SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIONBureau of American EthnologyBuUetin 196
Anthropological Papers, No. 79THE RAMAH NAVAHOBy CLYDE KLUCKHOHN
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CONTENTS PageForeword 331History 333Acculturation 336Material culture and adaptation to environment 343Livelihood 347Occupational specialization 349Demography 350Births 350Marriages and affairs 351General health 353Deaths 355Physique 357Social organization 358Marriage 359Residence 364Composition by social groups 366Political organization 369Religion 371Psychology 372Final remarks 374Literature cited 374329

FOREWORDThis paper was the last ethnographic writing on the RamahNavaho by the late Clyde Kluckhohn before his death in 1960.The original version was prepared as a summary of Ramah Navahoculture for a projected final report on "The Comparative Study ofValues in Five Cultures" project which undertook field research inthe Ramah area between 1949 and 1955 and was sponsored by thePeabody Museum and Laboratory of Social Relations at HarvardUniversity with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The plansfor the report on this project have now changed and do not includethe various ethnographic summaries that were prepared, but insteadfocus upon a comparative treatment of various institutions in relationto value systems in the five cultures. Since this paper contains abrief summary of published ethnographic data on Ramah Navahoculture, as well as new materials not heretofore available, written byan eminent scholar who devoted much of his professional career tothe study of the Navaho, it is most appropriate for it to appear (withslight revisions for which I am responsible) in the AnthropologicalPapers series of the Bureau of American Ethnology.EvoN Z. VOGTCambridge, Mass.July 1964 331

THE RAMAH NAVAHO
By Clyde Kluckhohn
East of the Zuni Indian Reservation and south of the Mormonvillage of Ramah, N. Mex., lies the territory of the Ramah Navaho,who numbered 625 in 1950. Since much has been published, bothin articles and monographs, on the Ramah Navaho over the years,the purpose of this paper is to digest, in appropriate form, data thathave appeared in these specialized articles and monographs, to showtheir interrelationships, and to add hitherto unpublished materials.HISTORYNavahos probably hunted in and roamed through the presentRamah area as early as the beginning of the 18th century. Theyfarmed lands in this region from about 1840 onward. After theNavaho captivity at Fort Sumner, some of the original settlers re-turned and were gradually joined by relatives and by men whomarried into the group. The founders of the Ramah band wereprimarily Eastern Navahos born almost exclusively in three areas:Mount Taylor, Chuska Mountains, and San Jose River. But therewere also three Chiricahua Apaches and one Walapai Indian. By,roughly, 1890, the Navaho population included 23 men, 30 women,and 46 children. After about 1890, no new biological families set-tled in the region. Immigration was exclusively upon marriageexcept in the case of seven children who came with immigratingparents. After 1890, a Laguna Indian, a Yaqui residing at Zuni,and a Zuni, married into Ramah. Two Navaho men fled perma-nently to other Navaho groups after committing murder at Ramah.More recently, two families have left for economic reasons ; one of theseis likely to return eventually to Ramah (Kluckhohn, 1956 a).^The ancestors of the Ramah Navaho were in contact with PuebloIndians and with various Apache tribes centuries ago. There were
' When all or most of the documentation for statements in a paragraph is to be found in a single source,this will be cited at the conclusion of a paragraph. Citations within the body of the paragraph refer onlyto the point Immediately preceding. 333747-014—66 22
334 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196
conflicts and indeed skirmishes with the Zuni both before Fort Sum-ner (1864-68) and in the period immediately after Fort Sumner.After trading stores became well established at Zuni in the early-eighties, the Ramah Navaho went there occasionally to trade. Duringthe period of Navaho troubles with the American military (1848-64),some of the ancestral Ramah families spent considerable time amongthe Chiricahua and Mescalero, and this associaton was continued atFort Sumner. Another sort of contact occurred during the expedi-tion against Geronimo, for three Navahos who settled at Ramah in1883-85 had served as American scouts, and two of them took Apachewives.Ramah Navaho contacts with other Indian groups, though lessfrequent and sometimes indirect, are also of long duration. Sinceone main line of the Ramah