Navajo Reservation

The Navajo Reservation, the largest in the country, sprawls across the upper northeast corner of Arizona and into parts of New Mexico and Utah. At 27,000 square miles, it is approximately the size of the state of West Virginia; in fact, it is larger than 10 states. Today the tribe has a population of about 290,000, making it the largest Native American nation in North America, with nearly 75% of Navajos living on the reservation. The Colorado River forms 76 miles of the Reservation’s western border, which stretches from the mouth of the Little Colorado River to the Glen Canyon Dam. The Reservation is located on the Colorado Plateau and contains a great deal of ecological diversity. The land is full of deserts, grasslands, forests, mountains, plateaus, mesas, and canyons that include a wide range of elevations and climates.

Though Navajo stories tie them to the lands of the Colorado Plateau from time immemorial, archeologists believe they were relative newcomers to the Southwest, arriving sometime between 1000 and 1500 A.D. The Navajos were primarily hunter-gatherers, but began changing into a more sedentary life after they learned agricultural techniques from their Puebloan neighbors. The Puebloans also influenced Navajo religion, arts and crafts, and social conventions. Around the beginning of the 18th century, the Navajos once again adapted themselves to become avid livestock herders with the influx of Spanish domesticated animals. They also gained a reputation as fearsome and aggressive raiders.

In 1863 the U.S. Army sent Col. Kit Carson into Navajo land to force the Navajos away from their homeland to Bosque Redondo on the Pecos River in New Mexico. There they lived under Army guard at Fort Sumner. Many sought refuge in Canyon de Chelly, but in the end the Army’s destruction of their crops and livestock and the constant war waged against them forced the tribe into surrender. They were force-marched hundreds of miles in the “Long Walk.” By the end of 1864, about 75% of the tribe had arrived at Bosque Redondo, with the rest fleeing westward and living in small groups or among friendly neighbors. Although a miserable experience for the Navajos, their time at Bosque Redondo helped to solidify their tribal unity and ended their history of raiding.

Four years later, the Navajos and the American government signed the Treaty of 1868, which granted the people a reservation and released them from Bosque Redondo, allowing them to return to their homelands to the west. Over the next several years, the Navajos managed to add to their land base even as other Native American tribes were steadily losing theirs. The Navajo population grew rapidly, and much of the land they gained came from what had been Hopi reservation land. As the Navajos quadrupled the size of their reservation through a series of executive orders and Congressional acts, they heightened conflicts with the Hopis. By 1934 the Navajo Nation encircled the Hopi reservation.  This expansion brought the Navajo into an long-running conflict with the Hopi (read more about the Navajo-Hopi land dispute below).

Oil was discovered on the Navajo Reservation in the early 1920s. The Navajo Tribal Council was established in 1923, primarily to deal with oil and mineral companies that wanted to lease Navajo land, but also to administer timber resources and develop a water supply for their livestock. The reservation was so large that this council was not effective at first, and in 1927 it divided into smaller local chapters that reported to the council. In 1969, the tribal council passed a resolution officially establishing the Navajo Nation.

In the 1930s, the federal government forced the Navajo to reduce their livestock because of concerns about overgrazing and erosion. This caused a massive disruption in the Navajo economy and angered many tribal members. Deep resentment still lingers today.

After World War II, companies became even more interested in the large oil and gas fields on the reservation, and revenues from their leases were reinvested in the reservation. In the 1960s coal, helium, and uranium mining companies set up operations on the reservation, further enriching the tribe, but also bringing environmental problems such as air pollution, radiation poisoning, and depletion of the groundwater table. Many Navajos are also angry that most revenue from resource development on the reservation goes to U.S. corporations instead of Navajo companies and communities.

The US government also threatened the environment of the Navajo Reservation. As early as the 1940s, the Bureau of Reclamation put forth proposals to build a dam at Marble Canyon on the western boundary of the Navajo Reservation. Though it would have flooded reservation lands, the Navajo were not brought into discussions about the proposals. Activists protested this dam, and in 1969 President Lyndon Johnson created Marble Canyon National Monument to protect the area. This monument was later absorbed into Grand Canyon National Park by Congress’s 1975 Grand Canyon National Park Enlargement Act.

However, this act led to new tensions between the National Park Service and the Navajo. The NPS argues that the boundary of the reservation is along the South Rim (despite a 1979 Colorado River Management Plan which allows Navajos to continue to use and occupy lands below the rim), while the Navajos argue that it reaches all the way to the Colorado River. The Navajos are interested in developing canyon-related tourism, but often the tribe and the NPS do not see eye-to-eye on the “appropriate” use of these lands.

Tourism has become an important part of the Navajo economy and is continuing to expand. Visitors can attend a number of cultural events on the reservation, such as song and dance contests and intertribal powwows. The reservation contains many sites for historic, archeological, and environmental enthusiasts, such as Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Hubbell Trading Post, and Monument Valley. In fact, Monument Valley, which provided the scenic backdrop for many historic western movies, has been run as a tribal park since 1960. Many Navajos operate tour companies to serve visitors to their reservation who come from all over the world.

The Navajo world view values continuous growth and renewal, and it is this spirit that has helped their nation survive and thrive over many centuries and provides hope for a bright future.