Navajo Nation

Navajo Nation picture of a man and woman standing in front of a Hogan.

Navajo Nation (Diné): History, Culture, and Identity

Origins and Early Migration

The Navajo, known in their own language as the Diné (“the People”), are part of the larger Athabaskan language family. Scholars believe the Diné migrated into the Southwest from the subarctic regions of what is now Canada and Alaska sometime between 200 and 1300 AD. Oral traditions and archaeological evidence suggest they began settling in the Four Corners region—areas of present-day Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado—by the 14th century. They engaged in trade and cultural exchange with neighboring Pueblo societies, acquiring agricultural techniques and weaving practices in the process :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}.

Settlement, Agriculture, and Spanish Influence

By the early 16th century, the Diné developed a rich semi-nomadic lifeway that blended hunting, gathering, farming, and livestock herding. After Spanish contact in the 1600s, the Navajo adopted sheep herding, weaving, and horsemanship. These practices reshaped their economy and culture, as wool and livestock became central to Navajo identity and survival :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}.

The Long Walk and Resettlement

One of the darkest chapters in Diné history is The Long Walk of 1864. The U.S. government, under General Kit Carson, forcibly relocated over 8,000 Navajo men, women, and children from their homelands to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This 300-mile forced march resulted in many deaths from exposure, deprivation, and disease—each survivor called this period Hwéeldi (“the Fearing Time”) :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.

In 1868, after intense suffering, the Treaty of Bosque Redondo permitted the survivors to return to a portion of their former lands. The Navajo Nation reservation was formally established, covering millions of acres in the Four Corners region. Since then, the reservation has expanded through subsequent treaties and land restoration :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}.

Social Structure and Governance

The Diné are traditionally organized through matrilineal clans, which guide marriages, kinship ties, and social responsibilities. Families are connected through maternal lines, and clan identity remains a cornerstone of Navajo social life :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}.

Contemporary Navajo governance balances traditional councils with modern legal systems. The Navajo Nation is divided into chapters—local units with their own chapter houses—grouped into agencies. These chapters manage community concerns and elect delegates to the Navajo Nation Council, reflecting a layered combination of tribal and democratic governance :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}.

Spiritual Beliefs, Ceremonies, and Harmony

Central to Navajo worldview is the concept of Hózhó—balance, harmony, peace, beauty, and order. Spiritual health is maintained through rituals, prayers, stories, and ceremonies that restore Hózhó when disrupted by illness or disharmony.

The Navajo practice many healing ceremonies, nine-day rituals, sandpaintings, chants, and rituals like the Kinaalda (a girlhood-maturity ceremony) that uphold cultural and spiritual balance. Ceremonies often occur within or around hogans, sacred homes representing harmony with the Earth :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}.

Oral tradition maintains creation stories known as Diné Bahaneʼ—that explain origins through successive waves of emergence and journeys through “worlds” before arriving in the present world, reinforcing cultural identity and morality :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}.

Material Culture: Hogans, Weaving, and Symbolism

Hogans—the traditional circular dwellings made of logs and earth—were constructed with the door facing east, honoring the sunrise and spiritual orientation. Even today, hogans are used in ceremonies and remain symbols of cultural continuity :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}.

Navajo weaving is a deeply honored art form, with weavers creating intricately patterned rugs and blankets using hand-spun wool. Weaving tradition is tied to creation tales where Spider Woman taught the craft. Rugs were valued trade items by the 19th century and have become iconic cultural art—both pragmatic and symbolic :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}.

Artistry: Jewelry, Silversmithing, and Concho Belts

In the late 19th century, Navajo artisans adopted silversmithing techniques from Mexican craftsmen. Jewelry—especially squash blossom necklaces, concho belts, and turquoise inlay—became signature works blending Diné aesthetics with external influences. These items are now globally recognized symbols of Navajo artistry and resilience :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}.

Economy and Trading Posts

From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, trading posts served as economic and cultural hubs. Navajo families traded wool, rugs, and livestock in exchange for essential goods like flour, cloth, coffee, and tobacco. Traders often dominated regional commerce, though Navajo craftsmanship fueled much of the economy. These trade systems shaped settlement patterns and formed a core lifeline to external markets :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12}.

