Browse by Title: N

N.M. 53

A New Mexico state highway that originates in Grants, New Mexico and heads first south and then roughly west through the Ramah Navajo and Zuni reservations, until it…

Nagasi Wash, New Mexico

A dry river located in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin area of the Navajo Reservation in northwestern New Mexico. Although the exact location and the name of the wash could not be…

Nakai

A Navajo term which means “those who wander around,” in reference to Spaniards who conducted expeditions into the Southwest and Great Plains during the 1500s, beginning…

narcotics

Natural and pharmaceutically-derived substances used to relieve pain that can cause stupor, sleep, euphoria, and addiction. The most common form of narcotics are…

narcotics agent

An individual employed by a government agency to police the use of illicit substances. Also known as a narc.

Narcotics Control Division, Justice Department

Although the Narcotics Control Division of the Justice Department sounds familiar, it is a fictional agency that functions as a not-so-veiled reference to the U.S.…

Natani Tso, Arizona

Also spelled Naat'áanii Tsoh, Natani Tso, meaning "Big Leader” in Navajo, is an iconic volcanic plug, or lava butte, northwest of Kam Bimghi (Chinle) Valley in…

Native American

One way to refer to the various indigenous peoples of the Americas, especially those who reside on and off reservations in the U.S.. Pueblos indigenas, Aborigen,…

Native American Church

Formed in 1918 as a Pan-Indian movement and in response to government abuses and relocations, the Native American Church synthesized Christian beliefs with the…

Native American Studies

An academic field that is dedicated to the study of the history, geography, literature, politics, and culture of indigenous people in the Americas, with a particular…

Navajo Community College, Arizona and New Mexico

Also known as Diné College, Navajo Community College is a two-year community college located in Tsaile, Arizona, with branches in various towns across the Navajo…

Navajo country

An Anglicized reference to the what the Navajo would call Diné Bikéyah, the traditional Navajo homeland, which is roughly demarcated by the four sacred mountains of the…

Navajo language

Also known as Diné Bizaad, part of the the Apachean subgroup of the Athabaskan branch of the Na-Dené language family. Diné means “the people” or “children of the…

Navajo Mountain, Arizona & Utah

Also known as “Naatsis’áán” in Diné. A dome-shaped mountain (elevation 10,388 ft) that straddles the Utah-Arizona border, with its highest peak on the Utah side. It is…

Navajo Nation

Although the Navajo Nation can in some senses refer to the Navajo Reservation as a territory, and in other senses to the Navajo as a people, the Navajo Nation is a…

Navajo origin myth

While there are many different versions of the Navajo origin myth, general aspects of the myth are present in all versions. In the beginning First Man, First Woman,…

Navajo people and culture

The Navajo, also known by their preferred name, the Diné, are the largest federally recognized Native American tribe in the United States. Their reservation is spread…

Navajo Reservation, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico

Also referred to colloquially as "the rez," the Navajo Reservation covers 27,425 square miles of territory and includes portions of northeastern Arizona, southeastern…

Navajo Road Department, Arizona and New Mexico

The Navajo Road Department is a part of the Navajo Department of Transportation and is responsible for the building and maintaining roads in and between Navajo Nation…

Navajo Route 1, Arizona

Now known as Arizona Highway 160, Navajo Route 1 is also the portion of US Route 160 that runs through the Navajo Nation in Arizona between Tuba City and Kayenta. From…

Navajo Route 12, Arizona

This road, along with Rt. 64, form what is known as the "Dinetah Scenic Road" through the Navajo Nation in Arizona. From this route drivers can access Canyon de…

Navajo Route 13, Arizona

Because Navajo routes are mostly rural dirt roads that are familiar only to local residents living on the Navajo Nation Reservation, it is often hard to determine their…

Navajo Route 8, Arizona

On current maps of the Navajo Reservation there is no mention of Navajo Route 8. However, Bureau of Indian Affairs documents mention the construction of a portion of…

Navajo Route 9, New Mexico

A Navajo Nation highway that runs from U.S. Highway 491, near Twin Lakes, NM, to Crownpoint, NM. From here the route extends until it intersects with Highway 57. At…

Navajo rugs

The Navajo people probably learned weaving skills from their Pueblo neighbors in what is now the Southwestern U.S. in the early 1600s. Traditionally it was women who…