20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 197 



a parent Apache group. He reasons that since the Navaho are com- 

 posed of accessions from several diverse peoples, the original core 

 of Athapascan-speaking Navahos must have been composed of a 

 relatively small number of persons who broke off from one or more 

 of the larger Apache groups. He also suggests that the complex 

 ethnic admixture of present-day Navahos indicates that they must have 

 resided in the Southwest for a considerable period.^^ 



The earliest reference to the "Navajo" in the written records is 

 actually a reference to the Apache by Juan de Onate in 1598. About 

 30 years later, Zarate-Salmeron referred specifically to Navaho as 

 the "Apaches de Nabaju." At about this time, Fray Alonso de Bena- 

 vides was in contact with Navahos, making the undoubtedly exag- 

 gerated report of a 2-day assemblage of over 30,000 Indians.^*' 



From these and similar references, it is clear that the Navaho did 

 constitute some kind of tribal group throughout the period of Spanish 

 control in the Southwest. The history of the Navaho during these 

 three centuries can be summarized as a gradual transition from a 

 culture with a simple hunting and gathering economy to a more stable 

 and relatively complex culture based upon a combined herding and 

 agricultural economy. With this shift in economic base came a grad- 

 ual increase in population. This increase is attested to by the evident 

 expansion of the Navaho from their original locale and by the increas- 

 ing frequency and severity of their incursions into the territory of 

 the Pueblo and other early inhabitants of the region. Worcester 

 stresses the fact that the growth of Navaho population was begun 

 well before the 18th century. The acquisition of sheep from the 

 Spaniards and the adoption from the Pueblo peoples of improved 

 agricultural techniques provided the Navaho with a growing and 

 relatively stable food supply. Thus, as the Navaho were transformed 

 from true nomadic hunters and gatherers into pastoral herders and 

 agriculturalists, their numbers began to increase and they were able 

 to extend their control over a larger territory (Worcester, MS.). 

 Map 2 (facing p. 10) shows their approximate location at this time. 



The major disturbance which is recorded during this long period 

 is the revolt of the Pueblos in 1680, which resulted in the temporary 

 exile of the Spanish rulers. The severe repressive measures imposed 

 upon these Pueblo Indians by the Spanish upon their return some 

 12 years later had a profound effect upon the Navaho. By remaining 

 on the sidelines throughout this period, the Navaho reaped a rich 



"■"■Worcester, MS., p. 11. The findings of Ales Hrdllfka (1900, 1908), whose physio- 

 logical measurements of Navahos indicated their composite makeup, are usually cited in 

 this regard. 



8" Hodge, 1910, pp. 41 ff. Cf. Worcester, MS., p. 18. Onate was by no means the 

 first explorer to enter this region. Lopez de Cardenas passed through Acoma and Zuni 

 iu 1540, and Coronado appears to have ventured to the north of these puebloes in 1541. 

 Coronado in particular must have approached the region of original Navaho habitation 

 in the Southwest. See Palmer, 1957, p. 149. 