Navaho derives from the "enemy Navaho"(Underbill, 1956, pp. 58-59) of the Mount Taylor region, some of theancestors of the Ramah Navaho had been in at least intermittentcontact with Spanish-speaking peoples since about 1750. In thisarea, steady relationships began after Spanish-Americans settledabout 6 miles east of Ramah between 1860 and 1865. The RamahNavaho have many stories of a fight that occurred with Spanish-Americans in this Tinaja valley shortly before the Fort Sumnercaptivity. In 1882, Atarque and (somewhat later) two stiU tinierSpanish-American villages were established at the southern end ofthe Ramah Navaho territory.Even before the United States took over New Mexico some of itscitizens had been in at least the area of Zuni (TeUing, MS., 1952, p. 14).With the rush to California the route from Albuquerque across theRamah country and through Zuni was traversed by a sizable numberof parties, both private and Governmental (ibid., pp. 15-22). TheRamah Navaho had stories of an encounter with at least one of theseprior to Fort Sumner (B^uckhohn, 1956 a).Mormon missionaries reached the Ramah Navaho in 1876 (Telling,1953). In 1880 three traders were licensed at Zuni, and RamahNavahos traded there occasionally as well as at Fort Wingate (TeUing,MS., 1952, p. 148). Ramah village was founded in 1882. A few othernon-Mormon Anglos (cattlemen and traders) settled on the bordersof the Ramah country or 20 or 30 miles distant, Ramah Navahoaccounts tell of a trip now and then to trade south of Gallup, at theSpanish-American town of San Rafael, and at Nutria. There weresmall stores in the Ramah area itself, but none seems to have had asteady existence until the late 1890's. In the first two decades of thepresent century more cattle ranchers, traders, and other Anglo-Americans followed the Mormons into the Ramah area. In the early
ANTHKOP. PAP. rjijjE RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 335twenties, Texan homesteaders had begun to settle in the El Morroarea and by 1930 the founding of Fence Lake was well under way.The Ramah Navaho are not only an off-reservation group but areseparated from Navahos contiguous to the reservation by intervening-Pueblo Indian, Spanish-American, and Anglo-American populations.Hence Ramah Navaho contacts with the Government, and specificallywith the Bureau of Indian Affairs, were sporadic and slight until1942. Some of the "founders" of the Ramah band had, of course,been prisoners at Fort Sumner and participated in the tremendousshock of that experience (Underhill, 1956, pp. 119-143). Afterlocating or relocating at Ramah after Fort Sumner, a number madeone to three trips to Fort Defiance, Ariz., to obtain the free Govern-ment distribution of seed, livestock, cloth, and tools for weaving andagi-iculture. Otherwise, apart from an occasional brush with thesoldiers at Fort Wingate over alleged livestock thefts (NavahoIndian Agency letter books for April 11, 1882), the Government wasa distant and rather nebulous authority for many years.Land Office USGS surveys were carried out in the Ramah areafrom 1881 on,^ but the first allotment to a Navaho of an individual160-acre plot from public domain under the Dawes act of 1887 wasnot made until 1908; no others were made until 1920, and the majorityin the 1930's. Meanwhile, the Ramah Navaho had been pushed offmost of their best lands by Mormons and others. By 1921, the crisisover land had reached such intensity that the Ramah Navaho leader,Bidaga (Kluckhohn and Vogt, 1955) made a trip to Washington,D.C., with Navaho leaders from the reservation and Franciscanmissionaries (Young, 1949).In spite of the research of Dr. TeUing and others on Governmentpublications and documents, the official relations of the Bureau ofIndian Affairs with the Ramah Navaho are obscure until 1927. Thismay well be because jurisdiction was never clearly defined. Prior toabout 1900 there is mention of occasional contact with Fort Defianceand Fort Wingate. After 1900 the Zuni Agency appears to haveintervened from time to time, although its official responsibihty wasfor Pueblo rather than Navaho affairs. Until 1905 the picture seemsto have been that of leaving the Ramah Navaho severely alone exceptfor rare incidents when Anglos or Spanish-Americans demandedintervention on land matters or disturbances of law and order. Be-ginning in 1905, Ramah Mormons were employed intermittently bythe Black Rock Agency to round up Navaho children for school.In 1927 the Eastern Navaho Agency was established at Crownpoint,N. Mex., and the Ramah Navaho were placed under the control of
» But were not complete 32 years later, for the Gallup Independent for May 15, 1963, speaks of surveys stillgoing on.
