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diff --git a/old/53631-0.txt b/old/53631-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5d32e21..0000000 --- a/old/53631-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1702 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Canyon de Chelly, by Zorro A. Bradley - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Canyon de Chelly - The Story of its Ruins and People - -Author: Zorro A. Bradley - -Release Date: November 29, 2016 [EBook #53631] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANYON DE CHELLY *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, MFR and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - _Canyon de Chelly_ - - - The Story of its Ruins and People - - by Zorro A. Bradley - - - Office of Publications - National Park Service - U.S. Department of the Interior - Washington, D.C., - 1973 - - _Library of Congress Catalog Card Number_ 73-600078 - - - - - Contents - - - Discovery of the Ruins 3 - The Principal Ruins 7 - White House 7 - Antelope House 9 - Standing Cow 12 - Big Cave 13 - Mummy Cave 15 - The People of Canyon de Chelly 17 - The Anasazi 18 - The Navajos 27 - Further Reading 57 - Maps 8, 24, 39 - - -_Far up above me, a thousand feet or so, set in a great cavern in the -face of the cliff, I saw a little city of stone asleep. It was as still -as sculpture—and something like that. It all hung together, seemed to -have a kind of composition: pale little houses of stone nestling close -to one another, perched on top of each other, with flat roofs, narrow -windows, straight walls, and in the middle of the group, a round -tower...._ - -_In sunlight it was the colour of winter oak leaves. A fringe of cedars -grew along the edge of the cavern, like a garden. They were the only -living things. Such silence and stillness and repose—immortal repose. -That village sat looking down into the canyon with the calmness of -eternity.... I had come upon the city of some extinct civilization, -hidden away in this inaccessible mesa for centuries, preserved in the -dry air and almost perpetual sunlight like a fly in amber, guarded by -the cliffs and the river and the desert._ - - —_Willa Cather_ - - -Quotation from _The Professor’s House_, 1925, by permission of Alfred A. - Knopf, New York. - - [Illustration: The righthand section of Mummy Cave Ruin as it was - photographed by Ben Wittick in 1882 during the James Stevenson - Survey for the Smithsonian Institution.] - - - - - Discovery of the Ruins - - -Canyon de Chelly National Monument is located in the red rock country of -northeastern Arizona’s high plateau, near the center of the Navajo -Indian Reservation. Included in its 131 square miles are three -spectacular canyons—Canyon de Chelly, Canyon del Muerto, and Monument -Canyon—and many ruins of long-deserted villages. Perched in alcoves and -on high ledges along the sheer-walled canyons, these villages are -evidence of man’s ability to adjust to a difficult environment, using -bare hands, simple stone age tools, and his own ingenuity. They stand as -enduring monuments to the culture of the ancestors of the present-day -Pueblo Indians of the southwestern United States. - -The ancestors of the Navajo Indians who now live in the shadows of these -deep canyons came here long after the earlier peoples had left. -Originally the Navajos did not live in the canyon, but only passed -through it on their yearly migrations. Today some live here permanently, -and their hogans are scattered along the sandy canyon floor, almost -hidden by the thick growth of willows and cottonwoods and detectable -only by a column of smoke slowly rising from a cook fire or by the -barking of dogs. Occasionally one may catch a glimpse of a brightly -dressed woman working around the hogan or of black-hatted men trotting -their horses between the nearby trading post, cornfields, or peach -orchards. A reserved and dignified people, they still live in the -tradition of their fathers. - -The main canyon’s name, de Chelly, stems from the Navajo word “Tsegi” -(pronounced tsay-yih or tsay-yhi and meaning “Rock Canyon”), the name by -which they know the canyon network. Two centuries of Spanish and English -usage have corrupted both the form and pronunciation. Most people now -pronounce it “dah-SHAY” or “d’SHAY.” - -The first Europeans to see the extensive ruins in Canyon de Chelly are -unknown. A Spanish map of 1776 indicates its location, and other -documents reveal that Spanish military expeditions sometimes passed -through the neighborhood. In 1805, Spanish troops entered the canyon -while trying to suppress Navajo raids. During the period of Mexican rule -(1821-46), a number of military expeditions against the Navajo invaded -the Canyon de Chelly region. Though the ruins had not been described in -writing, the area was fairly well known, and by 1846, when the “Army of -the West” brought the region under United States control, there were -many tall tales and rumors about the wonderful cities built in the -cliffs. - - [Illustration: Archeological excavations in Canyon del Muerto, - 1929.] - -In 1849, the New Mexico territorial government found it necessary to -request that a U.S. Army expedition be sent to subdue the Navajos. Lt. -J. H. Simpson of the Topographical Engineers accompanied the troops. His -journal, published in 1850, contained the first detailed account of some -of the Canyon de Chelly ruins. - -After Simpson’s visit, other military expeditions and a few civilian -parties probably entered the canyons. No archeological investigations -were made, however, until 1882, when James Stevenson surveyed the area -for the Smithsonian Institution, making sketches, photographs, and -ground plans of 46 ruins in the two main canyons. - -Stevenson found two mummies in a rock shelter ruin in the northern -canyon. Because of this find the ruin is known as Mummy Cave, and -Stevenson gave the canyon a Spanish name, Canyon de los Muertos, or -canyon of the dead men. The name has since been shortened to del Muerto. - - [Illustration: First Ruin in the lower part of Canyon de Chelly. It - has 10 rooms and two kivas.] - -Later in 1882, Cosmos Mindeleff, also from the Smithsonian and a member -of Stevenson’s party, mapped the canyons and showed the locations of -some of the larger ruins. Mindeleff’s monumental architectural survey of -the ruins of Canyon de Chelly was published in 1896, after two more -visits. - -Much of our knowledge about material objects used by the early Puebloan -inhabitants of the canyons comes from the work of the late Earl H. -Morris, who excavated a number of the important cave sites in the -1920’s. Since then a comprehensive survey of the monument has been -carried out by David L. De Harport for the Peabody Museum of Harvard -University, and additional excavations have been conducted by National -Park Service archeologists. - - [Illustration: The upper and lower White House ruins were probably - connected when the ancient Indians lived there.] - - - - - The Principal Ruins - - -Within the national monument are perhaps 800 prehistoric and historic -Indian village sites, representing various stages of Pueblo and later -Navajo cultural development and spanning a period of about 1,800 years. -The most interesting and important ruins are described below. - - -WHITE HOUSE - -Located up the main canyon, about 6 miles from Park Service -headquarters, White House is one of the largest, best preserved, and -most accessible ruins in the monument. - - [Illustration: A kiva at the White House ruin, where religious and - other ceremonies were held.] - -Lt. J. H. Simpson described this ruin after his 1849 visit, calling it -Casa Blanca (White House). It is also known by its Navajo name, -Kini-na-e-kai. Both names derive from a conspicuous white-plastered wall -in the upper portion. - -White House was constructed in two sections; one stands against the base -of the cliff on the canyon floor, and the other is in a small cave -immediately above. Mindeleff estimated that at one time the whole ruin -contained as many as 80 rooms. Much of the lower building has probably -been washed away by the stream nearby (a retaining wall now helps to -prevent this), but evidence of about 60 rooms and 4 kivas (special -ceremonial chambers) still survives. - -Behind the back walls