Navajo
The Navajo[a] are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
For other uses, see Navajo (disambiguation).
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members as of 2021,[1][4] the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States; additionally, the Navajo Nation has the largest reservation in the country. The reservation straddles the Four Corners region and covers more than 27,325 square miles (70,770 square kilometers) of land in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. The Navajo Reservation is slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. The Navajo language is spoken throughout the region, and most Navajo also speak English.
The states with the largest Navajo populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (108,306). More than three quarters of the enrolled Navajo population resides in these two states.[5]
Besides being enrolled in the Navajo Nation, some Navajo people are citizens of the federally recognized Colorado River Indian Tribes.
Population history[edit]
According to Alonso de Benavides in year 1626 they were so numerous that "in two days over 30,000 Navajos assembled". Apparently they were not less numerous in the early 20th century - Indian Affairs 1910 counted 29,624 Navajos in Arizona and New Mexico (in addition to that the census of 1910 returned also 1,039 Navajos in Utah - for a total of at least 30,663). But the Navajos were a nomadic tribe, roaming over a very large area, so that an absolutely accurate enumeration even in year 1910 would have been an extremely difficult if not impossible task.[63] The U.S. census of 2020 counted 392,962 Navajos in all states and territories.[64]
In the media[edit]
In 2000 the documentary The Return of Navajo Boy was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. It was written in response to an earlier film, The Navajo Boy which was somewhat exploitative of those Navajos involved. The Return of Navajo Boy allowed the Navajos to be more involved in the depictions of themselves.[65]
In the final episode of the third season of the FX reality TV show 30 Days, the show's producer Morgan Spurlock spends thirty days living with a Navajo family on their reservation in New Mexico. The July 2008 show called "Life on an Indian Reservation", depicts the dire conditions that many Native Americans experience living on reservations in the United States.
Tony Hillerman wrote a series of detective novels whose detective characters were members of the Navajo Tribal Police. The novels are noted for incorporating details about Navajo culture, and in some cases expanding the focus to include nearby Hopi and Zuni characters and cultures, as well. Some of the novels have been adapted for film/TV, including the series Dark Winds. His daughter has continued the novel series after his death.
In 1997, Welsh author Eirug Wyn published the Welsh-language novel "I Ble'r Aeth Haul y Bore?" ("Where did the Morning Sun go?" in English) which tells the story of Carson's misdoings against the Navajo people from the point of view of a fictional young Navajo woman called "Haul y Bore" ("Morning Sun" in English).[66]