336 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196this agency. The agent there visited Ramah more than once, andNavaho delegations went to Crownpoint from time to time—primarilyto seek protection against land encroachment on the part of Anglos.But this was a full day's journey by automobile in those days and 2days by horse, so that the effective relationship was minimal. In1934 the six separate Navaho agencies were merged into one "NavajoService" with headquarters at Window Rock, Ariz. The RamahNavaho felt neglected (as indeed they were) by this central organiza-tion, and in 1942, on their own petition, they were transferred to theUnited Pueblos Agency at Albuquerque but with a nearby subagencyat Black Rock. (Landgraf, 1954.)ACCULTURATIONA properly weighted account of the degree of acculturation of theRamah Navaho is difficult to achieve. It is all too easy to overempha-size one side or the other. By selecting certain data,^ one couldconvincingly depict Ramah Navahos over the age of 20 (with ahandful of exceptions) as essentially "aboriginal" apart from foodpatterns, technology, and economy. Selecting other equally veri-fiable data one could pictm-e the group as hardly Navaho at aU savefor language, women's costume, ceremonial practices, and a few otherparticulars. The truth, of course, resides at a very compficated,mixed, hard-to-specify area between these two extremes. There isno doubt that the Ramah Navaho have had long-continued and, insome respects, intensive contacts with non-Navaho cultures. AUNavaho subcultures—^to varying extent and in varying particulars
—
exhibit the results of direct or indirect Puebloan influence. Ramahis no exception. An intensive study indicates that two traits ofmaterial culture have been borrowed from Zuni during the post-FortSumner period. There are presumptive grounds for postulatingChiricahua and Mescalero Apache influence at Ramah but it hasnot been possible to identify any elements with certainty.As far as change deriving ultimately from European cultures isconcerned, one can of course point immediately to domestic animals,certain cultivated plants, work in silver, and many features of dietand material culture. Dependence upon the American Governmentand the larger American economy have had their consequences.
3 For example, students of the Navaho are agreed that the wearing of the hair knot by men (and especiallyyoimger men) is a good index of conservatism. At Ramah, in the 1940-50 decade, not only six old men butthree boys under 20 held to this hairdress. This is a high proportion for this date. Another evidence ofRamah conservatism is that this is one of the two or three areas where pottery (both painted and coolcing)was made (as late as 1938; cf. Tschopik, 1941) and one of a very few areas where Navaho basketry is stillmade. Finally, one could note that polygyny remains more common at Ramah than in aU save two orthree remote and inaccessible Navaho local groups.
Anthrop. pap.No 79] THE RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 337American law and religion have had a gradual and increasing effectupon such matters as inheritance custom and residence. Some of theacculturation listed above began long before Fort Sumner. Otheraspects started effectively during that period but were intensified by-relations with non-Indians at a tempo that has increased steadily eversince 1870. The coming of the railroad to Fort Wingate and Gallupin 1881 ushered in the period when many Ramah Navahos were throwninto frequent and regular relationships with non-Indians. BothRamah and Atarque were founded in 1882, and the presence of a rail-road only 40 miles away was the basis both for subsequent immigrationinto the area and for far-reaching economic changes. The Mormonshave been the primary agents of acculturation for more than 70 years,though others—such as the two brothers from England who purchasedthe Ramah Trading Company in 1901 and were very friendly to theNavaho—have also been of considerable importance. StiU, it is hardto specify influences that are distinctively Mormon as opposed tothose of generalized American culture. There is one that appearscertain. As opposed to other Navaho areas, gambling has beenabsent or notably infrequent at Ramah. The Ramah Navahounanimously attribute this to the acceptance by the first headman ofthe Mormon injunction against gambling.Purely religious teachings do not appear to have gone very deep.The early records of the Ramah Ward of the Mormon church listmore than 30 Navahos as baptized, though it is not certain that all ofthese were Ramah Navahos. The records do from time to time speakof as many as 10 Navahos as present at Mormon church services.These numbers, however, decreased with the passage of time. Thisshift was doubtless due in part to the linguistic difficulty. Even more,it may be traced to mounting Navaho resentment over land quarrelsand discriminatory practices. For example, from the eighties untilthe thirties, Navahos, even those who were professed Mormons, wererefused burial in