Background Information

The Dineh (Navajo) Nation

The Dineh (Navajo) Tribe is the largest Native American tribal group in North America with approximately 200,000 members.

Anthropologists believe the Dineh (Navajo)s migrated to the American Southwest from the north in the 1500’s.

Today their 16 million-acre reservation, the largest in the U.S., includes parts of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.

Identity and Change

In spite of retaining a strong cultural identity, the Dineh (Navajo) have embraced some lifestyle changes over the years. Today there are rural sheepherders living on the reservation, as well as college-educated Dineh (Navajo) professionals living in cities.

While many Dineh (Navajo) maintain their traditions and Native beliefs, for others, the "Peyote religion", imported from southwest Texas during the past 70 years, is displacing the traditional religion.

The Dineh (Navajo) language is still used by a majority of the people, but English has become an accepted second language.