The Blessing Way (1970)

Also referred to colloquially as "the rez," the Navajo Reservation covers 27,425 square miles of territory and includes portions of northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico. It is the largest land area governed by a Native American sovereign nation in the U.S.. Similar to other areas "reserved" for indigenous Americans, the Navajo Reservation is comprised of a complex interweaving of ongoing negotiations between what it means to embody traditional and contemporary iterations of Native America, especially when Native and non-Native value systems collide in often violent, and sometimes complementary, fashion on, at the borders of, and near the reservation.

While there are many different versions of the Navajo origin myth, general aspects of the myth are present in all versions. In the beginning First Man, First Woman, and Coyote journey through multiple worlds, each distinguished by a color. The journey begins in the lowest level where the inhabitants have all the means to be happy, but arguments and violence develop. The anguish becomes so great it begins to destroy the world by water and the characters escape into the next world by climbing up into a hole in the sky. However, in this new world chaos eventually reigns once more, and the destruction and escape process is repeated.

In each world the characters meet new helpers who travel with them. Eventually the group emerges on earth’s surface, which is a markedly different world than the others. The earth is covered in water and controlled by water birds. These birds are defeated in contests and the four winds drain the world. First Man and First Woman spend time planning how to build this new world. Their first actions are to create holy people that are humanlike and to build the first Hogan with the power of their medicine pouch. First Man then completes a night-long ceremony where he creates a world where there is beauty, balance, and order. It is into this world their child, Changing Woman, is born. Later on, it is Changing Woman’s twin boys, Monster Slayer and Born for Water, who defeat the monsters in this world and make it safe for people to live in.

Also known as “Naatsis’áán” in Diné. A dome-shaped mountain (elevation 10,388 ft) that straddles the Utah-Arizona border, with its highest peak on the Utah side. It is the easiest landmark to spot in western Navajo country and is considered sacred by local indigenous groups including the Navajo, the Paiute, and the Hopi. In the Navajo tradition, the mountain represents the head of the female corn pollen spirit, Earth Woman. The mountain also features prominently in the Navajo Coyoteway story.

While Navajo Mountain is not one of the four sacred mountains of the Navajo origin story, it is believed to be a mountain that emerged after the creation of the earth due to its own powers, which include curing sickness and bringing rain. Because of the mountain's location on a border and near the Rainbow Bridge, another important feature in the Navajo origin story, the mountain served as a peaceful meeting ground between the Navajo and Paiute. While many areas surrounding Navajo Mountain are available for hiking and camping as part of the Navajo Nation Tribal Park, because of the sacredness of the mountain, climbing and summiting the peak are forbidden.

Also known as the Navajo Nation Police, this entity is a law enforcement agency on the Navajo Nation Reservation. The Navajo Tribal Police were originally established in 1872, four years after the Navajo were released from incarceration in Fort Sumner in southeast New Mexico after their forced "Long Walk" from Canyon de Chelly in northeast Arizona in 1864. Manuelito, the great Navajo warchief, known for his resistance to Mexican and U.S. invasions of Navajo territory, was appointed the first "chief" of the Navajo police. Before this time, civil law enforcement had been handled by the Federal Government’s Branch of Law and Order. Despite its initial success, the Navajo Tribal Police was dissolved in 1975. The Navajo Nation Police was reinstated in 1989 upon request from the Navajo Tribal Council.

The first Indian police forces were established in the mid-1800s, with the creation of the Federal reservation system. Initially, these forces were given some measure of autonomy, but self-policing was almost entirely eliminated in the late 1800s and early 1900s, during the Assimilation and Allotment Era. The New Deal's Reorganization Era of the 1930s and 1940s gave back some agency and self-defining rights to Indian Nations, but the Tribal Elimination policies of the Second World War and post-war era brought about devastating effects to systems of tribal government and policing. Following the 1960s civil rights movement, issues of minority recognition and rights gathered momentum and public support, and with the Self-Determination Era of the 1970s Native peoples in the U.S. were able to regain substantial autonomy from federal governance.

Today Native American tribes across the U.S. have their own police forces that function, on reservation lands, much like local or state police units outside the reservation. Tribal police officers have law enforcement authority only inside the reservation, but work closely with state and federal police agencies.

Also known as Diné Bizaad, part of the the Apachean subgroup of the Athabaskan branch of the Na-Dené language family. Diné means “the people” or “children of the holy people,” and so the language is that of the people. The language is unique in its nasalization of some vowels, its use of glottal stops and releases, and its reliance on tone to signify meaning.

The Navajo, also known by their preferred name, the Diné, are the largest federally recognized Native American tribe in the United States. Their reservation is spread out throughout the Four Corners region of the American Southwest, and includes portions of the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

The Navajo base their way of life on a belief that the physical and spiritual world blend together and everything on earth is alive, related, and in equilibrium, also known as ho′zho′. In this light, the Navajo observe two primary ceremonials, among many others. The first is the Blessing Way, which keeps them on the path of wisdom and happiness. The second is the Enemy Way, which is meant to discourage evil spirits, eliminate ghosts, and cleanse an individual of elements or affects that have placed her or him out of balance.

Also spelled Naat'áanii Tsoh, Natani Tso, meaning "Big Leader” in Navajo, is an iconic volcanic plug, or lava butte, northwest of Kam Bimghi (Chinle) Valley in northeast Arizona. This geologic feature is also known as King-on-His-Throne and is located within Monument Valley State Park in Utah, which itself is on the Navajo Tribal Reservation.

Also called a medicine bundle, a medicine pouch is a traditional Native American container for various items that have totemic, spiritual, or supernatural power. The Navajo word for medicine pouch is jish, which is not only a container for ceremonial goods but also describes the ceremonial goods themselves. Medicine pouches often contain pollen, which is used in rituals and chants.

The opening located on the end of a gun's barrel. This is the point from which ammunition is expelled. At times, because of the small explosion that creates the force that propels the ammunition through the barrel and out the muzzle, a bit of smoke exits the muzzle, along with the bullet .

The meat from a mature sheep. Mutton stew and roast mutton are today main staples of the Navajo diet. Sheep were introduced into the Americas by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, along with horses and cattle. During this time the Navajo traded and raided for sheep from the Spanish. Sheep became a major part of their economy, and, also, their diet.