the church cemetery (Telling, MS., 1952). As of 1923,when I first visited Ramah, only one Navaho attended Mormonservices (from time to time) with anything approaching regularity.A few others were nomimal Mormons but, in fact, participated almostexclusively in the native Navaho religion. This situation continueduntil the coming of Mormon missionaries from Utah in 1946 and thebuilding of a small Mormon church for Ramah Navaho in 1949(Rapoport, 1954). Even in the decade following 1946, the lives ofonly a tiny number of Ramah Navahos were other than superficiallyaffected by Mormonism. And prior to 1944 or 1945 no Ramah Na-vahos were believing or practicing Christians of other denominations,although a number attended Christian services while at school and insome cases professed Christianity temporarily. By 1950 there were
338 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [B0LL. 19620 or more adults (primarily women) who were staunchly or weaklycommitted to a Fundamentalist Christian faith. No Ramah Navahohas ever been a Roman Catholic, although in the early days at Tinajathe Spanish-Americans made some ejfforts at conversion, givingChristian names, serving as godparents, and the like.All in all, in 1950 the customs, thought ways, and values of theRamah Navaho were dominantly Navaho. Not more than 20 indi-viduals, all of them under 40 years of age, would have to be exceptedfrom this generahzation. Many more, to be sure, had absorbed tosome degree European ideas and values as is reflected in the intricatelymingled responses to the value-orientations questionnaire (Kluckhohnand Romney, 1964). There were, and are, local differences. Ingeneral, Navahos residing habitually within 5 or 10 miles of Ramahvillage are appreciably more acculturated than those living in theless accessible areas farther south and southeast. World War II didinitiate a period of accelerated culture change affecting the wholearea. Twelve Ramah Navahos were in the armed forces for variousperiods (Vogt, 1951). A much larger number of men, sometimesaccompanied by their wives and children, were employed for weeks ormonths outside the Ramah area. This began the habit of wageworkaway from Ramah for weeks or months which has been followed bymany in the economically difficult years since 1946 and especiallyfollowing the droughts of 1950 and 1951.Nevertheless, all who observed other than superficially the dailylives of Ramah Navahos in the 1950 epoch agree that most of theselives, apart from material circumstances and small changes in socialorganization, were far more similar to those of their grandparentsthan to those of theu' contemporary non-Indian neighbors. One istempted to say that in the intangible realm almost the only majorand general consequence of contact with Anglos was the distrust andbitterness engendered by reason of the land struggle and sharppractices on the part of traders and other non-Indians. This resulted,in fact, in a sizable amount of antagonistic acculturation: That is,some Navahos consciously and deliberately returned to heightenedparticipation in such ancient Navaho customs as the sweat bath.The prime barrier to Navaho acculturation in thought ways andvalues was, of course, linguistic. To appreciate reaUsticaUy thisfactor and others, one must enlarge the historical perspective withvarious concrete details. The first Ramah Navaho went to school atFort Defiance in about 1886. He attended, however, for only a yearand returned to become one of the area's leading ceremonial practi-tioners. To the end of his life his total EngHsh and Spanish vocabu-laries combined did not amount to 100 words. His kinsman who wentto Fort Defiance the next yeair stayed only a few months. There is a
No.^T^r' ^^^' '^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO KLUCKHOHN 339
record of another Ramah Navaho being sent to school in 1894.The first concerted effort to send children to school, however, appearsto have been in 1905 when 10 children were taken to the AlbuquerqueIndian School. They remained from 1 to 4 years without acquiringmuch English, though two of the men did attain a modest com-petence in English later in life as a result of sustained experiencewith Anglos. None of these acquired English as an effective meansof communication. It was 1917 before a young Ramah Navahoreturned to the area with sufl&cient knowledge of English to be ableto act as interpreter in even rudimentary fashion.Of the population over 20 in 1940, 28 men and 19 women hadattended school (either Government or mission). Of these, however,only 36 had attended school for 4 years or more and 11 for 8 years ormore. Of Ramah Navahos alive in 1950, 36 men and 28 women hadattended school; although a number of them for only a year or less.Of these, 17 men and 13 women had had from 4 to 8 years of schooling;7 men and 9 women had 8 years or more. But it is easy to mis-interpret the consequences of these figures. Several points mustbe borne in mind. Eight years at school does not mean that theindividual had graduated from the eighth