Land, Sacred Places, and Environmental Stewardship

The Four Sacred Mountains: Blanca Peak (east), Mount Taylor (south), San Francisco Peaks (west), and Hesperus Peak (north)—define the spiritual boundaries of Diné territory. Each mountain is associated with colors, directions, and deities, forming a cosmological map of spiritual identity and stewardship over the land :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13}.

Cultural heritage is intimately connected with the land. Places like Canyon de Chelly hold ancestral dwellings, petroglyphs, and centuries of human presence. These sites symbolize continuity from Ancestral Pueblo peoples through Diné lifeways and remain vital to Navajo cultural identity and environmental advocacy :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14}.

Living Traditions and Cultural Resilience

Contemporary Navajo culture evolves through cultural preservation, entrepreneurship, and revitalization. Weaving, sheep herding, storytelling, and ceremonial life continue alongside modern innovations. For example, Navajo activists and artists are engaging in climate stewardship, weaving cooperatives, and artistic expression to pass traditions forward and adapt to changing realities :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15}.

Notable Historical and Contemporary Navajo People

The history of the Navajo Nation is closely tied to the lives of its influential leaders, warriors, artists, and activists. From resisting U.S. military campaigns in the 19th century to serving as military code talkers in the 20th, and leading in politics and the arts in the 21st century, Navajo individuals have left a profound impact on their people and the wider world.

Famous Navajo from the historical period.

Chief Hoskininni (d. 1912), also known as Hush-Kaaney (meaning angry one) – Governed the remote lands in the Monument Valley/Navajo Mountain region in the current state of Utah. Hoskininni and his band of Navajo resisted the efforts of the United States military to round up all Navajo and force them to march hundreds of miles east, to Bosque Redondo/Fort Sumner, New Mexico (known as “The Long Walk”).

Chief Hoskininni and his band avoided capture for four years by hiding out in the remote lands of Navajo Mountain, where perennial springs were located. The group subsisted on pinon nuts, game, and the few sheep they had managed to bring with them when they fled the military. Hoskininni’s sound leadership eventually enabled this particular band of Navajo to thrive and prosper in this area.

Legend says that Hoskininni and his band discovered silver in the area because of the large amounts of jewelry that the band possessed, noticed by other Navajos who returned to the area after internment at Bosque Redondo ended. However, no silver mine or deposit has ever been found. Hoskininni died in 1912 in Monument Valley, where he lived with his family.

Manuelito a.k.a. Hastiin Ch’ilhaajinii (1818-1893) – One of the principal war chiefs of the Diné people before, during and after the Long Walk Period. Born near Bear’s Ears, Utah into the Bit’ahni (Folded Arms People). This clan was his mother’s clan. His father was Cayetano, a Navajo leader. When Manuelito was young, he participated in an ambush against the Pueblo Indians. He earned the war name Hashkeh Naabaah (Angry Warrior). Manuelito has also been called Bullet Hole, for a bullet wound to his chest.

He married the daughter of Narbona, a prominent Navajo peace leader, at the age of sixteen. Narbona was later killed. In 1855 Governor David Merriweather of New Mexico appointed Manuelito the “official chief” of the Navajo after Zarcillos Largos resigned. He was one of the twenty-five leaders to sign the Treaty of 1868. This treaty allowed the Navajo to return to their ancestral homelands.

Manuelito was interested in Anglo-American education because he saw it as a way to better his family’s life. His interest in Anglo-American education motivated him to send his two sons and a nephew to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Sadly, both of his children and the nephew contracted tuberculosis and died of the disease while attending Carlisle School.

Chief Barboncito – Signed the Navajo Treaty of 1868.

Chief Armijo – Signed the Navajo Treaty of 1868.

