Navajo Customs

Navajo customs were put in place to help those who did not understand the Navajo to gather information in order to better understand their lifestyle and to educate those of the Navajo who lacked general information on the culture of the Navajo. Below you will find numerous Navajo customs used by their people to this present day.

Superstition

Superstition plays an important role in the Navajo people. With this superstition, the Navajo people are taught that they should not comb their hair at night. They are also taught that they should never whistle at night or should they ever burn an ant or insect. The Navajo were taught that when they kill a rabbit, they are to bust the legs of it because the only ones that leave the legs unbroken are the hawk and eagle.

Facts

The Navajo people will not chop down or cut the pinon or cedar tree. They also make sure that when the prairie dog is killed, they carry it by its head. The people of the Navajo also make sure that the home always faces to the east of the horizon. The Navajo also believe that they were meant to care for the land that they live on and therefore will put as much hard work into it as they can in order to make it sacred. They respect the land that they live on and make sure that they take care of it as much as they can.

Ceremonies

The Navajo beliefs are known as the Navajo Way and there are special ceremonies that are performed by the healers of the tribe that serve as parts of the belief. There are many who believe that the visions that they have been granted in forms of dreams and prayers as well as rituals are from the visions. They will eat the dried peyote cactus which makes them feel fuzzy as they feel like they have been placed in a trance.

These feelings and visions that come from this is a part of a ceremony that helps to lead the Navajo down a road that they hold true to their beliefs. The other part that plays a key role in the Navajo are the rock paintings that display the journey through the many worlds that tell of the ceremonies held throughout time. The pictures are made up of the Changing woman and the other Holy People that have been put on display from the ceremonies. The many stories told about the Coyote are told over time on long winter nights spent at home.