grade even in an Indianschool. The command of English (oral and written) of a high schoolgraduate is ordiaarily not equal to that of an eighth grade graduatein the United States generally. And in 1950 there were only twohigh school graduates among the Ramah Navaho—none in 1940.Moreover, it is hard for those who have not observed these phenomenadirectly to understand how much English a Navaho who has littleoccasion to use the language can forget in, say, 10 years. This isparticularly true of women living at some distance from the villageof Ramah. Some of these who had 8 years of school cannot todaymanage a few simple sentences in Enghsh. This factor is counter-balanced to a slight extent by those (almost entirely men) who hadlittle schooling but who have picked up some command of Englishby association with Anglos on jobs.In 1940, four men (all except one in their early twenties) and onewoman (bom away from Ramah) could translate from English toNavaho and from Navaho to English if communication was keptquite simple and concrete. "Hard words" in either language stumpedthem. Of the remainder of the "schooled" Navahos, many hadlargely forgotten the EngHsh they had known on leaving school.Elementary conversation was possible with 10 men and 3 women, inaddition to the 5 mentioned above. By 1950, thanks both to in-creased enrollment in schools and to World War II experiences, thenimaber of men over 18 years of age who could speak "basic English"
340 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196had risen to 28 and of women to 9. On the other hand, the numberof possible interpreters had increased by only two men and one woman.Acquaintance with the Zuni and Spanish languages is limited to asmall number of individuals and m no case approaches fluency. Onemust take with extreme caution the glib statements of local residents(from all five gi'oups) that such-and-such a Navaho "speaks goodZmii" (or Spanish). A Navaho who has a Zuni vocabulary of 50 (oreven 25) words impresses a Spanish-American or Anglo—or anotherNavaho—^who knows no Zuni beyond, possibly, a phrase of greetingand another word or tv/o. Careful observation, testing, and inquiryhave established the following facts. Of two Ramah Navaho menand three women who had numerous Zuni half-brothers and sisters,one man had a Zuni vocabulary of perhaps as many as 500 words,the other man knew considerably less, and the women knew no morethan a few kinship terms and phrases about the weather, food, andcrops. Of three Navaho women married to men from Zuni, twocould speak "kitchen Zmii" and the other spoke with her husbandand his relatives entu-ely in English, although recognizing somethingof the order of 300 Zuni words and uttering, on occasion, possibly asmany as 100. No other Ramah Navaho has in recent times, at least,had a Zuni vocabulary of 100 words, and only two or three men wouldreach that level. In all, not more than 20 Ramah Navahos knowmore than, at most, 10 words of Zuni.In contrast, many adult Navaho men, and some women, have a20- or 30-word Spanish vocabulary. This is because they have sooften had the experience of working for or with Spanish-Americans.About 15 Navaho men (as of 1950) could carry on an elementaryconversation concerning trade, locations, livestock, and daily events.Two or three of the older men had acquired this knowledge duringthe 19th century when Spanish was the lingua franca of the area. Anadditional eight or nine had herded for Spanish-Americans long enoughto learn basic Spanish. Most of these live in the southern portionof the Ramah Navaho area, but a few have worked for Tinaja andSan Rafael families. Only a very few Navahos born after 1920have more than a tmy stock of Spanish words and phrases.One must, of course, make the inquny in reverse. How manyZunis, Anglos, and Spanish-Americans have been able to speak Nav-aho? For centuries Pueblo Indians have learned Navaho, ratherthan the reverse, and Zuni is no exception. A number of Zuni mencan speak Navaho easily and colloquially, but, apart from two casesof intermarriage, these have had only transitory relationships w^ithRamah Navaho. One of the early Mormon missionaries who livedinto this century spoke fluent Navaho. A Navaho, raised as a Mexi-can at Tinaja, continued to speak his language of birth. These cases,
