Navajo Nation

Serve and learn in the Navajo Nation. The cultural home to the Navajo people, and a place marked with beautiful sandstone mesas, towering buttes, colorful canyons, and dramatic desert scenery.

 Amizade has partnered in the Navajo Nation since 1998. It is the largest of the Indian Reservations in the US extending over four states – Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. The Navajo people share rich cultural traditions and are well known for their contributions to the world at large, including the role of the Navajo Code Talkers in WWII and their exquisite artistry. Current challenges include maintaining cultural identity, educating their children, and economic development.

RESOURCES

The Basics

Review the Amizade Navajo Nation Site Handbook.

Recommended Reading

Adkins, Adam (1997). Secret War: The Navajo Code Talkers in World War II. New Mexico Historical Review, October 1997

Begay, R. (2001). Doo dilzin da: Abuse of the natural world. American Indian Quarterly, 25(1), 21-27.

Johansen, B. E. (1994). The High Cost of Uranium in Navajoland. Excerpted from Ecocide of Native America: Environmental Destruction of Indiana Lands and Peoples, by Donald A. Grinde, Jr., and Bruce E. Johansen. Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishers, 1994.

Lee, Lloyd L. (2007). The future of Navajo nationalism. Wicazo Sa Review 22.1 (2007) 53-68

Lee, Lloyd L. (2008). Reclaiming indigenous intellectual, political, and geographic space. A path for Navajo nationhood. American Indian Quarterly, 32(1)

McCloskey, J. (1998). Three generations of Navajo women. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 22(2).

McPherson, R. (1998). Navajo livestock reduction in Southeastern Utah, 1933-1946: History repeats itself. American Indian Quarterly, 22(1-2), 1-18.

Schwartz, M. T. (1997). Unraveling the anchoring cord: Navajo relocation, 1974-1996. American Anthropologist, 99(1), 43-55.

Tohe, L. (2000). There is no word for feminism in my language. Wicazo Sa Review: A Journal of Native American Studies, 15(2), 103-110.

Tohe, L. (2007). Hwéeldi Bééhániih: Remembering the Long Walk. Wicazo Sa Review: A Journal of Native American Studies, 22(1), 77-82.

Yazzie, R. (1994). Life Comes From It: Navajo justice concepts. New Mexico Law Review: Indian Law Symposium, 24(2), 175-190.

Alexie, S. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Little, Brown.

Yazzie, R. (1994). Life comes from it: Navajo justice concepts. The Ecology of Justice (IC#38) pg. 29

Nielsen, O. Marianne and Zion, W James (2005). Navajo Nation Peacemaking. Living Traditional Justice The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

Recommended Viewing

Broken Rainbow (highly recommended for all participants to watch before visiting the Navajo Nation!)

How the West Was Lost: the Navajo

Morgan Spurlock: 30 Days: Life on an Indian Reservation (on Hulu)

Websites

Navajo Times

Crownpoint, Tuba City and Mariano Lake Chapter websites

Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples