navajo-culture

[navajo-culture]

Seven years ago, the Navajo tribal council in southeastern Utah started mapping the secret sites where medicine men and women forage for healing plants and Native people source wild foods. They wanted to make a case for protecting the landscape known as Bears Ears, a place sacred not only to their tribe but to many other tribes in the region, going back thousands of years. In one of his final acts in office, President Obama late last month created the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument, a move that proponents say will safeguard the area’s ecology and guarantee food sovereignty for the region’s Native Americans.

“Up to 20,000 Natives of various tribes live within 45 minutes of Bears Ears, including 10,000 Navajos that live just across the border in Arizona,” says Gavin Noyes, director of the Utah Diné Bikéyah, the Navajo nonprofit that developed the initial draft of the monument proposal in 2013. “It’s one of the wildest, most intact landscapes in Utah.” About 16,000 people live in San Juan County, where Bears Ears is located. Roughly half are Navajo, and many in the tribe lack running water and electricity, says Noyes. But the land still provides.

Bears Ears Monument Is A Win For Tribal Food Sovereignty. Will Trump Undo It?

Photos: Josh Ewing/Courtesy of Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition

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How Orenda Tribe Is Supporting Hard-Hit Navajo Nation During the Coronavirus  - CNTraveler 

In most recent news, COVID-19 has gravely affected the Navajo Nation, as they have the highest infection rate. Fashion designer, Orenda Tribe, moved back to the Navajo Nation prior to the coronavirus outbreak, but has been supporting her community by allocating 100 percent of the proceeds from her merchandise sales into the Navajo community to pay for protective PPE, firewood, and food. This is a great example of how the sales of (authentic) Navajo clothing is helping feed and nourish the community. Click on the link to read more!

[navajo-culture]

How the Navajo Nation Is Reclaiming Food Sovereignty - Civil Eats

This article highlights the efforts of the new generation of Navajo people who looking for ways to reconnect to indigenous food ways. Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz, a chef and holistic healer, has led cooking lessons in rural, Native Southwest communities out of a food truck known as the Mobile Unit for Training and Nutrition (MUTN). The Nutritionist with the Navajo Nation Special Diabetes Project, Lena Guerito, has urged the Navajo community to change their diets from potatoes and bread to something more nourishing. Alana Yazzie, a lifestyle and food blogger, has made her efforts as well to share recipes and tips to all of her blog, The Fancy Navajo. All efforts made vary in how they get their content across, but nonetheless share the common goal to encourage the Navajo people to reconnect with their indigenous ways and reclaim their food sovereignty. 

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What Weavings Bring: The Social Value of Weaving-Related Objects in Contemporary Navajo Life - Award winning student paper (2008)

In this academic essay, Jill Ahlberg-Yohe focuses on the importance of the Navajo weaving experience, creations, and tools used, traded, and passed on through generations. Navajo weavings, whether they were clothes, blankets, or rugs, have been recognized as highly valuable trade items for centuries. Weaved products were often traded for medicine and food for their families. Oftentimes, the Navajo people got their food and weaving materials from the same source, sheep, who “[...] ensured wool for weaving and meat for survival.” This is an excellent example of how resourceful the Navajo are and the interconnectedness of clothing, food, and land.

Ahlberg-Yohe, M. Jill. “What Weavings Bring: The Social Value of Weaving-Related Objects in Contemporary Navajo Life: Hayden Student Paper Award Winner.” Kiva, vol. 73, no. 4, 2008, pp. 367–386. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30246557

[navajo-culture]

Toasted Sister Podcast -  Radio about Native American food

Coloradians! Go check out this award winning podcast where Navajo host Andi Murphy sits and chats with numerous Native chefs and foodies regarding, “what Indigenous cuisine is, where it comes from, where it’s headed and how it’s used to connect them and their communities to their origins and traditions.” In addition to the various podcast episodes, Murphy also posts videos and recipes of indigenous foods and merchandise you can purchase to help support this platform dedicated to educate all folks on all things surrounding Native American foods.

[navajo-culture]

Hey, Coloradans! Go support an authentic Indigenous Native American owned & based restaurant located in Denver! They opened back in 2008 and are the only American Indian owned and operated restaurant in Metro Denver that specialize in Native and Indigenous cuisine. Their vision, according to their website is to embrace the traditions of American Indian Cuisine and ingredients by building community through food. By eating at either Tocabe location, you are not only experiencing a piece of Native American culture through their passed down ingredients and recipes, but are supporting their community and local farmers.

[navajo-culture]

OXDX Clothing Release Ad (2016)

This is an ad for the Navajo owned clothing brand OXDX.  The artist and owner Jared Yazzie has been producing artwork since 2009 to increase awareness of indigenous issues and to show the beauty of Native culture. According to their website,  "OXDX" is an abbreviation of the word "Overdose", a word Yazzie uses to describe the state of modern society. Sometimes we need to pull back and remember our culture, tradition, and those who have sacrificed before us.