of the lower ruin the smooth cliff face rises 35 -feet to the floor of the cave above. Marks on the face indicate that at -one time the rooms of the lower building stood several stories high, and -its roof came to within 4 feet of the cave floor above. - - [Illustration: This map shows only the principal ruins in the - canyons that are open to visitors. Only some of these are discussed - in the text. The rock formations of these canyons eroded easily, - thus producing the steep cliffs and cave formations that provided - protection for the Anasazi.] - -The upper ruin contains 10 rooms and has a large room nearly in the -center of the cave. The outside front wall of this room is 12 feet high -and still has the coating of white gypsum clay plaster with a decorative -band of yellow clay for which the ruin was named. - -At the western edge of the lower ruin are the partial remains of two -well-built kivas. One kiva used to have holes in the floor like those -used to support looms in modern Pueblo kivas. The other kiva shows -evidence of six layers of plaster. Modern Zuni Indians have a ceremony -every 4 years in which they replaster the smoke-stained kiva interior, -and this tradition may give some idea of how long this kiva was in use. - -A study of the annual growth rings of its roof timbers indicates that -most of the lower ruin was built after A.D. 1070. - - -ANTELOPE HOUSE - -Many large ruins are located in the narrow and twisting Canyon del -Muerto. One of the biggest is Antelope House, some 5 miles above del -Muerto’s junction with Canyon de Chelly. This 40- to 50-room village was -built on the stream bank against the base of a cliff which towers nearly -600 feet above it. - -Antelope House received its name from four antelopes painted in tan and -white, about half life size, high on the cliff nearby. Navajo families -living in the canyon believe that these well-executed paintings were -done by Dibe Yazhi (Little Sheep), a Navajo artist who lived here in the -1830’s. Other figures in white paint are probably the work of the -prehistoric inhabitants of Antelope House. - -Because it stands on the river bank, Antelope House has also eroded -badly. Yet many of the house walls still rise two and three stories -high, and the masonry outlines of dozens of unexcavated rubble-filled -rooms and of two kivas can still be seen. - - [Illustration: Antelope House in Canyon del Muerto is on the canyon - floor under a towering, overhanging cliff.] - - [Illustration: An Anasazi pictograph.] - -The famous “Burial of the Weaver” was found in a small cliff alcove not -far from Antelope House. The grave was against the cliff, and a curved -masonry wall in front held back the earth. Inside was the tightly flexed -body of an old man lying on his left side. His hair was streaked with -gray and tied back in a bob; a billet of wood served as a pillow. The -body’s outer wrapping was a feather blanket made from the breast down of -golden eagles. Under the feather cloth was a white cotton blanket, -excellently made and appearing as clean and new as if freshly woven; and -under the white blanket was an old gray cotton blanket. Beneath that -blanket, lying on the mummy’s breast, was a single ear of corn. - -A reed mat covered the floor of the grave, and the amount and variety of -objects laid away with the body suggest that the individual was highly -respected in life. A long wooden digging stick, broken to fit into the -grave, lay across the burial bundle. Beside this, and also broken, was a -bow so thick that only a powerful arm could have pulled it. With the bow -was a single reed arrow with a fire-hardened wooden point. Five pottery -jars, one broken, together with four bowl-shaped baskets woven from -yucca leaves, were also in the grave. These containers were filled with -cornmeal, shelled corn, four ears of husked corn, pinyon nuts, beans, -and salt. Tightly packed around the body and offerings were thick skeins -of cotton yarn which measured more than 2 miles in length. A spindle -whorl—a wooden disc on a reed stem which probably had been used to spin -the cotton—lay on the yarn. - - [Illustration: A National Park Service archeologist examines a - storage jar found at Antelope House.] - - -STANDING COW - -This cave in Canyon del Muerto was named for a large white and blue -pictograph of a cow, drawn in the historic period and undoubtedly the -work of a Navajo. Not much can be seen of this ancient ruin, for Navajos -have lived on the site in recent times and still use the old bins for -storing corn and the leveled areas for drying peaches. - -On the cliff near this ruin is an interesting old Navajo painting of -Spanish cavalrymen. - - [Illustration: This blue-headed cow, painted by an early Navajo - artist on the shelter wall, gave Standing Cow Ruin its name.] - - [Illustration: This Navajo rock painting in Canyon del Muerto shows - a procession of soldiers. It probably records a Spanish expedition - in the 19th century.] - - -BIG CAVE - -One of the largest concentrations of very early material at Canyon de -Chelly came from Big Cave (Tse-Ya-Tso) in Canyon del Muerto. Tree-ring -dates ranging from A.D. 331 to 835 indicate an intensive occupation of -the site in Basketmaker times. - -Several burials of interest were found at Big Cave. One was of an old -man who had broken both legs across the shin bones. The fractures were -set so well that only the smallest of bumps were left. - -The remains of 14 infants were found in a slab-lined cist used earlier -as a storage bin. Below the infants were the bodies of four other -children packed in an enormous basket. None showed any signs of -violence, and it is thought that some disease must have swept through -the cave, killing many children in a short time. - -The unique “Burial of the Hands” was discovered in another part of Big -Cave. This burial consisted of just a pair of arms and hands lying side -by side on a bed of grass. The elbows touched the wall of the cave in a -way that suggested that the rest of the body had not been removed at a -later time. Three necklaces of abalone shell pendants were wrapped -around the wrists, and two pairs of exceptionally fine, unworn sandals, -patterned in black and red, were lying beside the hands, as was a small -basket half full of white shell beads. Another basket nearly 2 feet in -diameter covered the burial. No satisfactory explanation of this burial -has ever been advanced. - - [Illustration: Excavations at Big Cave in Canyon del Muerto yielded - valuable artifacts of the Basketmaker period.] - - [Illustration: Mummy Cave, bathed in sun with its flanking ruins - almost hidden in shadows.] - - -MUMMY CAVE - - [Illustration: This fretwork design decorates a kiva in Mummy Cave.] - - [Illustration: The central tower structure at Mummy Cave shows - strong Mesa Verde affiliations and was constructed in A.D. 1284.] - -One of the most beautifully situated ruins in the national monument is -Mummy Cave in Canyon del Muerto 21 miles northeast of park headquarters. -This dwelling, the largest in the canyons, was built in two adjacent -caves about 300 feet up a talus slope from the streambed. - -The largest part of the structure, about 55 rooms and 4 kivas, was built -in the eastern cave. The western cave, with about 20 rooms, is now -accessible only by a ledge from the east cave, although traces of an -eroded hand-and-toe trail can be seen leading directly from the top of -the talus to the ruin. Along the ledge connecting the two caves are 15 -rooms, including a “tower” house; these are the best preserved of all -the ruins here. Much original plaster in several colors remains on inner -and outer walls throughout the village. Especially notable is the white -clay plaster on the interior of the third story of the tower house and -the red-painted fret design on white plaster in the large kiva of the -east cave. - - [Illustration: A Navajo family has settled below the ruins of the - ancient ones in Canyon del Muerto.] - - - - - The People of Canyon de Chelly - - -Though the stunning sheer red cliffs of Canyon de Chelly are easily the -national monument’s most spectacular feature, the area was set aside for -its importance to the study of prehistoric peoples in the Southwest. The -architecture, tools, clothing, ceramics, and other decorative or useful -objects