No.^Tir* ^^^' '^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO — KLUCKHOHN 343 



Unless one adopts highly arbitrary (and probably somewhat ro- 

 mantic) standards, there has not been — certainly since Fort Sumner — 

 such a thing as "pure Navaho cultmre" any more than one can specify 

 a "pure Navaho biological type." There are a few particulars (such 

 as absence of ceremonialists who can conduct the most elaborate 

 chants and the lack of famous weavers and silversmiths) in which the 

 Ramah Navaho resemble other bands (Canyoncito and Puertocito- 

 Alamo) separated from the main Navaho country. But, in the large, 

 Ramah Navaho culture is no more deviant from "standard Navaho" 

 than are the local variants on the reservation. This is proved by the 

 manner in which data from Ramah are no more distinctive in com- 

 parative studies than are data from other areas.^ 



The best statement that can be made is that Ramah Navaho culture 

 is one variant of generalized Eastern Navaho culture. Even this 

 must be qualified, however, for a preliminary check of the detailed 

 study of Ramah Navaho material culture (Kluckhohn, Hill, and 

 Kluckhohn, 1965) indicates, surprisingly enough, a closer correspond- 

 ence to GifFord's Western Navaho trait list than to his Eastern. On 

 the other hand, the language is undoubtedly of the Eastern variety 

 both as regards vocabulary and idiom. 



MATERIAL CULTURE AND ADAPTATION TO ENVIRON- 

 MENT 



This is not the place for an exhaustive review of Ramah Navaho 

 material culture, but some summary statements drawn largely from 

 two detailed studies by Roberts (1954, 1957) and from a long manu- 

 script by Kluckhohn, Hill, and Kluckhohn (1965) may be made. 

 The Navaho make or made objects from wood, stone, hide, wool, 

 metal, and minerals. In recent times paper and glass have also been 

 used. Horn and bone are almost entirely neglected, appearing in 

 only one or two items each. The dominant woods are juniper, 

 pinon, pine, and oak. The first two named are used chiefly for build- 

 ing materials, firewood, and wooden utensils which are of a relatively 

 temporary nature. Oak is the main hardwood and is used in making 

 handles for implements, digging sticks, battens, and bows. The 

 principal stones used are flint, sandstone, and lava rock. Flint was 

 obtained from Pueblo ruins and was used for knives, scrapers, drills, 

 and arrow points. Today its use is almost exclusively ceremonial. 

 Sandstone was used for arrow smoothers, pot supports and smoothers, 

 and other purposes. It is still used as building material and (along 



» See, for example, Hill, 1940, 1943, 1948; Kluckhohn, 1944; Kluckhohn and Wyman, 1940; Wyman and 

 Kluckhohn, 1938; Wyman and Harris, 1941; Wyman, Hill, and Osani, 1942. 



