Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Traditional Navajo Food

By Journey and Michael

Fry bread is one of our main traditional foods.



Also Navajo tacos are a traditional food we natives love!



Corn meal is used in the Kinalda ceremonies

Also mutton ribs are another favorite Navajo traditional food. They come from sheep and are delicious! They taste sort of like beef or pork ribs.


(We hope this picture does not offend you. Butchering sheep is part of our culture.)

This is hominy stew. Its one of the traditional foods too and its really good.

The Clan System

By Michael and Rebecca

The reason why Navajo’s have a clan system is to indicate how we are related. We have four different clans. Our first clan is our Mom’s clan. The second is our Dad’s. The third is our Grandpa on our Mom’s side, and fourth is our Grandpa on our Dad’s side.

The way we interpret how we are related is if our first or second clan is the same as the other person. Also, our clans go under certain colors. If your first clan is the same as the first clan of another person, for instance, that means he is your brother or sister. If your first clan is the same as the second clan of someone, you’re his/her mom or dad. If your first clan is the same as someone else's third or fourth clan, you are their grandpa/grandma. If your second clan is the same as their first clan they are your dad/mom. If your second clan is the same as the second clan of another person your dad and their dad are brothers. If your third or fourth clan is the same as the their first clan you are their grandpa/grandma.

That is how our clan system works.

History Of The Navajo People

By Amber and John



The Navajo people like to call ourselves the Dine (The People). Back in 1855 the Navajo tribe never had a chief, so they asked for the leading men in all the villages to come forward. Days went by and they elected a man named Manuelito as the head chief of the Navajo tribe. Later he was sent to a conference with Governor Meriwether for the purpose of a treaty. He was a brave warrior and had a great following, but could never truly unite his widely scattered tribe. In general, Navajo people are not warring people, but during this time, they engaged in some battles with the American government. These battles eventually led to The Long Walk.

Climate Zone


Here, in Tuba City, we live within the Painted Desert. The Painted Desert is a region in north-central Arizona, characterized by brighlty colored hills and mesas. The range of colors, from red to pink, brown, purple, green and gray, gave this desert its name. Its central portion includes parts of the Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations. Its length is more than 150 miles (240 km), and its width is 15 to 20 miles (24–32 km).





Most of the Painted Desert lies at an elevation of around 5,000 feet (1,500 meters). The climate is arid, with an annual rainfall averaging 6 inches (150 mm).


This is a link to some more detailed information on the overall climate in Tuba City (scroll to the bottom of the web page to view annual precipitation, average temperatures, wind speed, etc.)





Our School


This is a picture of the front of our school.

In 1987, we seperated from the local high school, Tuba City High School, to from Greyhills Academy High School. The two schools are literally located right next to each other!


Our school mascot is a knight. Students chose this mascot when the school was formed.






There are 500 students, grades 9 - 12, at Greyhills Academy, who live within a 60 mile radius of our school. Many of these students are Navajo, but some are Hopi, Piute or Pima. Greyhills Academy is located on the Navajo Rerservation in the town of Tuba City in Northern Arizona.

Here is a link to our school website: http://www.gahs.bia.edu/