Dinee

More often spelled "Diné," Dinee can be translated from the Navajo language as "the People." Diné is also how the Navajo refer to themselves. The Diné are the largest federally recognized Native American group in the United States. Their reservation is spread out throughout the Four Corners region of the American Southwest, and includes portions of the states of Arizona, New Mexico,and Utah.

The Diné base their way of life on a belief that the physical and spiritual world blend together and everything on earth is alive, related, and in equilibrium or ho′zho′. In this light, they observe two primary ceremonials, among many others. The first is the Blessing Way, which keeps them on the path of wisdom and happiness. The second is the Enemy Way, which is meant to discourage evil spirits, eliminate ghosts, and cleanse an individual of elements or affects that have placed her or him out of balance.

Photo Credit

 
"A Navajo couple walking to the rodeo in Fruitland, New Mexico, 1952," photograph by Dr. Marc-Adlard Trembaly (2006_34_33), Farmington Museum, Farmington, New Mexico.

Term Type
References

 
Kluckhohn, Clyde
     1938   Participation In Ceremonials In A Navaho Community.” American Anthropologist,
         N.S. 40: 359–369.

Lynch, Patricia Ann
     2004   Enemyway. Native American Mythology, Mythology A to Z. New York: Facts On File,
         Inc.

McPherson, Robert S.
     2001   Navajo Land, Navajo Culture: The Utah Experience in the Twentieth Century.
         Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Pritzker, Barry M.
     2010   Navajo. In The American Mosaic: The American Indian Experience. ABC-CLIO.
         http://americanindian2.abc-clio.com/, accessed September 8, 2014.

Toulouse, Carmie Lynn
     1982   Modern Navajo Witchcraft Stories. Navajo Religion And Culture : Selected Views.
         David M. Brugge And Charlotte J. Frisbee, eds.: 84–88. Santa Fe: Museum of New
         Mexico Press.

Waldman, Carl
     2006   Navajo. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Third Edition. New York: Facts On
          File, Inc.