The Navajo Nation history

As the United States assumed control of the New Mexico Territory in 1849 following the Mexican-American War, settlers and troops began to establish a presence in the Navajo's native homeland.

Manuelito, who was acclaimed head-chief in 1855 at the conference with Governor Meriwether for the purpose of negotiating a treaty, probably had a greater following than any other Navaho in historic times, but he could never have relied on a majority of the warriors of his widely scattered tribe.

In 1861, the United States Army began a series of military actions designed to bring local Navajo and Apache tribes under control.

By the spring of 1863 four hundred Mescaleros were under guard on the new reservation, and by the close of that year about two hundred Navaho prisoners had either been transferred thither or were on the way.

In 1864, the United States Army forced about 9,000 Navajo to walk over 300 miles from Fort Defiance to Fort Sumner, New Mexico for internment at Bosque Redondo.

The backbone of the hostility was now broken, and before the beginning of 1865 about seven thousand, later increased to 8491, were under military control within the new reservation.

A treaty was therefore made with the Navaho in 1868, one of the provisions of which was the purchase of fifteen thousand sheep to replenish their exterminated flocks.

Most of these additions were granted through executive orders, including the first expansion of 1878, when President Rutherford Hayes ordered that the boundary be pushed 20 miles west.

Another notable expansion was the addition of the 1882 Executive Order Reservation, which included 2.5 million acres containing most of the Hopi tribal villages.

Navajo lands also continued to expand eastward outside of official reservation boundaries due to the Dawes Act of 1887.

Three Navajos eat breakfast outside a temporary hogan on the Navajo Reservation around 1903.

1906 A.D. John and Louisa Wetherill start trading post at Oljato

Oil was discovered on the Navajo Reservation in the early 1920s.

In 1923, a tribal government was established to help meet the increasing desires of American oil companies to lease Navajoland for exploration.

The reservation was so large that this council was not effective at first, and in 1927 it divided into smaller local chapters that reported to the council.

In 1933, Congress enlarged the Navajo Reservation with the Aneth Extension located in southeast Utah.

By 1934 the Navajo Nation encircled the Hopi reservation.

However, it was not until 1938 when the very first election took place.

In May 1942, the first 29 Navajo recruits attended boot camp.

1951 A.D. First woman elected to Navajo Tribal Council

The discovery of oil at Aneth and Montezuma Creek occurred in 1956, and since that time, oil companies have drilled 577 wells and pumped an estimated 428 million barrels of oil.

In fact, Monument Valley, which provided the scenic backdrop for many historic western movies, has been run as a tribal park since 1960.

1968 A.D. Navajo Community College, the first Native-operated college, opens

In 1969, the tribal council passed a resolution officially establishing the Navajo Nation.

In 1970 the United States government decreed some lands fought over by the Hopis and Navajos as a Joint Use Area.

Finally in 1974 Congress passed the Navajo-Hopi Bill into law.

The NPS argues that the boundary of the reservation is along the South Rim (despite a 1979 Colorado River Management Plan which allows Navajos to continue to use and occupy lands below the rim), while the Navajos argue that it reaches all the way to the Colorado River.

In 1980 Congress passed an act that allowed certain Navajos to stay on the land in life estates, despite protests by the Hopis that their legally established rights were being violated.

All non-Hopis living in the exclusive Hopi area were supposed to move by 1986 and vice versa.

In December 1989, Title 2 Amendment were passed, which established a three-branch system of government, comparable to the major democracies of the world: The Executive Branch; The Judicial Branch; and The Legislative Branch.

1990 A.D. Due to Government reform, the first Navajo president elected was Peterson Zah

Reorganized in 1991 to form a three-branch system (executive, legislative and judicial), the Navajos conduct what is considered to be the most sophisticated form of Indian government.

In January of 1992, Navajo Nation Chairman Peterson Zah’s administration issued a Navajo Nation Energy Policy.

After 70 years of American oil companies conducting business activities on tribal lands, the Navajo Nation formed their own corporation, the Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Co., Inc. (NNOGC, Inc. or tribal company) under the 1993 Navajo Nation Corporation Code.

NNOGC is a federally chartered Section 17 Corporation, and began operations in 1998.

In 2000, the Navajos and Hopis agreed to a settlement of $29 million for land use and damages on Hopi land that they claimed was caused by Navajo overgrazing.

Navajo men gather, some traveling considerable distances, for a ceremonial sing, a social and religious event that helps reaffirm tribal history and identity.Credit: NAU Cline Library, Josef Muench collection, NAU.PH.2003.11.10.2.6920

Information can also be found here: Year of Naaltsoos Sání 2018