NAVAHO 



4090 



NAVAHO 



genous gas *or air. The interesting process of 

 building the shell is charmingly described by 

 Holmes in his poem The Chambered Nautilus: 



Year after year beheld the silent toll 



That sprea 1 his lustrous coil ; 



Still, as the spiral grew. 



He left the past year's dwelling for the new, 

 Stole with soft step its shining archway through, 



Built up its idle door, 

 Stretched in his last-found home and knew the 



old no more. 



Extending through the series of chambers, and 

 connecting them with the body of the animal, 

 is a coiled, fleshy tube, enclosed in a limy cov- 

 ering. This tube is called the siphuncle. 



Though the nautilus is related to the octopus, 

 it is not provided with the characteristic eight 

 arms bearing suckers. Instead, there are about 

 forty-five pairs of tentacles around its mouth, 

 the pair on the inner side being joined to form 

 a sort of hood that closes the opening into the 

 shell when the animal draws back into the living 

 chamber. These tentacles do not bear suckers, 

 but their inner edges seem to possess the power 

 of grasping objects by flattening against them. 

 It is supposed that by them the nautilus ob- 

 tains its food small crabs and mollusks. The 

 animal has a short, thick body, a large head, 

 eyes and ears, four gills and a heart. On the 

 underside of its body is a siphon, or funnel, 

 its organ of locomotion. Through this tube it 

 sends a jet of water with enough force to push 

 it backward. According to some authorities, 

 when it swims forward the tentacles branch out 

 in all directions from the head. Some of the 

 South Pacific islanders trap the nautilus and 

 use it as food. 



The nautilus belongs to the class cephalopoda, 

 to which also belong the octopus and squid. In 

 his famous poem Holmes confused the cham- 

 bered nautilus and the argonaut, an entirely 

 different cephalopod. 



Related Subject*. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Argonaut Octopus 



Cephalopoda Squid 



Mother-of- Pearl 



NAVAHO, or NAVAJO, nahv'aho, a tribe of 

 North American Indians, belonging to the 

 Athapascan stock, who are known especially as 

 the makers of the beautiful blankets that bear 

 their name. Unlike the great body of Indians 

 living in the United States and Canada, they 

 are growing more numerous, their present num- 

 ber being estimated at 22,455. Less than half 

 live within the boundaries of their great reser- 

 vation of over 9,500,000 acres a barren tract 



of rocks and sand in southwestern Utah, north- 

 eastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. 

 The others roam the pasture lands outside or 

 are at work in neighboring white settlements. 

 The men and women are alike industrious and 

 live in peace and 

 contentment, do- 

 ing a little farm- 

 ing, making pot- 

 tery, baskets, sil- 

 ver ornaments and 

 blankets, but sup- 

 porting them- 

 selves chiefly by 

 their herds of 

 sheep, goats, cat- 

 tle and horses. 

 They are a wan- 

 dering people, 

 each family chang- 

 ing its place of 

 abode as the pas- 

 turage and water 

 supply give out. 

 At the same time 

 they build rather 

 substantial homes 

 at their regular 



halting places- DRESS OF THE NAVAHO 

 round huts made of earth-covered logs, with 

 a hole at the top for the smoke to come out. 

 They care little for the refinements of civili- 

 zation, and have never accepted Christianity, 

 but hold to their old-time ceremonies and 

 mythology. Like most of the other mem- 

 bers of the widely-scattered Athapascan family 

 they call themselves Dine, meaning people. 



The Navahos were a source of trouble during 

 the greater part of the period of Spanish occu- 

 pation in what is now Southwestern United 

 States, and for thirty years after the fall of 

 Spanish power, between 1815 and 1845, they 

 carried on the thriving business of stealing 

 horses, cattle and sheep from the Mexicans. 

 From the Pueblo Indians they learned the art 

 of weaving, and from the Mexicans that of 

 working in silver. Their first treaty with the 

 American government was made in 1846, but 

 there was more or less friction with them until 

 1868, and in 1863 it was necessary to send Kit 

 Carson against them. In 1868 they settled 

 down peaceably on the reservation allotted 

 them, which was enlarged to its present dimen- 

 sions in 1884. 



Navaho Blankets are woven from the wool 

 of the sheep herded by these Indians. The wool 



