased relatives and friends. The
afterworld is really an underworld and is
accessed through the "hole of emergence"
(xajinai) from which the first Navajo people
came forth at the beginning of time.
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Navajo Divorce
• Rules governing divorce in the Navajo Nation used to
be quite simple: because a husband moved in with
the wife's clan, a woman who desired a divorce
simply placed her husband's saddle (and other
personal belongings) outside the door of their home.
Instead of focusing on property settlements,
traditional divorce practices emphasized family and
clan relationships, with the wife and children staying
with the wife/mother's unit . (source:www.ainc-inac.gc.ca )
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Age of Reason
• Children are respected in the culture
because of clan relationships.
• Children from your paternal
grandfather’s or grandmother’s clan
have the honorary status of revered
adults.
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Major tenets of the
faith:
What do I have to
do/believe to
become a Navajo?
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Is Conversion Possible?
• One is born a Navajo.
• Anyone is welcome to walk the Blessing
Way, but the faith is of a place and of a
people.
• People may marry into a clan and adopt
the ways, but most remain Belagaana's
(other)
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Life’s end
• The goal of the
earth-surface
people, by aiming
for knowledge
gained over a long
and happy lifetime is
to join the diyinii at
the end of their lives.
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Sources
•
•
•
•
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Navajo.org
ThePeople.org
Dinee.org
Dineteh.org
NavajoHealthInitiative.org
NativeAmericans.org
A lifetime of study
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