found here contain a comprehensive record of many hundreds of -years of human activity. - -Nothing was known about the ancient culture sheltered here until -archeologists began piecing together the information gleaned from Canyon -de Chelly’s many ruins and burials. Their story survived because these -people lived in a physical environment that posed a minimal threat to -normally fragile remains. - -Wherever the remains of ancient man occur in the open, building ruins -and some objects of stone, bone, and pottery survive, but those of wood -and fiber disappear completely. Most of what we know about peoples from -the dim past thus comes from materials that have been buried and -protected. For the archeologist there are few better sources of -information than formal burials, which often contain extensive -offerings, and situations like those at Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del -Muerto, where sites served as dwelling places for long periods of time -and the steady accumulation of refuse buried layers of cultural debris. - -The extremely arid conditions in the caves of these canyons offered -additional protection. The climate here is so dry that human burials are -perfectly preserved as natural mummies or desiccated bodies (there being -no attempt at artificial preservation by these people), and such fragile -buried objects as baskets more than a thousand years old are in good -condition. - -The people who lived at Canyon de Chelly in prehistoric times are today -called the Anasazi, a Navajo word meaning “old people.” These people -were the ancestors of modern Pueblo Indians, and they lived in the -vicinity of northern Arizona and New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and -southeastern Utah from about the beginning of the Christian era to the -end of the 13th century. Over most of that period they lived in these -canyons. Before they learned to build in the cliffs they located and -constructed their houses much differently. But the canyons always -sheltered them, and their homes, their dead, and their debris tell us -how it was with these people from the beginning to the end of their time -here. - - [Illustration: These bone tools were used to work leather and weave - baskets.] - - -THE ANASAZI - -Early man, a nomadic hunter of big-game animals, came to the Americas -from Asia over the Bering Strait some time between 20,000 and 15,000 -B.C. Thousands of years later, after the big animals had become extinct, -larger bands of hunters and gatherers preyed on game animals of species -still living today. Still later, groups began to settle in favorable -areas and to grow maize (corn), which reached them from more complex -cultures in what is now Mexico. From this time on, the spread and -development of prehistoric Indian cultures in the northern Southwest can -be traced in increasing detail. - -No one knows exactly when the first people arrived in the Canyon de -Chelly area. But a tree-ring date of A.D. 306 from the West Alcove at -Mummy Cave and the accumulation of sweepings and ashes at this site -suggest that people were living in Canyon del Muerto at about the -beginning of the Christian era. - -These early people were primarily farmers rather than nomadic hunters, -although they still depended to some extent on game animals for food. -They established their homes in the shelter of the many caves and -alcoves in the canyon walls, and farmed the mesa tops and canyon -bottoms. Dogs were their only domestic animal, and corn was their major -crop and main source of food. Squashes (pumpkins) were grown in some -quantity, and beans were introduced at an early time. Pinyon nuts and -acorns, sunflower seeds, yucca and cactus fruit, and small seeds of -other wild plants were gathered for food. - - [Illustration: This burial at Sliding Rock Ruin shows pottery, - baskets, corn, and the remains of a blanket used in the day-to-day - life of the Anasazi.] - - [Illustration: Ring-baskets of split yucca leaves have been in - common use from about A.D. 1100 to the present.] - - [Illustration: This coiled basket was used for carrying burdens.] - - [Illustration: Indian women fastened rabbit fur to lengths of twine - by twisting them to form a rope of fur such as this one. A number of - these would then be entwined to form a blanket or a robe.] - -The early farmers were accomplished makers of baskets, and for this -reason archeologists commonly call them Basketmakers. Instead of pottery -they used baskets for many utilitarian purposes: carrying sacks, burden -baskets, food containers, cooking pots, water carriers, storage -containers, and even “coffins.” Sometimes plain, often decorated, they -are the most impressive surviving artifact of the culture which produced -them. More baskets made by these early people have been found in Canyon -de Chelly caves than in any other locality. - -The caves in Canyon de Chelly have produced no evidence of houses built -by these early farmers. If these groups had shelters at all, they were -little more than brush-and-pole windbreaks or lean-tos made of poles and -skins propped against the sides of the rock shelters. The only -architectural remains found so far are pits lined with stone slabs and -located in deposits on the cave floors. These pits were used to store -corn and wild plant foods. - -Permanent dwellings apparently were not constructed until about A.D. -500. The first such houses of which we have knowledge were small and -generally insubstantial circular or squarish pits, shallowly dug into -the ground. They were walled and roofed with brush and dirt or -mud-covered poles. Later the people often built their houses in deep -excavations, and then the structures became essentially roofed pits. - -The atlatl, or dart-thrower, and dart constituted the early implement -for hunting and warfare. There is no definite evidence that the Anasazi -used a bow and arrow until the 7th century, but one find in Canyon del -Muerto suggests that they were attacked by a group that did use such -weapons. The evidence was found in a cave across the canyon from -Antelope House at a typical dwelling site of the early people. It -appears that a massacre took place inside the cave and the remains of -the dead were scattered about the floor until almost completely dried or -skeletonized. The bones were then gathered up and dumped into one of the -many storage pits that dotted the cave floor, where the archeologists -found them. Among the artifacts discovered with the bones was a short, -slender piece of wood, more like the shaft of an arrow than a dart, -between the ribs and dried skin on the left side of an old woman. - -Little clothing was worn in these early years. Men usually wore sandals -and a loin cloth and women an apron like skirt. In cold weather the only -additional body covering was a blanket woven from strips of fur. - -Several exceptions to this mode of dress have been found. One mummy -recovered from the slope in front of Mummy Cave (perhaps of a tribal -leader) was elaborately dressed and had a great many possessions to take -with him to the spirit world. He was wrapped in a woven robe of rabbit -fur and had a basket over his face and one under his head. His feet were -covered with buckskin moccasins lined with soft juniper bark. Buckskin -leggings were wrapped around his legs from ankle to knee. Another piece -of buckskin was wound around his waist; one end fell like a breechclout -to his thighs, and the other end was thrown over his shoulder like a -toga. - -The man’s moccasins are a surprising item, because the Anasazi of this -time usually wore well-made sandals. These sandals were typically woven -of plant fibers with intricate designs in several colors, and are -outstanding among the textiles of any prehistoric people. - -In the 5th century A.D., the Anasazi acquired from the south the -technique of making fired pottery, and they adopted the craft rapidly. -Ceramics was a significant addition to the equipment which these people -needed to live in what was at best a difficult environment. It made the -everyday business of cooking food and storing water much easier. During -the next several centuries the Anasazi achieved a high degree of skill -in the art of ceramics and produced handsome pots in a variety of -shapes, decorated both by relief and painting. Various