Navajo Actors / Filmmakers:

Klee Benally, musician and documentary filmmaker

Jeremiah Bitsui, actor

Geraldine Keams, actress, writer, and storyteller

Navajo Artists:

Harrison Begay (1914–2012), Studio painter

Atsidi Sani (c. 1828–1918), First known Navajo silversmith

Raven Chacon (born 1977), Conceptual artist

Lorenzo Clayton (born 1940), artist

R. C. Gorman (1932–2005), painter and printmaker.

David Johns (born 1948), painter

Yazzie Johnson, contemporary silversmith

Hastiin Klah, weaver and co-founder of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian

Gerald Nailor, Sr. (1917–1952), studio painter

Clara Nezbah Sherman, weaver

Ryan Singer, painter, illustrator, screen printer

Tommy Singer, silversmith and jeweler

Quincy Tahoma (1920–1956), studio painter

Klah Tso (mid-19th century — early 20th century), pioneering easel painter

Emmi Whitehorse, contemporary painter

Melanie Yazzie, contemporary print maker and educator

Navajo Athletes:

NOTAH BEGAY –  PGA Pro Golfer, of Navajo, San Felipe and Isleta lineage. Begay is the first Native American Indian to join a PGA Tour. He turned professional in 1995 and joined the tour in 1999.

CORY WITHERILL – Race Car Driver, of the Navajo Nation. Witherill has been racing for more than 15 years, including three seasons in the Dayton Indy Lights Championship. In 2001 he finally debuted in the Indy Racing League and then the Indy 500 (placing 19 out of 33).

The first full-blooded Native American to run in the Indy 500, he also holds two U.S. championships for off-road stadium racing and in 2001 became the first person to be a four-time champion at the Motorcross Valvoline de Montreal. His career goal is to be the first Native American to win the Indy 500.

Jacoby Ellsbury, New York Yankees outfielder (enrolled Colorado River Indian Tribes).

Rickie Fowler, American professional golfer.

Navajo Comedians:

James and Ernie, comedy duo

Navajo Dancers:

Jock Soto, ballet dancer

Navajo Musicians:

Blackfire, punk rock band and pow wow drum group

Raven Chacon, composer

Radmilla Cody, traditional singer

R. Carlos Nakai, musician, flutist

Politicians:

Chris Deschene – veteran, an attorney, an engineer, and a community leader. One of few Native Americans to be accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Marine Corps. He made an unsuccessful attempt to run for Navajo Nation President.

Henry Chee Dodge (1857?-1947) – Was the last official Head Chief and the first Tribal Chairman of the Navajo Tribe. He was born at Ft. Defiance, Arizona, to a Navajo-Jemez mother of the Coyote Pass Clan. The exact year of birth and the name of his father are not known. At around six years of age, Dodge’s mother left home and never returned. Dodge lived with various other family members until there was a mix-up and he was accidentally left alone beside a trail.

He met a young girl and her grandfather traveling on the trail, and they adopted him. He was living with this family when, in 1864, he was forced by the United States Government, along with thousands of other Navajos to walk over 300 miles to Bosque Redondo, near Ft. Sumner, New Mexico from their homelands in what is now northeastern Arizona. The Navajo people refer to this forced relocation as “The Long Walk.”

In 1868 the Navajo were finally allowed to return to their ancestral homes. Upon his return to his homeland, Dodge was reunited with an aunt who had married an anglo.

Dodge eventually learned English through his exposure to Anglo culture. He then enrolled in the Fort Defiance Indian School where he learned to read and write in English. He followed the old Navajo custom of marrying multiple wives. It is said that he may have had as many as eight wives at one time.

In 1884 he was named head of the Navajo Police force. Later that same year he was named “head chief” by agent Dennis Riordan. In 1890 he formed a partnership with a white trader, Stephen Aldrich, and opened a trading post at Round Rock, Arizona.

In 1892 his trading post was a major part of a conflict between Indian agent Dana Shipley and a powerful Navajo headman named Black Horse. In the end, Dodge skillfully negotiated a peaceful end to the explosive affair.

In 1923 Dodge was selected the first chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council. In 1942 he was elected tribal chairman for another term. He was reelected in 1946, but contracted pneumonia soon after and died from the disease on January 7, 1947.

Dodge was survived by five of his six children, one of whom was Annie Dodge Wauneka. She became the first woman to be elected to the Navajo Tribal Council.

Peter MacDonald, former Navajo Tribal Chairman

Kenneth Maryboy (Aneth/Red Mesa/Mexican Water), helped initiate the Navajo Santa Program for poverty stricken Navajo families.

