Who are the Navajo, or Diné?
Diné is a name used by the Navajo people for themselves, often translated as “the People”. Their homeland lies in the American Southwest. The Navajo Nation extends across parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah; Diné people also live beyond its boundaries.[1][19]
A nation’s territory, its government and the lives of its people are related but different subjects. Navajo identity cannot be reduced to one landscape, occupation or style of dress. Alongside weaving and silverwork, contemporary artists work in music, painting, sculpture and poetry.[1]
A person standing in a long skirt, a shepherd beside a flock and a student at home each offer a different starting point. Clothing becomes more interesting when we ask who made it, when it is worn and how it fits into a person’s life.
Clothing changes across time and occasion
The biil: a woven dress
The biil is a dress made from two woven panels. The Autry Museum records a surviving example made by Juanita in 1868–1875, using handspun Churro wool and other yarns. A dated garment helps us look at a specific maker and period rather than imagining a single unchanging costume.[3]
Blouses, skirts and clothing for gatherings
Other familiar forms of women’s dress include long skirts, long-sleeved velvet blouses, shawls and belts. Materials and fashions have changed. The Navajo Nation’s tourism account also describes men’s shirts, trousers, moccasins and jewellery, while noting that contemporary clothes are common in daily life.[2]
Read the gallery as a set of educational illustrations. An outfit may suit a gathering or a particular historical setting; it is not a uniform worn by every Diné person. Captions should distinguish a historical reconstruction from a scene set today.
Look closely at a concho belt
A concho belt carries a series of decorated metal elements. One Diné example in the National Museum of the American Indian combines hide, silver and turquoise, with stamped and inlaid work. A close view can reveal the construction that disappears in a full-length portrait.[4]
From sheep to yarn to woven cloth
Sheep connect food, fibre and the land. Wool preparation may involve shearing, washing, carding, spinning and dyeing before weaving begins on an upright loom. The Lam Museum explains how cloth once woven for clothing and blankets also developed into rugs for sale as markets changed.[6]
A living skill, taught by people
In a Smithsonian interview, Diné weaver and shepherd Kevin Aspaas describes learning from his mother and continuing a family textile tradition. He also spins and dyes his wool. His account introduces an individual practice; methods, materials and working lives differ between artists.[7]
The Indian Arts and Crafts Board recommends learning the maker’s name and the history of a textile. Looking beyond a generic “Southwestern pattern” makes room for authorship, technique and the changing choices of Diné weavers.[8]
Silverwork as a changing art
National Museums Scotland presents both early and contemporary Southwestern jewellery, including work by named artists such as Perry Shorty. Silver and turquoise are prominent materials, but they do not by themselves establish who made a piece. Makers and provenance help tell a fuller story.[5]
Homes, relationships and food
Hogans and homes today
A hogan is a traditional Diné dwelling. Its form and orientation carry cultural meaning; the Navajo Nation tourism account describes the home in relation to the surrounding world. A historic hogan, a modern house and a community building serve different contexts, so an illustration should identify the setting it depicts.[2]
The National Park Service describes work in schools, hospitals, shops and government as well as home-based craft. Such details help us see present-day communities alongside the better-known pastoral landscape.[9]
Introducing family relationships
A Diné introduction can include clan relationships and the places a person comes from. Navajo Word of the Day explains an introduction through the mother’s clan, the father’s clan and the clans of both grandfathers. Kinship is expressed through words and relationships, not only through a family portrait.[10]
Food belongs to the same wider picture
The Navajo Nation’s education framework includes corn, squash, beans, peaches and Navajo tea among its food and plant vocabulary. Learning those names can connect a meal with farming and local knowledge. They are examples for exploration, rather than a menu shared by every household.[12]
Diné bizaad: language, sound and writing
Diné bizaad is the Navajo name for the language. Listening to a speaker is a useful first step: the sound of a greeting carries details that an English spelling guide can miss.[1]
| Expression | An introduction to its use |
|---|---|
| Yá’át’ééh | A greeting, often rendered “hello”; also connected with the idea “it is good”. |
| Ahéhee’ | “Thank you” or an expression of gratitude. |
The spellings above follow Navajo Word of the Day’s introduction, which includes audio. Use that recording to hear the words in context.[10]
What do the marks tell us?