styles of design -were developed by different groups. - - [Illustration: The Anasazi used black-on-white pottery jars at home - and also for trade with other groups.] - -Basketry, the ancient craft, survived the competition from ceramics but -became less important. Sandals, coiled bowls, plaited yucca trays, and -rush mattings were still made, but were not as well manufactured or -designed as they once had been. - -Other changes followed the introduction of pottery, and they profoundly -altered the culture of the Anasazi. More substantial and permanent -houses were developed, the bow and arrow replaced the dart-thrower and -dart for hunting and fighting, and handles were placed on stone axes and -hammers, greatly increasing the effectiveness of these tools. Turkeys -were domesticated, and their feathers replaced some of the fur in the -blankets which they used for clothing. New varieties of corn, squash, -and beans became known, and, more importantly, the cultivation of cotton -was introduced. - - [Illustration: Gourd-shaped black-on-white Anasazi water jar from - the period A.D. 500 to 700.] - -Sometime during these years of change the Anasazi adopted the practice -of deforming the skulls of their children by the use of rigid -cradleboards. The cradleboards of their direct ancestors were webbed and -lined with soft rabbit fur, but a new conception of beauty led them to -strap newborn infants onto flat, hard boards which flattened the back of -the skull and broadened the forehead. - -These characteristics of the Anasazi developed slowly and were well -established only around A.D. 750. Sometime after that date they began to -live above ground, building their homes of upright poles and mud -plaster. Each family’s room adjoined one or more other rooms, making -more and more compact village units. In the 900’s, these pole and mud -structures gave way to masonry buildings, some of which eventually -became two-and three-story terraced apartment houses. - -The ancient pithouse was not forgotten. Its counterpart survived in -almost all of the new villages in the form of a circular underground -room that soon lost all resemblance to a house. Each of the larger -villages had two or more of these underground rooms, which undoubtedly -were ceremonial structures, serving as meeting places for men of the -various clan societies and secret religious brotherhoods and for the -performance of rituals. The rooms may have functioned very much like -men’s clubhouses. Similar ceremonial rooms of present-day Pueblo Indians -are called kivas. - -Much of the ceremonial activity in the ancient kivas can be inferred -from the religious practices of modern Pueblo Indians. A large part of -their ceremonials takes place within the privacy of the kiva and -includes praying, chanting, and dancing. Details of costumes, in which -feathers are extensively used, and of dance steps are important, for the -whole ceremony is a prayer. The rituals are performed as petitions for -rain, to insure a good harvest, or for success in hunting. - -In testimony to the traditions which endure in some human societies, a -cache of bird feathers, undoubtedly saved to make a costume for such a -ritual, was found in Big Cave in Canyon del Muerto. A carefully worked -cylinder of wood was filled with packets of brightly colored feathers -and bird skins. There were dozens of blue-green skins from mallard -ducks, and even parrot feathers that must have come from Mexico. Skins -of a red bird, still not identified, and bundles of hawk and eagle down -were also found in the cylinder. - - [Illustration: The Anasazi - - Few regions in North America have such spectacular archeological - sites as the Four Corners area of the Southwest. This semiarid high - plateau country, drained by the San Juan River, saw the development - and later the disappearance of an Indian culture that archeologists - call the Anasazi. - - During the Great Pueblo period, the Anasazi developed three - important regional centers: Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and the - Kayenta country. Their influence extended deep into the territories - of neighboring Indian groups, who followed different agricultural - traditions. By A.D. 1100, all three had become heavily populated, - and the Anasazi were building their largest towns and fabled cliff - dwellings. - - The fertile Chaco valley attracted aboriginals early in the 10th - century. They first built on such sites as Pueblo Bonito, which - expanded to a village of over 800 rooms. Their pueblos on the valley - floor near the cliffs tended to be D-shaped, with central courts - closed by walls often as high as four stories. - - A hundred miles to the north, on the steep-cliffed fingers of rock - of southwest Colorado, the Mesa Verdians built pithouses, pueblos, - and about 300 cliff dwellings, the largest of which is Cliff Palace. - - The decline of the Anasazi culture from its Great Pueblo period - coincided with a concentration of population at Chaco, Mesa Verde, - and Kayenta that made the people particularly dependent on a - year-round flow of water. Long years of drought from 1270 to 1300 - dried up the rivers and caused an exodus from the San Juan River - region. - - First the Chaco residents dispersed southwestward to join their - cousins in the Little Colorado River area. Then the Mesa Verdians - moved to the northern Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. Finally, the - Kayenta people, the last holdouts, gave up and joined the population - in what is now the Hopi country.] - -Between A.D. 1000 and 1050 the culture of the Anasazi reached its height -and became stable for a few centuries, until about A.D. 1275-1300. Their -homes were now substantial buildings of stone masonry, containing -numerous adjoining rooms. Their kivas followed standard lines and were -often incorporated in the house structures, though they were sometimes -built as separate, semisubterranean chambers. No other abrupt changes or -new forms distinguish this late period, which was essentially a -continuation and fulfillment of earlier times. The large pueblos, most -of which were begun about A.D. 1000, are the most outstanding -development of this period. - -In Canyon de Chelly, construction was started on White House and -Antelope House during these years. Other important population centers -were developing simultaneously at Mesa Verde (Mesa Verde National Park, -Colo.), where the largest concentration of surviving cliff dwellings is -located, and at Chaco Canyon (Chaco Canyon National Monument, N. Mex.), -where spacious apartment houses, one with more than 800 rooms, were -constructed on the floor of the canyon. Other villages were built in the -Kayenta-Marsh Pass area (near Navajo National Monument, Ariz.). - -As permanent homes gave them social stability and well-developed -agriculture ensured adequate food, the Anasazi had leisure and -sufficient security for greater activity in their arts, crafts, and -ceremonials. As a consequence, trade with other peoples seems to have -grown and flourished because it brought in the specialized and exotic -materials needed for rituals and pleasure. Parrots were traded from -Mexico for their plumage, and ornamental shells from the Gulf of -California and the West Coast found their way to Anasazi settlements. -Turquoise, jet, and salt also became important trade items. - -The mode of dress changed little. Feather-string blankets were still -commonly worn in winter. Cotton became almost the only fiber used for -making cloth. Sandals, which were woven from whole yucca leaves, were -crude, compared to those of earlier periods. But painted pottery reached -its highest development in both variety and quality. - -These great pueblo centers flourished for about two centuries. But this -was a time of increasing dryness in the Southwest, and the end for these -settlements came during a severe drought late in the 13th century. -Tree-ring data indicate that there was not enough moisture to produce -crops during most of the years between 1276 and 1299. The drought -brought crop failures, and the ensuing erosion destroyed the fields. -Hunger, decline, and migration followed. Family after family and group -after group left their homes in the cliffs and canyons. Taking what few -possessions they could carry on their