No.^79r* ^^^' '^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 341however, are unique as far as the Anglos and Spanish-Americans areconcerned. Local folklore names a number of individuals as "speak-ing good Navaho." In fact, only four Mormons can carry on a simpleconversation in pidgin Navaho. A few other traders and stockmenknow perhaps 300 terms for numerals, objects, and the like. Theycan bargain for crops and livestock or for workers, can ask distances,and talk about births and deaths. Two or three Spanish-Americansalso fall into this group. Other Anglos and Spanish-Americans arelimited to, at most, a small handful of stock phrases.This language barrier has sharply restricted the influence of non-Navahos even upon those Navahos who have for longer or shorterperiods seen Pueblos, Anglos, or Spanish-Americans daily. The netresult is that the Ramah Navaho, in spite of living among and sur-rounded by non-Navahos, are less acculturated than certain reserva-tion Navahos who have been much more deeply affected by schoolsand missionaries. The first school for Navahos in the Ramah areawas not built until 1943, whereas the reservation was dotted withschools by 1910. For about 10 years (roughly 1876-86) the Mormonsmade strenuous missionizing attempts, but the results did not reachbelow the surface, at any rate as far as fundamental ideas were con-cerned. Thereafter Mormon missionary work languished at a per-functory level not to be resumed actively until 1946 when a full-timemission team was assigned to work among the Ramah Navaho.* Thiswas probably in competitive response to the activities of a Fundamen-talist missionary who took up residence near Ramah in 1944 (Rapoport,1954). This missionary venture was the first (other than a few briefand casual visits) since the early Mormon endeavor.The psychological test administered by the Research in IndianEducation Program (1942-43) indicated that the Ramah Navahowere midway in acculturation between the remote Navajo Mountainband and the Shiprock group on the Navajo Reservation (Leightonand Kluckhohn, 1947). This judgment accords with relevant spe-cific data and with the general impressions of anthropologists andnon-Ramah Navahos. Reservation Navahos who have visited in theRamah area or worked with Ramah Navahos on the railroads or else-where often make comments to the effect that the Ramah group strikesthem as conservative or "backwoodsy."All in all, the Ramah Navaho are as representative of the Navahopeople as a whole as any other single local Navaho population. Oneof the characteristics of the Navaho in general is the heterogeneity of
* In April 1952, 100 Navaho men, women, and children were carried on the rolls of the Mormon churchin Ramah. The records show, however, that only six of these had been confirraed or blessed prior to 1948
.
Five had risen In the hierarchy to the rank of deacon, two to priest, and only one to elder. All evidenceindicates that the affiliation of most of the 100 had been, to say the least, highly nominal.
342 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196biological and cultural origins. To be sure, there is phenotypic evi-dence (light skin and hair color) of European ancestry in certainfamily lines at Ramah, but the historical circumstances under whichthe whole Navaho tribe absorbed some European genes are wellknown (Underbill, 1956, pp. 79-81). Within this century one Span-ish-American and two Anglos indisputably fathered Ramah Navahochildren, and there are several other highly probable cases. Yet ablood-group study may indicate "relative freedom from White mix-ture" (Boyd, 1949, p. 572) as compared with other Navaho andAmerican Indian samples. It is likemse true that one may point toseveral Chiricahua Apache women, one Zuni man, one Laguna man,one Walapai, and one Yaqui man as ancestors of some of the presentRamah Navahos. But the Canyon De Chelly Navaho had manyHopi ancestors, there is much Ute admixture on the northern bordersof the Navaho country, and Eastern Navahos are aware of ancestorsfrom Jemez and from Rio Grande Pueblos. Essentially "all" Nav-ahos, if the full facts were known, would be found to have very mixedancestry. Indeed, for the Ramah Navaho there are presumptivebut definite grounds for postulating, more remotely, MescaleroApache, Ute, and Jemez progenitors (Kluckhohn, 1956 a).As for culture, there has certainly been some Zuni influence uponthe Ramah band just as there have been Paiute borrowing by theNavajo Mountain group, Hopi influence upon many west-central res-ervation localities, Chiricahua-Mescalero influence upon the Alamo-Puertocito Navaho band, etc. Actually, it is difficult to specify Zuniborrowings at Ramah other than two that are shared by various otherNavaho groups influenced by Zuni; the use of outdoor bake ovens andthe painted pottery formerly made by Ramah Navaho women(Tschopik, 1941). For specifically Spanish-American effects uponthe Ramah Navaho one can do no more than point to some detailsin the handling of sheep. Except for the few Navahos who followMormon religious practices and observe Mormon restrictions uponthe use of coffee, liquor, and cigarettes, borrowings from Anglo cul-ture are indistinguishable from those characteristic of other Navahogroups who have had about the same amount of contact.Each Navaho local group has some distinctive features as a con-sequence of its geographical position and particular historical experi-ences. So far as the Ramah Navaho are concerned, one should notoverlook the consequences of the fact that they were not like captiveanimals herded onto a reservation. Rather, at least until 1940, theyled a normal (if isolated and rural) competitive life. Before 1940Government protection and assistance (economic and otherwise)amounted to very little.
