Description
The Dineh (Dinéh, Diné) or Navajo are a people of North American Indians, the majority of whom reside on Dinetah (Dinétah), the Four Corners Reservation in the Desert States of the United States. According to the 2005 census, 338,443 Dineh were registered in the United States. The name the Dineh received, according to some sources, from the Spanish and, according to others, from the Pueblo peoples (Navajo is said to derive from a word meaning "thief of the land"), is Navajo. This name is still used by many people today, although the people themselves prefer the name Dineh. The pronunciation is na-WA-cho, the Anglo-American corruption of which is NA-va-ho. The Dineh, along with the N'de (Apache), are descended from Athapaskan peoples who spoke the Na-Dené language and still live in central Canada. The name Dineh is therefore very similar to the name the related Chipewyan from Canada gave themselves: Denesuline. Around 1500, the ancestors of the Dineh and N'de migrated en masse to the Deep South and began a nomadic existence in the desert and prairie regions of Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Originally, the Dineh and N'de formed a single people, but for unknown reasons, the group split. While the Dineh had already been supporting themselves on the plains for years through sheep, bison, and agriculture, the N'de still lived in the San Francisco Mountains. Due to the dry climate of the desert regions, agriculture never developed as the primary means of subsistence for the Dineh. Most of their food came from the bison, which were found throughout central North America, and the large flocks of sheep managed by the Dineh. Both men and women worked as sheepherders, but the few crops that were grown had to be tended and harvested by the women. The scarcity of water in the region necessitated a nomadic existence. To obtain supplementary supplies, the surrounding villages of the Tewa and Hopi peoples were so regularly raided during harvest time that the Dineh's routes through the land have been worn like paths. Like the N'de, but unlike the Pueblo, the Dineh did not build houses out of clay, but lived in hogans. These had the advantage of being quickly packed and easily transported. Typically, the hogans were set up in canyons or under steep cliffs, where they were difficult to spot by enemy scouts perched atop the hills. Daily governance was led by a tribal elder, who consulted with other elders and the warriors. Together, these could decide to wage war or make peace; the Dineh's greatest opponents were the Pueblo, with whom they frequently fought over control of the land and the right to hunt the buffalo herds there. The Dineh had a religion deeply rooted in, and almost exclusively based on, the belief in the healing power of songs, often sung by a medicine man. They did not pray to a god or spirit, but sang a specific song to cure a specific illness; the themes of the songs often had a mythical or prayerful background. There were songs about the mountains, the bison, water, and virtually all other things important in Dineh life. A song describes how a particular aspect of the world came into being. Important verses are sometimes repeated up to four times to enhance their effect. Today, we know of at least thirty-five healing chants, comprising over five hundred songs that the medicine man had to memorize. In addition to the songs, the Dineh also created sand paintings based on the themes of their songs. Such paintings were painted in the sand and were large enough for the sick person to sit or kneel in. Inside a circle, the animal or object the song described was then drawn, from which the patient was to draw healing powers through the medicine man's chant. Each of the thirty-five songs had its own painting.
The bear as a lucky symbol:
It symbolizes strength combined with being sturdy and strong. It also symbolizes cuddling combined with being soft and warm. For Native Americans, it also symbolized self-knowledge and healing. The Greek goddess of the hunt was sometimes depicted with bears. (Diana)