Mark Maryboy (Aneth/Red Mesa/Mexican Water), former Navajo Nation Council Delegate, working in Utah Navajo Investments

Lilakai Julian Neil, first woman elected to Navajo Tribal Council (1946–1951)

Ben Shelly, former Navajo Nation President

Joe Shirley, Jr., former President of the Navajo Nation

Annie Dodge Wauneka (1910-1997) – Was born on April 10, 1910 near Sawmill, AZ. Her father was Henry Chee Dodge. She began her education at a boarding school in Ft. Defiance, Arizona at the age of eight. The school experienced a tuberculosis outbreak during the time of Annie’s attendance. Annie was in the first grade and even at this young age, she helped the school nurse tend the sick.

In the sixth grade Annie was sent to the Albuquerque Indian School. Her formal education ended at the end of eleventh grade, but later in life she returned to school where she earned a Bachelors Degree in Public Health from the University of Arizona in Tucson. Annie also received an honorary Doctorate Degree from her alma mater for her tireless efforts to better the lives of the Navajo people.

Annie married George Wauneka in October, 1929. After her marriage she began to work closely with her father until his death in 1947. Two years after his death she was appointed as the first woman member of the Navajo Tribal Council. In 1951 she was appointed to serve as Chairman of the Tribal Council’s Health and Welfare Committee. In 1956, the Surgeon General of the United States invited Mrs. Wauneka to become a member of the Advisory Committee on Indian health.

The greatest award given to Mrs. Wauneka was the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award. President John F. Kennedy sent her the news in the fall of 1963. The actual presentation was made by President Lyndon B. Johnson because President Kennedy had been assassinated. This award is given as the highest civil honor presented to an individual in peacetime. Men and women who make outstanding contributions to the security of the nation, to world peace or to cultural endeavors are considered as possible recipients for this award.

In 1997, at age 87, Mrs. Wauneka died. Her whole life was dedicated to the betterment of her tribe. A great humanitarian, Dodge fought for human rights, rights that she believed all people were entitled to have. Through her work as an activist, Dodge helped health care move into a modern place, one that would better serve Native American interests and needs. Dodge’s past efforts in health care will continue to affect present and future Native needs.

Peterson Zah (b. 1937) – Zah was born and raised in Low Mountain, Arizona. This area encompasses the area of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute. While living at Low Mountain, Zah gained valuable knowledge of his own tribe and living in close proximity to the Hopi brought him valuable knowledge of the Hopi tribe as well.

He led efforts to reorganize the Navajo tribal government. He became the Navajo Nation’s first president in 1990.
Zah acquired his first political position in Window Rock in 1967. He was hired as the head of the Dine’beiina Nahiilna Be Agaditahe (DNA). The DNA provided legal assistance to the Navajo, Hopi, and Apache Tribes.

In addition,  Mr. Zah was elected president of the Window Rock Unified School District Board of Directors in 1973, which was the first all Navajo school board. He advocated for more recruitment of Navajo teachers to work on the Navajo reservation.

In 1982 he was elected Tribal Chairman, replaced long term chairman Peter MacDonald for one term. In 1988 he was re-elected, accepting the position of the President of the Navajo Nation under the newly reorganized government structure.

He held that position until 1995. Mr. Zah is featured in the 100 Native Americans who shaped American History, a publication by Bluewood Books.Education has played a big part in Zah’s life.

Navajo Writers:

Sherwin Bitsui, author and poet

Ivan Gamble, writer/social activist

Luci Tapahonso, poet and lecturer

Elizabeth Woody, author, educator, and environmentalist

Navajo in the American Military:

The Navajo language was used to create a secret code to battle the Japanese during World War II. Navajo men were selected to create codes in the Navajo language and served on the front line to overcome and deceive those on the other side of the battlefield.

Today, these men are recognized as the famous Navajo Code Talkers.Navajo Code Talkers At Iwo Jima, Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, declared, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”

Connor had six Navajo code talkers working around the clock during the first two days of the battle. Those six sent and received over 800 messages, all without error.

