Navajos

NAVAJOS AD

The Navajos a tribal nation of 50,000 souls living over a vast, sun-drenched domain of 25,000 square miles in north eastern Arizona and norhtwestern New Mexico, whose broad acres are larger than some states, many nations.

The Navajosthe warrior folk, proud and defiant, who felt the sword of the Spaniards in 1692 and who finally bowed to white man's will when Kit Carson led U. S. soldiers to their stronghold in Canyon de Chelly in the 1860's.

The Navajos-undaunted by the fury of the cold winds that bring heavy snows in the winter and by the hot winds that come with the sun in summer.

This is the proud being who calls himself “the Aristocrat of the Southwest,” whose wealth is his sheep and his horses, whose art is that of the silversmith and the rug weaver.

He is a simple person, and his gods are the simple gods of his ancestors.

He is a child of nature, simple and as primitive in many ways as the great canyons and colored cliffs of his boundless land. His remoteness is complete and into many corners of his reservation, the written word has never penetrated. His children go to the white man's school, but neither white man's teaching nor white man's precept changes him. He is of the soil and of the elements and of his people. The terrors of his existence is the drouth that bakes his soil and dries the grass and winds which obliterate the lonely trails over which he travels.Navajo Rider. Outlined against a desert sky, this Navajo represents all Indians who cling to the freedom that their horses give them, and the strength which the desert demands of them. (Josef Muench.) Strange and Beautiful is the Land of the Navajos. The Elephant's Feet are strange formations north of Tuba City which serve as land marks for the travelers journeying the lonely trails and roads of Navajoland. (Josef Muench.)Wild Horses. Thousands of wild horses roam the expansive land of the Navajos. They have become such a grazing hazard that thousands have been rounded up and sold. Navajos are fine riders, possess a deep affection for their horses. (Norman G. Wallace.)

Far north in the land of the Navajos, the Indians build their winter hogans of wood and dirt as protection against the snow and bitter winds. Within, life goes on. Busy fingers weave and spin the wool that means the meager livelihood for the fam-ily. (Photos by Roy and Brownie Adams.)Throughout the Navajo empire, families move with the seasons following their sheep in search of the green-er pastures. The sun and the winds and the star-lit nights are their companions and the rains are their destiny.

Nature's Children.

A Navajo family at home in the desert, where kitchen, workshop, bedroom and nursery are all in one under the shade of a cottonwood tree. These nomads follow the seasons, live out in the open when spring and summer bring warm weather. (Josef Muench.)

Ναναίο Maiden. Jewelry and ornamentation is

Deeply impressed in the personality of the Navajo. Far to the north, almost at the very portals of Monument Valley, this Indian maiden rests for a moment from her spinning tasks. Navajo women are famed for their product of the loom the Navajo blanket or rug. (Max Kegley.)

Study in Nobility. Conquered by the white man,

Beaten by the mad winds of the changing seasons, faced with the ravages of drouth and severe winters, the Navajo is far from being a picture of the defeated. Shy among strangers, he is merry and jovial and given to jest and banter among his friends. (Barry Goldwater.) The land of the Navajos-25,000 squaremiles of sand and desert and lava beds and colored buttes and naked hills in Arizona and New Mexico-embosoms some 50,000 souls. Over this area thousands of families wander in summer with their sheep, proud and simple people, unchanged in many ways from their forefathers who were here in 1540 when Coronado came with the sword of the Conquest for the king of Spain. (Josef Muench.)

NAVAJO silversmiths are famous the world over, and Navajo jewelry has found its way to all countries of the earth. Yet that art is a borrowed art, the Navajos having learned to work with silver from Mexicans taken captive about the middle of the 19th century. They soon excelled in the art and their handmade products in silver and turquoise are their proudest possession - more treasured than money. As salesman of his own jewelry the Navajo is a shrewd trader, and he drives sharp bargains. The product of his anvil and his patience is a a thing of beauty and value. Well does the Navajo know that.

THE Navajo blanket is poetry in wool! It represents one of the highest achievements of Navαjo art and handicrafts, and it has not been equalled. The most expensive machines cannot match in quality and fineness the Navajo rug made by simple Indian women on primitive looms. The Navajo woman shears the sheep, cards the wool, prepares it for the loom and does the weaνing. Her pattern is developed as she weaves, and she uses no drawn nor painted patterns to guide her. Compare a thousand Navajo rugs and you will find no two that are alike. Her work is incomparable.

Nomads of the Desert. These young Navajos are perfectly at home in this desolate country. Over seemingly trackless wastes they find their way surely to a temporary hogan tucked behind some sand dunes. Fearless in the face of Nature's cruel forces, they are shy before the camera. The stranger in the land of the Navajos will find them friendly and helpful. (Josef Muench.) Winter Shelter in Navajoland. Protected from the wind, by red stone cliffs, a Navajo builds his winter quarters in a snug canyon bottom. The Navajos do not share group life, the family being the central group. Social contacts are made by visits to trading posts or to small reservation communities. The trim white tent shown is a touch of modernity in primitive surroundings. (Max Kegley.)

A Study in Beauty. Beautiful, indeed, are these little Navajo girls, in their quaint dresses and their necklaces, ear-rings, concho belts and rings. (Fred Harvey.) Table Mesa. The Navajos call it Da H'aska, or Table Mesa. Such adds to the beauty of this land of the Navajos. High mesas, with sloping colored walls, lonely trails losing themselves in trackless distances. (Milton Snow.) Market day is a big event for the Navajos who come in with their wagons to the trading posts. Navajo women carry on the household purchases for the family and have good eyes for bargains. (Fred Harvey.) The Navajos are skilled horsemen, the horse being their friend and salvation in weary treks across their broad land. Navajo women are adept as riders and inured to hardships. (Max Kegley.) The capital of the Navajo Nation is at Window Rock, Arizona, named from this window formed by a stone arch. At Window Rock are the administrative offices for the Navajo people. This is considered the most beautiful reservation headquarters in America, an impressive village whose buildings are made from native stone. Here is located the radio station which sends news and bulletins to members of the tribe in isolated parts of the reservation. Modernity thus replaces the mysterious grapevine. (Soil Conservation Service, USDA.)