backs, they drifted away in search -of land with a dependable water supply suitable for farming. - -The villages in Canyon de Chelly apparently lasted longer than most and -may even have provided a temporary haven for refugees from other regions -to the north. The four-story tower house at Mummy Cave might have been -built for such refugees by skilled masons from the Mesa Verde area. - -By 1300, however, all the great cliff dwellings were abandoned, and the -people of the Canyon de Chelly area had moved on to new lands. Most of -them probably joined the tribes that were gathering around Black Mesa to -the west, near the location of the modern Hopi pueblos. Others may have -turned south, settling finally near the middle of the present boundary -between Arizona and New Mexico. Other Anasazi made their way to the -upper Rio Grande Valley in north-central New Mexico. In these localities -the Pueblo farmers renewed their way of life, and it was there that -Spanish explorers found them on their first trip through the region in -1540-42. - -At White House and a few other ruins there is evidence of structural -additions made long after the villages were abandoned. These and other -indications of occupation well after 1300 probably represent the work of -Hopi Indians who used the canyons seasonally for agriculture, taking the -harvest back to their villages about 70 miles to the west. Peach trees, -which the Spanish introduced to the Hopi in the 17th century, were -evidently brought to Canyon de Chelly in either that century or the -next, and the small orchards still scattered through the canyons were -started. The use of the canyons by the Hopi probably dropped off rapidly -after the Navajos appeared in the area in the 18th century. - - [Illustration: This pictograph of a soldier on horseback is taken - from the Navajo rock painting in Canyon del Muerto near Standing Cow - Ruin.] - - -THE NAVAJOS - -The present Indian occupants of Canyon de Chelly are Navajos. They are -not related to the Anasazi who built the masonry villages now in ruins. - -No one is certain just when the Navajos came to this region nor do we -know exactly where they came from. The best available evidence now -suggests that these people and their close relatives, the Apaches, both -of whom speak an Athapascan language, came south along the eastern edge -of the Rocky Mountains as a single group. They may have reached the -Southwest between the 13th and the 16th centuries. The earliest mention -of people who were probably Navajos is in the Oñate documents of 1598. -This account places them in north-central New Mexico, an area they still -call their homeland but no longer occupy. - -The name “Navajo” has never been adequately translated. The first -interpretation of the word came from Father Alonso de Benavides, a -Spanish priest who started missionary work among the Navajos. In his -“Memorial of New Mexico,” which was presented to the court of Spain in -1630, he stated: - -_But these Apache de Nabahu [Navajo] are very great farmers for this is -what Navajo signifies ... great planted fields...._ - - [Illustration: The pastoral scene shows two contemporary Navajo - structures. To the left is a modern hogan, and to the right, a - ramada.] - -By 1750, the Navajos had abandoned their homes west of the Chama River -Valley because of pressure from the Utes to the north. Generally they -moved westward, but a few split off to the south. We do not know when -they first entered Canyon de Chelly, but there is evidence at the site -of Tse-ta’a to suggest that it was after 1700. - -Hunters, gatherers, and farmers, the Navajos changed their way of life -sharply when they acquired horses and sheep from the Spanish after the -Pueblo Rebellion of 1680. Horses made the Navajos highly mobile and -increased their ability to raid the alluring towns along the Rio Grande -and then vanish into mountain and canyon hideouts. Sheep gradually -changed the basis of their economy, converting them from hunters and -raiders to the pastoral herders they are today. - -After the Spanish reconquered New Mexico in 1692, many Pueblo families -from the Rio Grande sought sanctuary with the Navajos. Some of these -refugees were absorbed into the tribe, and they brought with them not -only weaving, but sheep raising, pottery and basketry techniques, -architectural and agricultural ideas, the clan system, and much -religious lore. - -Navajo-Spanish relations were generally quiet after the Spanish returned -because the tribe was preoccupied with fighting the Utes to the north -and was interested in enlisting Spanish support or, at least, -forbearance. This comparatively peaceful interlude came to an end in the -1770’s because of land disputes, and friction continued from that time -until the 1860’s. - -In 1805, during this period of strife, a Spanish punitive expedition -entered Canyon de Chelly, bent on taking slaves, or servants as the -whites called them. - -According to the Navajo account of the episode, all the Navajo men had -gone out on an expedition, leaving the old men, and women, and children -hidden in a deep ledge high up the canyon wall. Their position was -strengthened by a wall of loose stones placed along the rim of the -ledge. As the Spanish troops, commanded by Lt. Antonio Narbona, passed -below, an old woman who had been a Spanish slave could not resist -scoffing at them and thus exposed the hiding place. - -In a letter on January 25, 1805, to the Governor of New Mexico, Narbona -described the action which followed: - -_On the 17th of the current month I managed to attack in Cañon de Chelli -a great number of enemy Indians and though they entrenched themselves in -an almost inaccessible spot, and fortified beforehand, we succeeded -after having battled all day long with the greatest ardor and effort, in -taking [it] the morning after and that our arms had the result of ninety -dead warriors, twenty-five women and children, and as prisoners three -warriors, eight women and twenty-two boys and girls...._ - -Narbona reported his losses as 1 dead and 64 wounded. Massacre Cave in -Canyon del Muerto was named for this event. - - [Illustration: Massacre Cave sits high up on the west wall of Canyon - del Muerto, a short way upstream from Mummy Cave.] - -The Navajos had been held in partial check by Spanish bribes and -punitive expeditions, but after Mexico won its independence from Spain -in 1821, the Navajos returned to raiding in behalf of all those enslaved -by the Spanish. In 1823, 1833, 1836, and 1838 the Mexicans mounted large -expeditions against the Navajos, sometimes sending as many as 1,500 men -after them. It was during this period that Canyon de Chelly was most -often referred to as the stronghold of the Navajos. Although Mexican -reprisals often forced the Indians to take temporary refuge north of the -San Juan River, they were too sporadic to effectively quell the raiders, -who always came back with new attacks. Conditions were so bad that the -Navajos boasted they let the Mexicans live on only because they made -good shepherds for the tribe. The taunt hardly exaggerated their power -at the time. - -Navajo depredations had very nearly decimated the frontier settlements -in the central Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico when the United States -went to war with Mexico in 1846. Col. Stephen Watts Kearny had the task -of seizing the northern Mexican provinces, an area that is now part of -the American Southwest. In late June 1846 he left Fort Leavenworth, -Kansas. Marching over the Santa Fe Trail without opposition, Kearny and -his American Dragoons arrived in Santa Fe on August 18, 1846, and -proclaimed New Mexico a part of the United States. - -When Kearny and the Army of the West marched off to Mexico, Col. -Alexander W. Doniphan was left behind with orders to invade the Navajo -country, release captives, reclaim stolen property, and either to awe or -beat the Indians into submission. In August 1846 he led the first United -States expedition against the Navajos. Maj. William Gilpin, with 200 -men, entered the Navajo country on the north and swung south to meet -Doniphan and several Navajo chiefs at Bear Springs near the town of -Grants, New Mexico, later the site of Fort Wingate. The treaty signed -there turned out to be little more than a scrap of