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The Navajo people had first contact with Europeans in about 1540 when Spanish expeditions came though the area. The first and largest effect is they gained sheep and horses which became important to their culture.
They had little contact with settlers in the Rio Grande valley for the first 100 years. They met them at trade fairs and there was some raiding and forth. The Navajo for sheep and horses, the Spanish for slaves.
In 1680 the Great Pueblo Revolt happened. It is believed that at that time some refugees from the conflict came and intermarried with the Navajo.
In the 1700s the Spanish demand for Navajo slaves led to the Comanche and the Ute and Kiowa getting into extensive slave raids and trading. This was very difficult on the Navajo and caused counter raids.
In the early 1800s Mexico gained independence. The slave raids continued. At that time about 1/3 of the population of New Mexico and close to a similar ratio in northern Mexico were descendants of those slaves who had lost their tribal roots. In New Mexico these people are known as Genizaros.
In 1846 the US gained theoretical control over New Mexico and Arizona. The Spanish had never successfully controlled or colonized the Navajo areas. The raids and counter raids with the now American army continued and grew. The slavery did not stop.
In 1863-4 the American army led a scorched earth campaign against the Navajo. They meant they burned crops, homes, storehouses, killed livestock until the Navajo were defeated by starvation in the winter.
From 1864-8 the Navajo were forced onto the Long Walk to live in an interment camp. Many died on the way and many more in the camps of disease.
In 1868 the Navajo were allowed to return to their traditional lands.
The slavery issue continued even after the Civil War in New Mexico up into the 1880s.
Most of where they live was not desirable to settlers. The lands they were given were expanded from 1868 to 1934 until they are today 27,000 square miles. About the same as Holland and Belgium combined.
Some areas in New Mexico were wanted by settlers and they had powerful Senators. That land for oil and gas and grazing was taken from them after it was given in the late 1800s.
Today there are 300,000 members of the Navajo Nation.
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Who made the Navajo clothing?
Navajo clothing was fashioned and made by the Navajo females
What does the Navajo word bilagaana mean?
The Navajo word, "Bilaganaana" means White Man of White person.
What problems did the Comanche Indians have with white settlers?
The European Settlers killed most of the buffalo that the Native American Indians needed for food and and clothing. The Settlers also brought gold excavators and cattle ranchers. These impacted the Comanche tribe as the space was being stolen. The plains land was being taken over by the Europeans. This caused wars between the plains tribes.
Where did Navajo Indians get there materials to build hogans?
Hogans are made of logs, branches and earth and sometimes stone. There are tree and dirt almost everywhere on the Navajo Nation. The elevation in from 5000- 10,000 feet. There are pinon pine, juniper, white fir, Engleman spruce, blue spruce, Douglas fir, corkbark fir, ponderosa pine, quaking aspen, cottonwood, and Gambel oak on the Navajo Nation.
Why were there conflicts between the white and the Indians?
The Indians didn't want the white to take their land. The white argued about it and then became war on September 3, 2003.
What happened to the west after the white settlers came?
The west was peaceful before the white settlers came. The Indians hunted for food and lived off of the land.
Did Navajo Indians get along with the white man?
no they did not
Did Chinook Indians and white settlers get along?
The chinook indians and the white settlers got alng by trading with eachother
How did the Indian removal act impact white settlers?
The Indians removal act impacted white settlers by opening new territories foe them. The white settlers were afraid of this as the feared the Indians would retaliate.
Who hunted the bison?
The plains Indians and the white settlers.
Why were the Plains Indians there?
They lived there! We (white settlers) invaded their land.
How did the culture of white settlers different from that of plains Indians?
I am the best
Should Indians or white settlers own the land?
indians should own it because they are resourceful
What happened to native Americans when white settlers came?
in 1780 kentucky said land of the indians and so later on it became indiana
Colors that represented the Navajo Indians?
navajo colors:There are four sacred colors: in the east- white and white shell, in the south- blue and turquoise gemstones, in the west- yellow and abalone, and in the north- black and jet.
Why did the white settlers in the great plains believe the American Indians had forfeited their rights to the land?
because indians are pussys
Why did the white settlers and the American Indians begin having conflict?
they had conflicts becouse the white people did not pay the indians what they had promised and the working conditions were horride
