Navajo

I made a regalia representing the Navajo people. The Navajo are the biggest tribe in North America and currently live in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Understanding the Navajo tribe will help you understand my regalia.

My Aunt Carrie volunteered to teach at St. Michael's Indian School on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona in 1999. She got to know the Navajo tribe very well and she shared all this with me! She sent me fabric for my regalia and a picture of her Navajo students. Then Gramma Dolly helped me measure, cut, and sew my regalia. We found turquoise thread and used it on the regalia. When we looked through her belts I found one that looked like the girl's in Aunt Carrie's picture. With the turquoise jewelry, the patterned fabric, and the silver belt, I look and feel like a Navajo girl.

The Navajo made their clothing from yarn made from sheep wool. The tribe herded the sheep together. To make colors for their clothes, the Navajo used local resources such as plants, shrubs, trees, and cactus. The jewelry they wore has turquoise stones on it. They were first inspired by the turquoise jewelry when non-indians traded it to them. It was mined nearby and looked neat with the silver designs made by the Navajo silversmiths. The Navajo people used their imaginations to create special jewelry.

The Navajo really like rainbows. That is the reason I made a rainbow on the cover. The Navajo like rainbows because it means the spirits are watching over them and because water in the desert means life.

I had fun making my regalia and researching the Navajo tribe. The Navajo tribe uses natural resources very well. They also use their imaginations to make colorful clothes and beautiful jewelry.

Bibliography

Hucko, Bruce. A Rainbow at Night. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1996.

Iverson, Peter. The Navajos. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1990.

Wood, Leigh. The Navajo Indians. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.

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