In May 1942, the first 29 Navajo recruits attended boot camp. Then, at Camp Pendleton , Oceanside , California , this first group created the Navajo code. They developed a dictionary and numerous words for military terms.

The dictionary and all code words had to be memorized during training. Navajos could encode, transmit, and decode a three-line English message in 20 seconds. Machines of the time required 30 minutes to perform the same job. Approximately 400 Navajos were trained as code talkers.

Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu, Iwo Jima : the Navajo code talkers took part in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. They served in all six Marine divisions, Marine Raider battalions and Marine parachute units, transmitting messages by telephone and radio in their native language — a code that the Japanese never broke.

Long unrecognized because of the continued value of their language as a security classified code, the Navajo code talkers of World War II were honored for their contributions to defense on Sept. 17, 1992, at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Dr. Fred Begay, nuclear physicist and a Korean War veteran

Joe Kieyoomia, captured by the Imperial Japanese Army after the fall of the Philippines in 1942

Chester Nez, was the last original Navajo code talker who served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.

Other notable people with Navajo ancestry:

Albert Laughter, Navajo medicine man.

Navajo Nation

Chief Manuelito (1818–1893)

Chief Manuelito, one of the most prominent Navajo leaders of the 19th century, was known for his strength in battle and his defense of Navajo sovereignty. He resisted U.S. military incursions during the 1860s and, after the trauma of the Long Walk, became a key negotiator of the 1868 Treaty that allowed the Navajo people to return to their homeland. Manuelito also promoted education, famously urging Navajo youth to “learn the white man’s way, but never forget the Navajo way.” His legacy is still honored throughout the Navajo Nation.

Barboncito (1821–1871)

Barboncito was another significant Navajo leader during the Long Walk period. Known as both a statesman and a medicine man, he was instrumental in negotiating the Navajo people’s release from Bosque Redondo. His leadership helped ensure the survival of the Diné during a period of immense suffering and cultural upheaval.

Navajo Code Talkers

During World War II, more than 400 Navajo men served as Code Talkers, developing an unbreakable code based on the Diné language. This code played a vital role in U.S. Marine operations across the Pacific, including the battles of Iwo Jima and Saipan. Their contributions were kept classified until 1968, but since then, the Code Talkers have been widely celebrated as heroes who used their Indigenous language to safeguard global freedom.

Peterson Zah (1937–2023)

Peterson Zah was a transformative figure in modern Navajo governance. Serving as chairman from 1983 to 1987 and later as the first President of the Navajo Nation in 1991, he emphasized education and sovereignty. Zah also worked to create financial trust funds for Navajo communities and played an influential role in advocating for tribal rights at the national level.

R.C. Gorman (1931–2005)

R.C. Gorman, often referred to as the “Picasso of American Indian Art,” was a celebrated Navajo painter, sculptor, and printmaker. His works, characterized by vivid colors and depictions of Native women, gained international recognition. Gorman was among the first Native artists to achieve mainstream fame, bringing Navajo aesthetics into global galleries.

Jennifer Nez Denetdale (b. 1956)

Jennifer Nez Denetdale is a Navajo historian, author, and professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico. She is the first Diné woman to earn a Ph.D. in history and has written extensively about Navajo history, sovereignty, and identity. Denetdale is also a strong advocate for Indigenous women’s rights and representation.

Billy Luther (b. 1975)

Billy Luther is a Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo filmmaker whose documentaries and films have brought Indigenous stories to international audiences. His works include Dancing with the Spirit and Frybread Face and Me, both of which highlight Navajo identity, youth, and cultural memory. Luther’s films contribute to a growing Native presence in media and storytelling.

Jaclyn Roessel (b. 1982)

Jaclyn Roessel, a cultural leader, educator, and museum curator, has advanced Navajo art and heritage in national and international spaces. A former director at the Heard Museum and the Center for Native American Youth, she works to ensure that Indigenous arts and stories are preserved and shared with new generations.

Through leaders like Manuelito and Barboncito, warriors such as the Navajo Code Talkers, and modern voices including Peterson Zah, R.C. Gorman, and Jennifer Nez Denetdale, the Navajo Nation has produced figures who embody resilience, creativity, and advocacy. Each individual has contributed to the cultural survival and growth of the Diné, ensuring their legacy endures across generations.