paper. Five more -unsuccessful military expeditions were sent against the Navajos between -1846 and 1849 in vain attempts to end the Indian raids. - -In trying to contain the Navajos, the U.S. Government made the same -mistake that the Mexican and Spanish Governments did before them. They -all assumed that a single chief led the several Navajo bands. Actually, -each local Navajo group had its own leader, and time and again treaties -of “lasting peace with the Navajos” were signed by these local chiefs, -who spoke only for their own small bands and had no influence with -others. - -The U.S. Army expedition of 1849 clearly illustrated this problem. Lt. -Col. John W. Washington, military commander of New Mexico, led an -expedition to Canyon de Chelly, then considered to be the Navajo -heartland. Washington met local Navajo chiefs on the crest of a small -hill between the present Thunderbird Guest Ranch and the mouth of the -canyon. Here on Treaty Hill a treaty of “lasting peace” was signed with -the Indians. Washington had no sooner returned to Albuquerque, however, -than he learned that another Navajo band had raided a small village near -Santa Fe. - - [Illustration: Col. E. R. S. Canby led the last campaign against the - Navajos before the Civil War.] - -Regardless of treaties and punitive expeditions, Navajo depredations -continued. Late in 1851, Col. E. V. Sumner marched into the Navajo -country in still another effort to settle the problem. After a single -encounter with the Navajo in Canyon de Chelly, Sumner returned to a spot -southwest of the Chuska Mountains where he established Fort Defiance in -the autumn of 1851. Fighting broke out again in 1858, when a Negro slave -of the post commander at Fort Defiance was killed by a Navajo arrow. The -Army retaliated with an attack on a party of peaceful Navajos, and the -Indians retreated northward. - -Up to this time, U.S. Army commanders had controlled Indian policies; -the authority of the civil agents appointed by the Indian Department was -negligible. But now the civilian agents brought political pressure to -bear upon the unsuccessful Army. To soothe the politicians, the Army -drew up still another treaty with the Navajos on December 25, 1858. This -treaty was the second attempt to outline the boundaries of a proposed -Navajo reservation. Like an earlier proposal, the Meriweather Treaty of -1855, it was never ratified. - -The year 1859 was relatively peaceful, with few raids on either side. -But the next year opened with a series of Navajo raids that culminated -in a concentrated attack on Fort Defiance. Some of the old Navajos who -participated later recalled that it was a carefully planned assault at -dawn, with as many as 2,000 warriors taking part. After attacking for -two hours, the Indians were forced to withdraw. - -In the winter of 1860-61, Col. E. R. S. Canby led the last military -expedition against the Navajos before the Civil War, but his efforts -failed to bring peace. Zarcillos Largos, a great Navajo leader who had -worked for more peaceful relations with whites, was killed in an ambush -during the campaign. The Indians soon resorted to their old tactic of -dispersing, and the campaign ended with another treaty. When troops were -withdrawn from Fort Defiance in March 1861 for Civil War duty, the last -restraint was removed from both sides, and raiding began once more. For -the Spanish-Americans, it was the high point of their warfare against -the Navajos. - -The job of subjugating the recalcitrant Navajos now fell to Brig. Gen. -James H. Carleton, commander of the Department of New Mexico and a -seasoned Indian fighter with 25 years of active service. His earlier -experience in Indian affairs had convinced Carleton that establishing -reservations where the Indians could be educated would be the only way -to get them to settle down. Carleton said: - -_Soon they will acquire new habits, new ideas, new modes of life; the -old Indians will die off, and carry with them the latent longings for -murdering and robbing; the young ones will take their place without -these longings; and thus, little by little, they will become a contented -people...._ - - [Illustration: Brig. Gen. James H. Carleton defeated the Navajos and - built Fort Sumner at Bosque Redondo, the Navajo’s place of exile.] - -In 1863, Carleton drew up plans for a 40-square-mile reservation at Fort -Sumner on the Pecos River in central New Mexico. He called the new -reservation Bosque Redondo, which is Spanish for circular thicket. - - [Illustration: The valiant Manuelito fought against the whites, but - without permanent success. In 1863 he was one of a number of - prominent Navajo leaders.] - - [Illustration: Capt. Albert Pfeiffer led his men down Canyon del - Muerto between these cliffs, destroying hogans and crops.] - -When the reservation was ready, Carleton ordered Col. Christopher (Kit) -Carson to take the field against the Navajos in June 1863. Carson’s -force consisted of four companies of New Mexican Volunteers, two mounted -and two unmounted, and 200 Ute Indians, who were guides and scouts, -altogether a force of about 1,000 men. Their first operation was to -reoccupy and repair the abandoned Fort Defiance, which they renamed Fort -Canby in honor of General Canby. - -The Navajos were led by Barboncito of Canyon de Chelly, a spokesman for -the bands living west of the Chuska Mountains, and Manuelito, a leader -of those who dwelt east of the mountains. Many subchiefs, as usual, led -individual bands. - -Carson had orders from General Carleton to destroy all cornfields and -livestock. He sent word to the Navajos that they should surrender at -Fort Canby, and then moved into the field to persuade them. The first -skirmish took place in August near the fort. Under constant pressure -from the military through the winter of 1863, their herds being killed -and crops burned, the Navajos were soon destitute and began to surrender -in small numbers. - -The crowning blow to Navajo pride, however, was the Army’s ostentatious -penetration of Canyon de Chelly, their most secure refuge. A detachment -of men under Capt. Albert Pfeiffer carried the “Navaho Fortress” in -January 1864. Entering through Canyon del Muerto, Pfeiffer guarded the -junction while Capt. A. B. Carey led a detail through the main gorge of -de Chelly, marching west to east. Captain Pfeiffer described his -progress through del Muerto: - -_My travel through the cañon, for the first 12 miles, was accomplished -on the ice of the bed of the stream which courses through it.... Lt. C. -M. Hubbell, who was in charge of the rear, had a great deal of trouble -in proceeding with the pack trains, as the mules frequently broke -through the ice and tumbled down with their loads. All the Indian -prisoners taken thus far were half starved and naked. The cañon has no -road except the bottom of the creek. We traveled mostly on the ice, our -animals breaking through every few minutes, and one mule split -completely open under the exhausting fatigue of the march. On the 12th -instant traveled 8 miles; had several skirmishes with the enemy. Indians -on both sides of the cañon whooping, yelling and cursing, firing shots -and throwing rocks down upon my command. Killed two buck Indians in the -encounter and one squaw, who obstinately persisted in hurling rocks and -pieces of wood at the soldiers. Six prisoners were captured on this -occasion. Lieutenant Hubbell followed up some Indians in a tributary -cañon, but could not overtake them on account of the steepness of the -hillsides, where nothing save an Indian or mountain goat could make -their way...._ - -This raid, which netted only about 100 prisoners, convinced the Navajos -that even though Carson was not out to destroy them, he would go -anywhere to ferret them out. They had no choice but to surrender at Fort -Canby. Shortly after the Canyon de Chelly raid some 500 Navajos, with -their flocks, straggled into the fort. By February 15, 1864, 1,500 -Navajos were being fed and clothed there, and by the first of March -about 2,400. - -The much storied “Long Walk” and exile of the Navajos began on March 6, -1864, when these 2,400 people with 30 wagons, 400 horses, and 3,000 -sheep and goats left Fort Canby for Bosque Redondo, 300 miles away in -New Mexico Territory. Only the aged, the children, and