In 1909, a three-man party set out on horseback through rocky wastelands, winding canyons, and some of the most inhospitable country in the United States in search of a stone structure that reputedly mimicked the shape and color of a rainbow. Finding the remarkable phenomenon over the rocky terrain of southern Utah, the horsemen were overawed by the sight that greeted them. Not only did the arch duplicate a rainbow in form but also in color. The search and ultimate discovery of what is known today as the ‘Rainbow Bridge,’ one of the world’s greatest wonders, were inspired by the Navajo Indians of southern Utah who told tales of this legendary ‘rainbow of stone.’
With a population that numbers around 220,000, and the most extensive reservation lands, the Navajo are the largest group of North American native peoples. Modern Navajo history dates back from the Long Walk in 1864 when, after repeated outbreaks of fighting between the Navajo and their Spanish and Anglo-American neighbors, they were deported to Fort Sumner 300 miles (480 kilometers) from their traditional lands around Monument Valley which straddles the Utah-Arizona border in the southwestern United States. Four years later, they were allowed to return to a designated reservation within their ancestral homeland. The Navajo quickly re-established their former way of life as hunters and farmers, with sheep particularly important to their economy. Women weave rugs and blankets from the wool; many of the men are also silversmiths and produce fine-quality jewelry.
Here are other facts about the Navajo as gathered from various historical and cultural records:
– At home. Family life centers on the hogan, traditionally a cone of forked poles covered with earth; today, it usually consists of soil-covered horizontal logs.
– Doll maker. The Navajo reservation surrounds an area allocated to the Hopi. Kachina dolls are traditional to Hopi culture and depict dancers in ceremonial costume. The dolls are given to friends as bearers of good fortune.
– Market economy. In the last 150 years, goods that were once made for home use, such as coiled baskets, have become integral to the Navajo economy.
– Men’s work. The first Navajo to make jewelry from silver and turquoise is reputed to have been Atsidi Chon in 1880. Hammer, hand-worked bellows, and a steel anvil are the usual tools, while all the materials are from the region.
– Rugs and blankets. Wool started to replace rabbit skin as the preferred material for blankets about 100 years ago. The designs of many blankets represent sand paintings, of which there are more than 800 different examples. They are produced on ceremonial occasions to restore balance and harmony in the world. In one particular design, a central maize plant represents the tree of life; two other figures depict rain and thunder and lightning.
– Seeking pasture. Today, the Navajo herd their flocks in Monument Valley, as they have since their ancestors first obtained sheep from the Spanish in the 17th century. Owning sheep is an indication of status within the tribe, and although herds had to be drastically reduced in the 1930s because the lands were becoming overgrazed, sheep farming is again a flourishing industry.
To the Navajo Indians, "nonnezoshi," ‘rainbow of stone,’ is a sacred place, and archaeological evidence found at the site indicates that it may once have been used as a place of worship. And like the Rainbow Bridge which was declared a national monument in 1910, the Navajo Indians are firmly entrenched in their well-deserved place in North American history.