Monday, November 13, 2000

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Papers due today: hand in to your TA at the end of class
Fourth paper topics distributed this Wednesday,
November 15th
Prof. Maureen Schwarz,
Navajo specialist, will lecture on Wednesday
Next Monday: film, “Broken
Rainbow”
E-mail or meet with your
TAs about “Deepen Topic
Papers”

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Dineh: “the People”
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“Navahu”: term from neighboring
Tewa people
200,000 now in the
US (1999)
Young and fastgrowing: 75% of
Dine are under 28 years old

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27,000 sq. mile reservation
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Scattered throughout New
Mexico, Arizona, SE
Utah
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Roughly, still the area between the 4 sacred mountains

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From Siberia to
Alaska
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Lived 1000s of years in NW Canada
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900-1200 AD: migration to
American SW
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Division into
“Navajo” and
Apache
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Influence of Pueblo

Post-Columbian Dineh History
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Contact with
Spanish, 1620s
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Weaving
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The start of destruction: 1848
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1863-1864: Kit
Carson
 slaughter of nearly
500,000 sheep
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1864-1868: The Long
March
 incarceration of 8000
Navajo

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In the beginning, the
First World: a floating island in an endless black sea
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Four sacred directions, four mountains, hold the sky in place like the roof of a hogan

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Holy People
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Talking God, Wind,
Dawn, Twilight, Day,
Night, Lightning,
Thunder, many others
Insect People (mean, aggressive): Spider ants,
Wasp people, Ant people,
Beetles
First Man and Woman
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Black (North) and white
(East) mists joined to make First Man and white corn
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Blue (South) and yellow
(West) mists joined to make First Woman and yellow corn

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Man, Woman escape with
Insects to Second World
Second World filled with blue birds; Insects try to steal birds’ chief daughter;
Man/Woman escape to
Third World with Coyote and Insects
Coyote enrages water monster, who brings flood; man, woman, and Coyote escape by planting a reed on top of one of mountains
Man gathers earth from 4 mountains, brings into
Glittering White Fourth
World

The Formation of Fourth World (Dinetah)
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First Man and First
Woman instructed by Talking God to create Dinetah and never to leave it
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Began by creating the mountain of the east (now Mt Blanca in Colorado), and saw Holy Wind misted into it, which is still there, giving it life

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First man and
Woman formed
Mountain to the
West, saw Holy
Wind misted into it
(now San Francisco
Peaks, in Arizona)

 formed mountain to the south, saw Holy
Wind misted into it
(now Mt. Taylor in
New Mexico)

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Formed mountain of
North; saw Holy
Wind misted into it
(now Hesperus
Peak, Colorado)
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Also formed sun, moon, stars, placed them in the sky

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Soil and plants of these mountains are sacred and powerful
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To collect them these one must be purified
 and make offering of corn pollen and precious stones
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Powers of mountains invoked in all ceremonies

Changing Woman
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First man and
Woman found baby in cloud above
Gobernador Knob:
“Changing Woman”
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Later: she wandered away, fell asleep, impregnated by a ray of the Sun; gave birth to twins
(Monster Slayer and
Born of Water)

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Spider Woman and the Twins
 revealed who their father was
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 gave them protective prayers so they could reach their father, and get his power to kill monsters taught women to weave
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Rewarded by great home of Spider Rock

Monster Slayer and Navajo Mountain
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Monster Slayer and his twin were born at summit of Navajo
Mountain
Monster Slayer returned and killed
Monster-Who-Kicks-
People-Off
MS decided to live within mountain, turned spruce and juniper arrows fired by enemies into trees
Mountain now protects
Dine from enemies