In this short video we see beautiful landscape shots of the Navajo land with a voice over of a Navajo spoken word poem by an indigenous girl wearing their merchandise. There’s a bonding connection between the dry desert land in which they live on, crop seeds meant for sustaining future generations of Navajo folk, and the clothing merchandise being sold. All are a source of sustenance for their tribe and their culture.

[navajo-culture]

The Fifty One Podcast Episode (2018)

The Navajo Nation is about the same size as the state of West Virginia, split into four agencies with a total of 110 chapters. Each chapter has been making viable efforts to help solve their issue of food insecurity. Andi Murphy explains that there’s only about 10-13 grocery stores on the entire reservation and most folk drive hours to get fresh foods. The convenience stores on the reservation lack fresh fruits and vegetables but always carry processed food, which are high in sodium and bad for one’s health. This is why they have made efforts to grow their own foods and share that knowledge with the community. Another effort made is the “junk food tax,” where the collected tax money goes towards building community gardens to feed the Navajo tribe. Overall, their goal is to reclaim their food sovereignty. As mentioned in the podcast, they’d like to attain that without big GMO-using agriculture companies meddling in their affairs.

[navajo-culture]

Squash Blossom Duo, “SIGNIFICANT BEHIND NAVAJO TRADITIONAL CLOTHING”

The two Navajo girls in the video describe and explain the various clothing pieces that indigenous men and women wear (eg. bill ee’, Ke’Ntsaai, & etc). They also describe the significance of the designs on their clothing, such as a rug dress (eg. mountains, rainbow, & etc).

[navajo-culture]

One sex did not dominate the performance of various chores like wood chopping, butchering, planting crops, and so on. This does not mean, however, that there is neither a division of labor nor a perceived difference between the sexes among the Navajos. One example is that food preparation and child care were most frequently, although by no means exclusively, conducted by women.

Kent, Susan. “The Differentiation of Navajo Culture, Behavior, and Material Culture: A Comparative Study in Culture Change.” Ethnology, vol. 22, no. 1, 1983, pp. 82.

This research paper highlights the differences between the Navajos and the Anglo-Americans & Spanish-Americans through the observational study taken in 1978. What Susan Kent found was that the Navajo culture does not differentiate much from the other cultures. However, the major difference was the lack of emphasis on what duties are assigned to what gender. Particularly, in regards to the preparation of food, farming, and overall feeding their families everyone helps out without the assigning of the division of labor based on gender.

Research Paper:  www.jstor.org/stable/3773651

[navajo-culture]

Beyond Buckskin Article: I Don’t Like Esty & This is Why...

Culture appropriation has always been an issue that all Native/Indigenous People have had to deal with, especially the Navajo Tribe. Dr. Jessica R. Metcalfe sheds light on the continuance mis-labeling of products sold on the online Esty shop that serves as a platform for small business to sell handcrafted goods. She claims that although, products may be labeled as “Native Inspired,” in order to adhere to the Indian Arts and Craft Act regulation, (Non-Native) retailers are still drowning out genuine and authentic Native owned businesses. “They can continue to sell their work and profit without being completely upfront and honest,” states Dr. Metcalfe in her article, exposing how unfair this is to the Indigenous Communities, like the Navajo Tribe as they this a form of maintaining their livelihood.

Coloradians and others, it’s our duty to do our part and call out Non-Native retailers when appropriating Native culture. 

Website Link: http://www.beyondbuckskin.com/2016/05/i-dont-like-etsy-and-this-is-why.html

[navajo-culture]

Navajo Food(s)

The Navajo have a variety of different foods they like to eat. However, they had a hard time adjusting to colonizer dishes, such as pork. They prefer wild plants and other meats, such as goat & rabbit.

Navajo Food Website: http://navajopeople.org/blog/navajo-food/

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Maddhappy, a clothing retailer located in Aspen, CO appropriated the Navajo Nation Seal and received great backlash for it. This is a blatant disrespect to the Navajo Nation as Madhappy lacked originality in their design, directly copied the Navajo artwork without any permission granted from the tribe and profited from it. Nonetheless, Madhappy took down the design from their website, offered to meet with tribal government personnel to develop cultural training for its employees, and donated the proceeds to the tribe.

[navajo-culture]

The Navajo Nation Flag & what it Represents.

The Navajo Nation flag was officially adopted by the Navajo Nation Council in 1968. The dark brown portion represents the original 1868 Treaty Reservation. However, the present Nation is outlined with the copper color. At the cardinal points in the tan field portion of the flag they symbolize the four sacred mountains and the rainbow arching over them represent Navajo sovereignty.  In the center of the Nation, a circular symbol depicts the sun above two green stalks of corn, which surrounds three animals representing the Navajo livestock economy, and a traditional hogan and modern home. Between the hogan and the house is an oil derrick symbolizing the resource potential of the Tribe, and above this are representations of the wild fauna of the Nation. At the top near the sun, the modern sawmill symbolizes the progress and industry characteristic of the Navajo Nation's economic development.

Navajo Nation Government Website: https://www.navajo-nsn.gov/history.htm

[navajo-culture]

The Navajo Nation is home of the largest Native American Indian tribe, covering the corners of three states: Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is the largest reservation in the United States, covering 27,673 square miles.