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Hello professor, my name is Joshua Little Wolf. I am of the Bitter Water people. I am born for the Big Deer people. My maternal grandfathers clan is the Bitter Water people, my paternal grandfathers clan is the Big Deer people. I am from Houston, Texas. I was born in Austin, Texas.
I will be discussing the importance of clans to the Navajo people. I will also discuss the origin of the clans, the four initial clans, the creation story involving Changing Woman, and the proper way people of the Navajo Nation introduce themselves. The Navajo people do not have the same family structure as typical American families do. According to Harrison Lapahie Jr. : In the Navajo culture, two Navajos of the same clan, meeting for the first time, will refer to each other as "brother" or "sister." Navajos that are cousins to each other in the American sense, think of each other as "brother" or "sister" in the Navajo sense. Father's and mother's cousins in the American way are thought of as aunts and uncles in the Navajo way.
Grandparent's brothers and sisters in the American way are thought of as grandma's and grandpa's in the Navajo way. Harrison Lapahie Jr. has many brothers, sisters, Aunts, Uncles, Grandmas, and Grandpas, in the Navajo way, that are his Cousins, his father's and mother's cousins, and his grandparent's brothers and sisters in the American way. When a Navajo is in strange surroundings, it is not uncommon for his relatives (in the Navajo way) or his clan members, to have the responsibility for his housing, food, and welfare, while this individual is in the immediate area. A Navajo through his own clan (his mom's clan) and the clan groups to which his father as well as his spouse belong, has a great potential for personal contacts. This complex network of inter-relationships served in the past to fuse the scattered bands of Navajos and other American Indians together as a Navajo Tribe (Dine' Clans).
Al Durtschi claims that: Family is very important to us. We have our immediate family, and we have our extended family. Our extended family is broken up into clans, which were created by the Holy Ones. The four original clans are Towering House, Bitter water, Big water and One-who-walks-around. Today there are about 130 clans. When we meet another Navajo for the first time we tell each other from what clan we are from.
We identify how we are human by the clans of our mother, father, and ancestors. This is who we are. When we know our clan we will never be alone, for our ancestors will always be near us. We also have our immediate family.
We have a great responsibility to our family, for without the family we as a people would have an end. Within the family everyone has an important part to play. If any members of the family doesn't fulfill his responsibility the whole family suffers. There is a male and a female side to each of us. The male side is our aggressive side. It is our warring side and the lying, cheating, negative, evil side.
Our female side is where we will find love, compassion and nurturing. Both of these sides are in each of us. However, men are men, and women are women. We each have responsibilities in the family. The woman uses her nurturing side to take care of the family and the hogan. The man uses his aggressive side to provide for the physical necessities for his family.
Just because the man and the woman have their own roles doesn't mean they can't do the work of the other as each person has both the male and female sides within them. It is not wrong for a man to cook, wash the dishes, change diapers, wash the kids, and so fourth if this is needed of him. The same thing holds true of the woman in doing male roles. But there are certain limits as to what a man can do on the female side and a woman can do on the male side. We will not give a woman a bow and arrow and tell her to go and kill in war, although she could do this if it was the final option to protect her family. Everyone, including children, have a responsibility to keep the home alive, well, clean and safe (An introduction to the Navajo Culture).
The way the Navajo people came into existence is very interesting. According to Regina Lynch, in her book A History of Navajo Clans the story all begins when the chief-leaders among the people that emerged into the fourth world sent Changing Woman, who was also known as White Shell Woman, to the West to live (1). Changing Woman agreed to travel west to take care of the Sun and the Moon (1). After some time in the west Changing Women began to feel very lonely. It was at this point that she created the First Four Clans (5). Lynch states: It is said that she originated the Four Clans by rubbing her skin under arms producing four men.
Thus the First Four Clans appeared. The four men decided to journey back to the main land; however it is unclear of why they left changing women to journey to the mainland. For whatever reason they had to leave Changing Woman, she seemed to be condoning their decision to leave her because she gave them each a cane to dig with water for when the people got thirsty (6). The first person dug a hole in the ground for water. The water was so bitter that they drank only a little Lynch comments. This person was named the Bitter Water Clan (6).
The journey then continued and once again The People became thirsty. A person considered an elder of the community was asked to dig for water the people this time. When he dug a hole, the water came above the ground surface immediately. This person was named Near the Water Clan (7).
So the journey to the main land continued, and once again The People became thirsty. A third person was allowed to dig for the water (8). According to Lynch, He began digging for water, but all his efforts were unsuccessful. He became...
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Research essay sample on Native American Heritage Of The Navajo Clan