the crippled rode -in wagons—all others walked the entire distance. One old Navajo recalled -the exodus in later years, saying: - -_It was a great sight, we stretched from Fort Defiance to the Window -Rock ‘haystacks’ ... a distance of about 7 miles._ - -On March 14-15, a second group of about 3,000 Navajos began the foot -journey. The last large escort of Navajos to Fort Sumner was on April -24, when 1,200 persons started their “Long Walk.” - - [Illustration: This old army map shows the military posts of the - 1860’s. The red line traces the “Long Walk” of the defeated Navajos - to Fort Sumner at Bosque Redondo. - - High-resolution Map] - - [Illustration: Scenes of the Navajos in their place of exile at Fort - Sumner on the Pecos River. The top view shows them lined up to - receive their issue of food and clothing. - National Archives - Museum of New Mexico - National Archives] - -Not all the Navajos surrendered. Many tribesmen remained free and -continued to raid settlements. On April 9, 1864, the very day that the -Governor of New Mexico had set aside to celebrate the end of the Navajo -war, a band of Navajos stole 40 head of cattle from Laguna Pueblo, 140 -miles southwest of Canyon de Chelly. Those who surrendered endured -extreme hardship at Fort Sumner from disease, crop failure, famine, and -their sense of exile from their homeland. After 4 years, the several -thousand reservation Navajos were broken in body and spirit, while their -still-free tribesmen continued their troublesome guerrilla activities. -Carleton’s experiment was judged a complete failure. - -The Government then decided that the Navajos should return to a part of -their old homeland. A new treaty signed on June 1, 1868, stated that the -tribe and the United States were at peace, and in it the Navajos pledged -to stop their raiding. In return, the Government promised the tribe -school facilities and a reservation that included Canyon de Chelly in -its total area of 3,500,000 acres. The Navajos were to stay within this -reservation. - -Twenty-nine Navajo chiefs and council members signed the treaty, and the -Navajos began leaving Fort Sumner almost immediately, slipping away -family by family. Those without horses or who had old or sick persons in -their family awaited Government transportation. On June 15, a wagon -train with a military escort carried the last Navajos from Fort Sumner -to Fort Wingate. There the tribe waited while final arrangements were -worked out. - -By November the new reservation boundaries had been surveyed and shown -to the tribe’s head men, and a headquarters for the Indian agent had -been prepared at Fort Defiance. At long last the Navajos were allowed to -go home. They were now united into a single tribe with leaders, -appointed by the Indian agents, to represent them in their dealings with -the whites. But their troubles were not over. - -Only a fraction of the Navajos’ sheep had survived Carson’s slaughter -and the years of famine at Fort Sumner. The treaty had promised sheep -and goats to replenish the herds, but more than a year passed before any -were received. Meantime, hunger pursued the Navajos, and they had to -exist on army issue rations of beef, coffee, and flour. - -The treaty also promised that during the first 10 years—called the -Treaty Years—each family head who took up farming would receive $25 -worth of agricultural tools and supplies every 2 years to help him in -his new pursuit. It was 14 years before this promise was fulfilled, and -the tribe was badly hampered in their efforts to fill out their slender -larder through agriculture. - -During these years the Navajos eked out a living through their -traditional crafts of weaving and silver working. Blankets and wool were -beginning to find a market in the expanding settlements of the Rio -Grande Valley, at army posts, and in the Mormon settlements of Utah. In -1869, the first trading post was established on the reservation, and it -provided the tribe with a source of supplies and an outlet for their -wares. As Navajo blankets, wool, and silverwork became more important, -other traders entered the Navajo country. - -Still there was little substantial change in either the Navajo’s mode of -life or their economy by the end of the Treaty Years in 1878. True, the -tribe and their flocks had increased in numbers especially after 1872, -when the U.S. Government distributed 10,000 sheep among them. The coming -of the railroad in 1881-82, however, accelerated change and growth in -the Navajos more than any other event. New techniques for making a -living, learned from working with construction crews, and new -possessions brought by the railroad, started the people toward the -modern world. - -One vexing problem that has confronted the Navajos since their days at -Fort Sumner is the lack of adequate grazing land to support an expanding -population. The reservation boundaries have been enlarged many times -over the years, but now there is no space for further expansion. Today -the tribe numbers over 120,000 members, and tribal lands cannot support -that large a population nor the uncontrolled grazing that it causes. - -The old way of life is gradually being replaced. In 1924, Congress -granted citizenship rights to all Indians in recognition of their -service during World War I when their men enlisted by the hundreds, even -though exempt from the draft. After 1923 Navajo tribal business became -less of a haphazard affair. A tribal council, made up of elected -delegates, began to handle contacts with the world beyond the -reservation. Little or no work was done to remedy undesirable conditions -on the reservation until the public works program of the 1930’s, when a -good many schools and hospitals were built. During World War II, -hundreds of young Navajo men enlisted in the armed forces and other -thousands went into war work. These involvements in American society -demonstrated that an education was essential if Indians were to compete -successfully in the outer world, and so the tribal council passed a -compulsory schooling law in 1947. Many schools and hospitals were built -in the 1950’s and 1960’s. - - [Illustration: A Navajo weaver, 1873. Their looms have changed - little in the years since then.] - -Little by little the Navajos became acquainted with the world outside -the reservation and learned its ways and advantages. Today their -prospects for a better life are brighter. Oil, gas, coal, timber, and -uranium deposits on their lands are being developed for the benefit of -all the Navajos. Children are more eager to attend school, and many -Navajos are now leaving the reservation to put their education to work -at jobs in the larger community. The Navajo people are beginning to find -a place within the Nation. - -Despite these changes and prospects, many Navajo families are still -seminomadic camp dwellers, following old traditions. Each family’s -grazing land covers about 10 to 15 square miles. Within this area they -have two or more hogans and corrals, built near suitable grass, water, -and wood. - -In winter the family moves to the foothills or mesa tops to be near a -plentiful wood supply, for winters in the Navajo country are severe. The -winter hogans, or houses, are constructed with considerable care by the -men. Brush shelters are used for cooking and camping in summer. - - [Illustration: Navajo headmen inside a summer brush shelter, 1898.] - - [Illustration: A Navajo cribbed (log-cabin) style hogan in the high - pine forest in 1908.] - - [Illustration: A modern hogan built of stone and mud-plaster with a - pane glass window, at Standing Cow Ruin.] - -Several types of hogans can be seen on the reservation today. Some -recent ones attempt to copy houses in off-reservation towns, but most -follow traditional styles. The earliest type of hogan known is the -so-called “forked-stick” hogan. This is a tipi-shaped structure made of -three poles with forked ends that interlock at the top. Spaces between -this framework are filled with smaller poles; the whole is plastered -with mud. Another style of hogan is made of cribbed logs and usually has -six or eight sides, a design made necessary by the shortness of the logs -available. Circular hogans of stone, adapted from Pueblo Indian masonry -construction, are sometimes built. The roofs on both