Navajo Legends

The Navajo creation story involves three underworlds where important events happened to shape the Fourth World where we now live.

The Navajo were given the name Ni’hookaa Diyan Diné by their creators. It means “Holy Earth People”. Navajos today simply call themselves “Diné”, meaning “The People”. The Tewa Indians were the first to call them Navahu, which means “the large area of cultivated land.”

Diné Bahaneʼ is the Navajo Creation Story. It describes the prehistoric emergence of the Navajo, and centers on the area known as the Dinétah, the traditional homeland of the Navajo. This story forms the basis for the traditional Navajo way of life.

Important Characters in Navajo legends:

Niłchʼi Diyin (Holy Wind) – created as the mists of lights which arose through the darkness to animate and bring purpose to the four Diyin Dineʼé (Holy People), supernatural and sacred in the different three lower worlds. All these things were spiritually created in the time before the Earth existed and the physical aspect of humans did not exist yet, but the spiritual did.

Niʼ Hodiłhił (The First or Dark World) – was small and centered on an island floating in the middle of four seas. The inhabitants of the first world were the four Diyin Dineʼé, the two Coyotes, the four rulers of the four seas, mist beings and various insect and bat people, the latter being the Air-Spirit People. The supernatural beings First Woman and First Man came into existence here and met for the first time after seeing each other’s fire. The various beings on The First World started fighting with one another and departed by flying out an opening in the east.

Niʼ Hodootłʼizh (Second or Blue World) – which was inhabited by various blue-gray furred mammals and various birds, including blue swallows. The beings from the First World offended Táshchózhii, (Swallow Chief), and they were asked to leave. First Man created a wand of jet and other materials to allow the people to walk upon it up into the next world through an opening in the south.

Niʼ Hałtsooí(Third or Yellow World) – there were two rivers that formed a cross and the Sacred Mountains but there was still no sun. More animal people lived here too. This time it was not discord among the people that drove them away but a great flood caused by Tééhoołtsódii when Coyote stole her two children.

 Niʼ Hodisxǫs(The fourth world) – was covered in water and there were monsters (naayééʼ) living here. The Sacred Mountains were re-formed from soil taken from the original mountains in the Second World.

First Man, and the Holy People created the sun, moon, seasons, and stars. It was here that true death came into existence via Coyote tossing a stone into a lake and declaring that if it sank then the dead would go back to the previous world.

Yoołgaii Asdzą́ą́(First Person born in the Fourth World) – matures into Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé, in turn, gives birth to the Hero Twins called Naayééʼ Neizghání and Tóbájíshchíní. The twins have many adventures in which they helped to rid the world of various monsters.

Multiple batches of modern humans were created a number of times in the Fourth World and the Diyin Dineʼé gave them ceremonies which are still practiced today.

 Spider Woman (Spider Grandmother) and Spider Man knew how to weave the fibers of cotton and hemp and other plants. First Woman asked Spider Woman and Spider Man to teach people how to weave the fibers of plants so they would not have to depend on animal skins for clothing.

Spider Woman is also said to cast her web like a net to capture and eat misbehaving children. In another myth, Spider Woman aided the twins (born of the Sun and the Changing Woman) in killing the monsters that were endangering The Earth surface People by giving them feather hoops that protected them from attacks.

Áłtsé Hastiin – First Woman

Haashchʼééshzhiní (Black Yéʼii) – the God of fire.

Tsé Nináhálééh – Monster Eagle.

Tsé dah Hódziiłtáłii – The Monster Who Kicks People Down the Cliff.

Binááʼ yee Aghání – the Monsters That Kill with Their Eyes.

Yéʼiitsoh (Big Giant) – hid along paths, and killed and devoured travelers.

Déélgééd –  the Horned Monster.

Téʼéʼį́ Dineʼé – the Poverty Creatures.

Tóbájíshchíní – Child of the Water.

Tó Neinilí (Water Sprinkler) –

Monster Slayer Twins –

Changing Woman –

Water Sprinkler – the Rain God.

Related Links:

Famous Navajo Indians

Navajo Tribes Today

Navajo Nation

Sources

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