According to their own legends the Navajo came to this World through several layers of the underworld. Then the entered this world as "The People" and mingled with the people already present.<BR> The Navajo live in the same area as the Pueblo people, and had intensive contact with them. This contact modified Navajo hunting and gathering life. They adapted better hunting techniques and slowly became horticulturalists. They started to grow corn or maize and soon became semi sedentary people.<BR> In the 1540s the Spaniards entered the region. A century later the Navajo were the large and powerful group living in their hogans, houses covered with earth, and growing crops such as corn, beans and squash. During that time the Spanish settled in the Pueblos and demanded more from the Pueblo Indians. These encouraged Navajo attacks on the Spaniards. The Spaniards tried to bring peace and Christianity into the region, but without much success.<BR> After the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 and the reconquest by the Spaniards in 1892 a lot of the Pueblos were deserted. The Pueblo Indians were pushed northwards and mingled with the Navajos. The Navajo began to adapt Pueblo features such as architecture, techniques and believes and ideas about religion and descent. However, the hogan continued to be their home. Around 1700 horticulture started to be replaced by cattle, sheep, goats and horses that were introduced by the Spaniards.<BR> During Spanish oppression the Navajo lived scattered in small groups in the canyons. In 1863 they were captured and send on the "Long Walk" to Fort Summer or Bosque Redondo. There their crops failed, diseases spread and a lot of people died. In 1868 a treaty was signed with the government for a reservation within their old lands. However, it took some troubles for the Navajo to finally return to their home land.<BR> <BR> Bertha P. Dutton (1975) "American Indians of the Southwest", University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque (p. 67, 68, 69, 72)<BR> <BR> Postcards<BR> Theme: Historical<BR> <BR> One of the first European nations that colonized North America was Spain. In 1539 Hernando the Soto reached Florida. With him he brought priests to missionize the Indian population. Most of the priests were killed, but it was the beginning of European influence in this part of America.<BR> Soon after the Spanish arrived two other main players in the history of North America would arrive at the continent: England and France. At first these two nations were more interested in trading with Indians than to make Christians of them in contrast to the Spaniards.<BR> In a lot of cases contact started with the fur trade. The trade had a huge impact on the way of life of the Indians. First of all tribes shifted from fishing and hunting to trapping bevers and otters. The most obvious change was contact with Europeans and their trade goods. Furs were traded for beads, ribbons and bells and later also for guns and other metal tools. Certain clothing acticles and designs were also adapted and copied by Indians. Altough Indians borrowed a lot from European traders they never fully shifted to European fashion and way of life. European designs, clothing styles and tools were simply adapted to traditional ways of life. Not everything European came to the Indians by trading. The horse for example was introduced by the Spaniards in the 17th century. Through the tribes of the Southwest they found their way through North America by trading and raiding. Especially for nomadic tribes this mobilization meant changes in living, hunting and warfare.<BR> Eventually tribes started to become more dependant on the tradingposts and started to live nearby. The numbers of groups around the tradingpost became so large, that diseases started to break out. The loss of certain skills caused even more problems when the fur trade started to decrease in the 1830s.<BR> Soon the French and English were interested in more than furs. Farmers, priests and other people from these countries came to America to settle permanently. In the beginning they were outnumbered by the Indian population, and the only way to settle somewhere was by gaining the trust of the local Indians. But soon more, especially English, settlers came and conflicts over land began. Treaties were signed and broken or Indians were forcefully removed from their land if they resisted. Finally a many tribes ended up on reservations. During the American Revolution most Indian tribes took the side of England, though not all. This caused intertribal warfare. After the American Independence all defeted Indians were driven away to the western side of the Mississippi River. Later other tribes were removed from their lands and were also sent westward. But colonization did not stop and eventually colonists crossed the Mississippi. By means of pacification of Indians and the killing of bison the colonists made the Indians more dependent on the government. By signing more treaties, their land was taken and they were once again put in reservations. In 1887 the Allotment Act ended collective landownership. Land was now owned individually by Indians. Land that was left went to white farmers. More poverty among Indians was the result.<BR> Meanwhile the European priests had started their missions throughout the country. Indians were seen as savages and the priests believed that they should become Christians and live in a European way. The goal of the missions was to educate Indian priests and eventually to create Indian churches. <BR> The missions also took the responsibility of teaching European agricultural methods and educating Indian children. Children were taken from their parents and put in boarding schools where they were forbidden to speak their language. They were educated in a European way and were mistreated very often. When they finished school they had to go back to their reservations. The result was that they could not adapt to the way of life in the reservations any more.<BR> The consequences of the European invasion for the Indians were many. Some improved their lives, most of them only made life harder. In any case life changed but Indians never fully adapted the European way of life. Mostly they tried to cope with it and inserted it in to their traditional way of life.<BR> <BR> <BR> Pieter Hovens: Indianen van Noord-Amerika (1977 Van Gorcum, Assen/Amsterdam) p. 52-56, 59-63, 65-67, 70, 72, 76-77, 81-82<BR> Wilcomb E. Washburn vol. ed.: "Handbook of North American Indians - History of Indian-White Relations" vol. 4 (1988 Smithsonian Institution Washington) p. 299-300, 396-403 <BR> "Navajos at Home": toeristische ansichtkaart.