Navajo Religious Traditions
NAVAJO RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS. Because of it colonial origin, the designation Navajo is in the process of being replaced by the term Diné, a word derived from the phrase Diyin Dine'é (people with supernatural powers). For this reason, Diné will be used throughout this article. The Diné, whose population in the 2000s has been estimated at 180,462, now live primarily on the Diné Nation (a land reserve approximately 270,000 square miles in size) located within the four corners of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, southeastern Utah, and southwestern Colorado. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that the Diné were latecomers to the American Southwest, arriving between 1000 and 1525 CE. Through contact with the Spanish and Pueblo peoples they acquired horses, sheep, goats, and agriculture. Anthropologists generally attribute similarities between Diné and Pueblo cosmologies and practices to the fact that many Pueblo refugees began to live among the Diné following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Many Diné elders describe this period as one of mutual exchange, rather than of unilateral influence.
Cosmology and Worldview
The path of walking in beauty and harmony, known as Hózhóójí, is the basic philosophy of the Diné Nation and is the foundation for their culture, beliefs, and traditions.
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