Modern Navajo writing uses Latin letters with additional letters and marks. Doubled vowels indicate length; an acute accent marks high tone; a hook beneath a vowel marks nasalisation. Apostrophes mark glottal features. The letter ł is a consonant, not a nasal vowel.[11]
These are meaningful sound distinctions. Preserving accents and vowel marks matters when copying names and expressions into captions. A short translation or a Roman-letter spelling alone cannot teach pronunciation.[11]
Games, stories and learning together
Késhjééʼ: the shoe game
The shoe game brings people together on winter nights. A Navajo Nation account describes moccasins, yucca stems, singing and strategic deception, connecting the gathering with teachings about day and night. Its community and seasonal context are part of the introduction, alongside play.[13]
The stick game
A 2015 Navajo Times report follows a Navajo Nation Museum workshop where children learned the stick game, written tsidił in the report. It is a distinct game, not a form of checkers. Names and teaching practices should follow the particular source being used.[14]
Hoops in motion
Another museum programme introduced children to Tsibaas, or hoop racing. A report describes wooden hoops propelled with sticks. Such gatherings show how language, movement and instruction can work together.[15]
These are introductions to documented examples, not a universal rulebook. When presenting instructions, identify the community or teacher and the seasonal guidance that applies.
History: removal, return and military service
The Long Walk and Bosque Redondo
In the 1860s, the U.S. military forcibly removed thousands of Diné people from their homeland to Bosque Redondo in New Mexico. The National Museum of the American Indian brings together oral testimony and records of the marches, confinement and severe suffering.[16]
The 1868 treaty enabled a return to the homeland and remains important to Diné sovereignty. Rebuilding families, herds and livelihoods was a continuing effort. This history helps place later weaving and community life in context.[17]
The Code Talkers constructed a code
During the Second World War, Navajo Marines developed a code within their language. The original twenty-nine recruits devised word substitutions and an alphabet system that had to be memorised. Their achievement involved training and specialised coding, as well as fluency in Diné bizaad.[18]
The Smithsonian distinguishes this from simply translating an ordinary message. It also documents service by speakers of other Native languages. That wider history gives the Navajo Code Talkers’ work a clearer setting.[18]
A nation and a language continuing today
The Navajo Nation has its own government. Its official history also records the adoption of the Nation’s flag on 21 May 1968. The flag represents this political community; it should not be treated as a generic symbol for all Native American peoples.[19]
In December 2024, the Navajo Nation announced legislation making Diné bizaad its official language. A later public learning initiative pairs stories with audio, offering a way to encounter the language through living voices.[20][21]
Hózhó is often discussed through beauty, order, balance and relationships. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board connects it with work, family, knowledge and the earth. It is better approached through those relationships than reduced to a decorative motif.[8]
Clothing and craft are useful entrances into these stories. The strongest introduction keeps returning to the people who wear, make, teach and change them.
Frequently asked questions
Are Navajo and Diné different peoples?
Here, Navajo and Diné refer to the same people; Diné is a self-designation. The Navajo Nation is the name of their political nation.[1][19]
Do all Diné people wear the clothes shown in the gallery every day?
No. Dress changes with the person, period and occasion. Contemporary clothing is common, while traditional styles also appear at special gatherings.[2]
Are all Navajo textiles rugs?
No. Weaving also has a history of blankets and clothing. Ask about the intended use, date and maker of a particular textile.[6][8]
Is the shoe game the same as throwing a shoe?
No. The winter shoe game has its own materials, songs and cultural setting. It is not a shoe-tossing competition.[13]
