The Navaho

by Clyde Kluckhohn

What are the Navaho today? How do they live together and with other races? What is their philosophy of life? Both the general reader and the student will look to this authoritative study for the answers to such questions. The authors review Navaho history from archaeological times to the present, and then present Navaho life today. They show the people’s problems in coping with their physical environment; their social life among their own people; their contacts with whites and other Indians and especially with the Government; their economy; their religious beliefs and practices; their language and the problems this raises in their education and their relationships to whites; and their explicit and implicit philosophy.

This book presents not only a study of Navaho life, it is an impartial discussion of an interesting experiment in Government administration of a dependent people, a discussion which is significant for contemporary problems of a wider scope; colonial questions; the whole issue of the contact of different races and peoples. It will appeal to every one interested in the Indians, in the Southwest, in anthropology, in sociology, and to many general readers.

This work forms the most thoroughgoing study ever made of the Navaho Indians, and perhaps of any Indian group. The book was written as a part of the Indian Education Research Project undertaken jointly by the Committee on Human Development of the University of Chicago and the United States Office of Indian Affairs. The cooperation of a psychiatrist and anthropologist both in the research for, and in the writing of, this study is noteworthy―as is the fusion of methods and points of view derived from medicine, psychology, and anthropology. Probably no anthropological study has ever been based upon so many years of field work by so many different persons.

Genres: Anthropology, History, Native American, Nonfiction, American History, Indigenous, Native Americans

374 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[Red Haircrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I'm Native American, I am not always pleased with some of the books written by non-natives documenting or detailing their observations of indigenous peoples as all too often they insert interpretations on behaviors, actions, culture, etc. that is inaccurate. When they may accurately describe the people or situations, sometimes they superimpose their own cultural assumptions onto the natives.

Clyde Kluckhohn did an admirable job of avoiding both of those things, for the most part. He provided unbiased descriptions of the people and their lives, though understandably he had his own mission for being among them, and that does come through in the narrative. It's a worthy book for those interested in Navajo life in the past and how it still influences the present.

Merged review:

As I'm Native American, I am not always pleased with some of the books written by non-natives documenting or detailing their observations of indigenous peoples as all too often they insert interpretations on behaviors, actions, culture, etc. that is inaccurate. When they may accurately describe the people or situations, sometimes they superimpose their own cultural assumptions onto the natives.

Clyde Kluckhohn did an admirable job of avoiding both of those things, for the most part. He provided unbiased descriptions of the people and their lives, though understandably he had his own mission for being among them, and that does come through in the narrative. It's a worthy book for those interested in Navajo life in the past and how it still influences the present.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic ethnography! I don't have the revised version pictured above (mine is from 1962). Even if you aren't interested in Navahos, you should read this to see how an ethnography should be done.

[Cobertizo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Tengo un trabajo, un buen sueldo, una casa, un coche, comida en la mesa y muchos trajes. Sin embarga, me falta algo en la vida. Estas cosas tendrían que satisfacer todas mis necesidades y las de mi familia, pero no es así.
Vivo en una urbanización nueva en una meseta, donde hace pocos años sólo había arena, rocas y salvia; pero no conozco a mis vecinos. Casi no salgo de casa para contemplar el cielo nocturno, la luz del sol o los cerros de arenisca.
De noche veo la televisión. Mi vida y la de mis hijos está tan vacía como los programas televisivos. Vivimos de compra en compra: un coche nuevo, una nevera nueva; cosas materiales que nos proporcionan el placer momentáneo de las posesiones nuevas y nos dejan preguntándonos qué podremos comprar después.
Estamos separados de nuestra cultura. Nuestros padres y los de su comunidad tienen raíces en la tierra y todo cuanto hacen está relacionado con la tierra en la que viven. Nosotros ya no sentimos esa relación íntima y nos cuesta tanto trabajo entenderlos como ellos a nosotros. Cuando volvemos a casa, ya no nos sentimos a gusto en el hogan. Estamos acostumbrados al agua corriente y a la comida del supermercado, a una mayor separación de la naturaleza, a mayor intimidad y a todo lo demás a lo que una sociedad tecnológica se acostumbra. Cuando llega el momento de marcharnos, nos encanta regresar a la comodidad de nuestros hogar civilizado, y sumirnos en el olvido emocional de la tecnología"

[David Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through study but since it was published 50 years ago its statistics are dated and I would assume that the demographics that apply to population need to be doubled at least.

[Trever · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight into Navaho lifestyle, speech, and life. Great introduction to the Navaho tribe.

[Linda DiMeo Lowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this used because I'm working on a novel that includes travel through and interactions with the Navaho. Good book.