Up to a comparatively recent period the Navaho have been what is usually
termed a “wild tribe;” that is, they have existed principally by war and
plunder. Since the conquest of the country by General Kearny and the
“Army of the West,” in 1846, they have given us but little trouble, but
prior to that time they preyed extensively on the Pueblo Indians and the
Mexican settlements along the Rio Grande. Practically all their wealth
today, and they are a wealthy tribe, consists of thousands of sheep
and goats and hundreds of horses, all descended from flocks and herds
originally stolen. When the country came into the possession of the
United States marauding expeditions became much less frequent, and
almost insensibly the tribe changed from a predatory to a pastoral
people. But aside from the infrequency or absence of armed expeditions
the life of the people remained much the same under the changed
conditions. When the Atlantic and Pacific railroad entered the country
some sixteen or seventeen years ago traders came with it, although there
were a few in the country before, and numerous trading posts were
established in the reservation and about its borders. The effect of
this was to fix the pastoral habits of the people. Wool and pelts were
exchanged for flour, sugar, and coffee, and for calico prints and dyes,
and gradually a demand for these articles was established.
The men looked after their herds of horses and took very good care of
the few cattle that drifted into the reservation; the women attended
to their domestic duties and, with the aid of the children, took care
of the sheep and goats, which, according to long-established custom,
belonged exclusively to them. Agriculture was practically unknown. But
with the removal of the duty on wool a new era opened for the Navaho.
The price of wool fell to about one-half of the former figure, and a
flock of sheep no longer furnished the means for procuring the articles
which had grown to be necessities. The people were gradually but surely
forced to horticulture to procure the means of subsistence. It is this
tendency which is especially destructive of the old house-building
ideas, and which will eventually cause a complete change in the houses
of the people. Recently the tendency has been emphasized by the
construction, under governmental supervision, of a number of small
irrigating ditches in the mountain districts. The result of these works
must be eventually to collect the Navaho into small communities, and
practically to destroy the present pastoral life and replace it with
new and, perhaps, improved conditions.
But many of the arts of the Navaho, and especially their house building,
grew out of and conformed to the old methods of life. It is hardly to be
supposed that they will continue under the new conditions, and, in fact,
pronounced variations are already apparent. Up to ten years ago there
was so little change that it might be said that there was none; since
then the difference can be seen by everyone. Should the price of wool
rise in the near future the change that has been suggested might be
checked, but it has received such an impetus that the Navaho will always
henceforth pay much more attention to horticulture than they have in the
past, and this means necessarily a modification in the present methods
of house building. The average Navaho farm, and almost every adult male
now has a small garden patch, comprises less than half an acre, while
two acres is considered a large area to be worked by one family at one
time.
One result of this industrial development of the people is an increased
permanency of dwellings. As the flocks of sheep and goats diminish and
their care becomes less important, greater attention is paid to the
selection of sites for homes, and they are often located now with
reference to a permanent occupancy and with regard to the convenience of
the fields, which in some cases furnish the main source of subsistence
of the family. As a collateral result of these conditions and tendencies
an effort is now sometimes made to build houses on the American plan;
that is, to imitate the houses of the whites. Such houses are a wide
departure from the original ideas of house structures of the Navaho.
They are rectangular in plan, sometimes with a board roof, and
occasionally comprise several rooms. When the local conditions favor it
they are constructed of stone, regular walls of masonry; but perhaps the
greater number of those now in existence are in the mountain districts,
and were built of logs, often hewn square before being laid in place.
Plate LXXXVIII shows a stone house belonging to one of the wealthiest
men in the tribe, Bitcai by name. It is situated on the western slope of
the Tunicha mountains and was built some years ago, but it is a type of
house which is becoming more and more frequent on the reservation. There
is practically nothing aboriginal about it except a part of its interior
furniture and its inhabitants, and the only one of the old requirements
that has been met is the fronting of the house to the east, while the
character of the site and the natural conditions demand a western front.
The log houses referred to are constructed much like the stone house
shown in the illustration, except that they are built usually by Indian
labor and ordinarily are covered with flat earthen roofs. Frequently the
logs are hewn square before being placed in the walls, which present
a very neat and finished appearance. Sometimes door and window frames
are procured from the sawmill or from the traders, and add to such
appearance, while nearly always one or more glazed sashes occupy the
window openings and board doors close the entrances. In nearly all cases
the requirement that the entrance should face the east is observed, but
it is being more and more ignored, and in the houses constructed within
the last few years the ancient custom is frequently violated. Unless the
principal entrance were made to face the east, the performers in the
dedicatory ceremonies could not take their prescribed positions and the
ceremony would have to be either modified or omitted altogether.