types of hogans are -constructed of cribbed logs and appear domed rather than flat. A feature -common to every hogan is its door facing east, toward the sunrise. - - [Illustration: A Navajo forked-pole hogan, traditionally the - earliest form used by the tribe. Shaped like a tipi, it is built of - heavy logs covered with soil. - National Archives] - -Furnishings of hogans were simple and limited, but today tables, chairs, -cabinets, and beds are commonly used. Food was once cooked in a firepit -in the center of the floor, below a hole in the roof which allowed the -smoke to escape, but today it is prepared on stoves which increasingly -are butane gas or electric models. In good weather, cooking is done -outside. Iron and aluminum pots and pans have replaced homemade pottery -and baskets as kitchen utensils. - -Water is scarce over much of the reservation and must be hauled in -wagons or pickup trucks from as far away as 10 miles. Water is used -sparingly. - -The Navajos are fond of goat meat and mutton, which have almost entirely -replaced the wild game of the old diet. Canned goods from the traders’ -shelves have supplanted the wild plants that used to be gathered and, in -some homes, have eliminated garden plots of corn and squash. At Fort -Sumner the Navajos learned to roast and brew coffee and to use wheat -flour. Now coffee and wheat bread are important items in their diet. - -In aboriginal times Navajo clothing was meager. Women wore an apron and -men a breechclout of buckskin. Footwear probably consisted of yucca -fiber sandals, although moccasins of animal skins were also common. -During winter, blankets of animal skins or yucca were added for warmth. - -After the Spaniards arrived in the Rio Grande Valley, the Navajos copied -Spanish costumes. This style, which prevailed until after the return -from Bosque Redondo in 1868, consisted of tightly buttoned knee-length -breeches of buckskin, worn with knitted blue stockings copied from those -of Pueblo men. A V-neck shirt was made from a small blanket or piece of -flannel and was worn outside the trousers. The shirt was held by a -leather belt heavily ornamented with silver. Moccasins and leggings of -dyed buckskin completed the men’s dress. When Navajo women began loom -weaving, they copied the Pueblo woman’s woven cotton dress in wool and -wore it with a woven belt. Dyed buckskin moccasins with wrap-around -leggings were their footwear. - - [Illustration: Navajo clothing of the 19th century, a pair of - moccasins and a shirt.] - - [Illustration: Shirt.] - -After Bosque Redondo, cotton clothing in Anglo-American and Mexican -styles became popular. Today Navajo men wear typical western ranch and -farm clothing: blue jeans, shirts, and broad-brimmed felt or straw hats. -The women still prefer the bright calico skirts and velveteen blouses -which they copied from the styles worn by American women in the mid-19th -century. The skirt is ankle length and voluminous, containing from 12 to -15 yards of material. Moccasins of dyed buckskin are still popular with -the women at home, but modish shoes and stockings have been adopted for -town wear. In winter, both men and women use commercially made blankets -draped over their shoulders for protection against the cold. - -Today many Navajo men take off-reservation jobs with railroads, in -lumber camps, or as migratory workers following crop harvests. Sheep -still play a major role in the family economy, and annual income is -supplemented by the sale of rugs and, sometimes, silverwork and jewelry. - -The Navajos have worn silver ornaments for many years. A 1795 Spanish -reference mentions that the Navajo captains were rarely seen without -their silver ornaments, but there is no evidence that they made them at -that time. They got most of their silver pieces by trading, and picked -up others on raids against Ute and Commanche Indians, who in turn had -obtained them from eastern Indians who were in contact with -Anglo-American or French traders. A great many silver ornaments probably -came from the Spaniards. - -Present evidence indicates that the Navajos learned silversmithing -sometime after 1850. Old silversmiths in the tribe have claimed that -Mexicans taught them the craft during the Bosque Redondo captivity, -citing their first smith, Atsidi Sani or “Old Smith,” who was taught by -a Mexican blacksmith. - - [Illustration: An early Navajo silversmith named - Slim-Maker-of-Silver. - Museum of New Mexico] - - [Illustration: Ring.] - - [Illustration: Navajo silver bracelets and ring from the period - 1880-1900. - Smithsonian Institution] - - [Illustration: Recent Navajo bracelets.] - - [Illustration: A Navajo vegetal-dye rug, hand woven from hand-spun, - home-grown wool. It is representative of the Chinle style.] - - [Illustration: A Navajo wife weaving a rug in her front yard at - their home near Standing Cow Ruin.] - - [Illustration: A Navajo girl and her dogs guard the family sheep - near Big Cave.] - -By 1881 they had completely mastered the art, and began to use turquoise -in their jewelry. Commercialization of their silver-work began in 1899, -when the Fred Harvey Company first placed large orders for pieces to -sell to tourists. - -Perhaps more than anything else, the colorful rugs and silver and -turquoise jewelry produced by these people have made the name “Navajo” a -household word. The two crafts did not develop simultaneously, for -weaving is almost two centuries older than silversmithing. The Navajo -mastery of both skills is exceptional, however, and both lend themselves -readily to Navajo designs. - -The loom used in Navajo weaving is a native American device, similar to -that of the ancient Pueblo people. It has changed little over the -centuries. Men usually construct the loom and women do the weaving. - -In spite of three centuries of work by Christian missionaries, the -Navajos have clung to their native religion. Their religious leaders are -medicine men, or healers, and their rites are intended primarily to -secure and maintain good health. - -The ceremonies, called chants, sometimes last as long as 9 days. They -consist of songs, dances, the construction of sand paintings, and the -administration of herbal medicines and sweat baths. - -The Navajos, a unique people in many ways, are far from being -“vanishing” Americans. Vigorous and growing in numbers, they have only -recently begun to understand their potential. While they are making -rapid strides to join the world around them, they are keenly aware of -their own heritage and what it can contribute to the larger culture of -America. - - - - - Further Reading - - -Kluckholm, Clyde, and Dorothea Leighton. _The Navaho._ Cambridge, Mass. - 1946. - -McGregor, John C. _Southwestern Archeology._ Second Ed. Urbana, Ill. - 1965. - -Morris, Ann A. _Digging in the Southwest._ N.Y. 1934. - -Underhill, Ruth M. _The Navajos._ Norman, Okla. 1956. - -Wormington, H. M. _Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest._ Third Ed. - Denver, Colo. 1956. - - [Illustration: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR · March 3, 1849] - -_As the Nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the -Interior has basic responsibilities for water, fish, wildlife, mineral, -land, park, and recreational resources. Indian and Territorial affairs -are other major concerns of America’s “Department of Natural Resources.” -The Department works to assure the wisest choice in managing all our -resources so each will make its full contribution to a better United -States—now and in the future._ - -_National Park Service_ - -_U.S. DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR_ - - - ★ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1973 O—503-170 - For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing - Office Washington, D.C. 20402. Price 80 cents, domestic postpaid; 60 - cents, GPO Bookstore - Stock Number 2405-00508 - - [Illustration: Book cover] - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - -—This etext based on a U.S. government publication is public domain in - the United States. - -—Corrected a few palpable typos. - -—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by - _underscores_. - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Canyon de Chelly, by Zorro A. 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