external image braided_squash.jpg
As the women worked, men would perform a lighthearted song like this to keep the women in good spirits

Agriculture.

· Through raids on the Spanish, Navajo acquired sheep and goat.
· By 1700 sheep herding was a central focus
o Sheep for meat
· Corn
· Baked broiled
o Eaten fresh
o Made into cornmeal
o Tortillas
o Tamales
o Soups
o Mushes
· beans
· maize
· and squash
o recognized as a staple food
o slices or circular cut
o sun/ fire dried
o kept down weed growth
o cover to dry soil
· men hunted deer, antelope, and small game
· women gathered nuts, fruits, and herbs
· Mainly women did the gathering
· Most important plants
· Mescal plant
o Core of leaves that resembles artichoke heart
o Separated from plant
o Baked in rock-lined underground ovens
o Dried in sun and stored
o Similar to squash
· Pinon nuts
o Grows in a the pine cones
o Roasted
o Shelled
o Ground into flour
· Bread , soups
· Berries, seeds, leaves
· Used each plant to its fullest
· Stored for later
· Sun major food preserver
· Dry caves, storage
o Seal opening with rocks
o Cover in mud and dirt to conceal opening
· First people to get horses
· Blankets textiles


Native Languages of the Americas website © 1998-2008 -**http://www.bigorrin.org/navajo_kids.htm**
The encyclopaedia of the First Nation Peoples of North America- by Rayna Green
From the book: The Apaches and Navajos. By: Craig A. Doherty, and Katherine M. Doherty



Econemy
· Navajos followed the matrilineal rule.
o Followed mothers side of the family
· Organized the families into clans
o Over sixty Navajo clans
· Each Navajo child is a member of his or her mother’s clan
· When a Navajo wants to get married, they must choose someone who is not a member his mother or fathers clan
· Families often got together and helped each other out
o By; planting or harvesting, or moving herds or flocks
o Called an outfit
· Family is very important
· Large families stay together
· Head mother
· Share a large flock of sheep
· Share a area of range land where their sheep graze
· Impossible to separate religion from everyday life
· Everything is connected to religious belief

· Good and evil in the world
o Lies within everyone
· When someone dies, the evil in them becomes a dangerous ghost

From the book: The Apaches and Navajos. By: Craig A. Doherty, and Katherine M. Doherty