No.^Tir* ^^^' '^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 343Unless 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 specifya "pure Navaho biological type." There are a few particulars (suchas absence of ceremonialists who can conduct the most elaboratechants and the lack of famous weavers and silversmiths) in which theRamah 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 themanner 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 cultureis one variant of generalized Eastern Navaho culture. Even thismust be qualified, however, for a preliminary check of the detailedstudy of Ramah Navaho material culture (Kluckhohn, Hill, andKluckhohn, 1965) indicates, surprisingly enough, a closer correspond-ence to GifFord's Western Navaho trait list than to his Eastern. Onthe other hand, the language is undoubtedly of the Eastern varietyboth as regards vocabulary and idiom.MATERIAL CULTURE AND ADAPTATION TO ENVIRON-MENTThis is not the place for an exhaustive review of Ramah Navahomaterial culture, but some summary statements drawn largely fromtwo 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 beenused. Horn and bone are almost entirely neglected, appearing inonly 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 relativelytemporary nature. Oak is the main hardwood and is used in makinghandles for implements, digging sticks, battens, and bows. Theprincipal stones used are flint, sandstone, and lava rock. Flint wasobtained 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 andKluckhohn, 1938; Wyman and Harris, 1941; Wyman, Hill, and Osani, 1942.
344 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 1S6
with lava rock) for grinding stones to prepare food and sand-paintingminerals. Clay was until recently used for pottery and (like redocher) for pigment. Alum is used as a dye mordant.The use of animal products is or was more extensive, althoughhide and sinew are the chief parts of the animal used in the con-struction of objects. Bone was used only for awls and for reamersand arrow straighteners. Horn was used only for arrow straightenersand as containers for medicine. Hides were used for clothing, armor,shields, bedding, hafting tools, carriers, waterbags, and lines. Theywere boiled to form glue and used for sewing in the form of thongs.Sinew was used for sewing and for the bowstring as well as for thebacking of the sinew-backed bow. Rabbitskins were used in bedding;squirrelskins and other furs in bags and in ceremonial equipment.Mountain lion skin was used only for medicine bags, quivers, andwar caps.The other main category of materials is that of fibers (vegetableand wool). Wool plays a major role but is used mainly for articlesthat were once made of hides: bedding, shirts, sacks, cords, andthreads. On the other hand, it is not used for ceremonial articleswhich must be made of buckskin. Flexible plant fibers, roots, andleaves were used in basketry and matting and in the making of tem-porary ropes and paintbrushes.Some materials are gathered and stored against future need (wool,buckskin, dyes, coils of basket material, sacks of sand-paintingpigments). In general, however, only materials which have to beimported from a distance or which are seasonal are likely to be kepton hand. Processing of most materials is minimal. The main ex-ceptions are silverwork, rugs, pottery, and tanning. The tendencyis for the Navaho to be a tool-using rather than a tool-making people.Sexual division of labor was clear cut on only a few points. Bothmen and women may weave® and do silverwork. In Navaho theory,house construction (except for plastering) and working with buckskinare male tasks, but over the past 20 years we have observed womenparticipating in both these occupations. Ritual objects are madeonly by men, and in the past the manufacture of hunting and warequipment was exclusively male. Only women made baskets andpottery (except for clay hunting pipes which were made by men).The use of tenses in the foregoing paragraphs has been difficultand not fuUy precise because of culture change. A full listing by itemswould achieve accuracy but be intolerably long. But let me give afew illustrations. No shield has been made by the Ramah Navahoin this century and probably not since Fort Sumner. Pottery has
• Only two Kamah men are known to have done weaving.
No.^Tir* ^^^' ^^^™ RAMAH NAVAHO KLUCKHOHN 345not been made since 1938. There are variations by sub-area as wellas in time. For instance, I have not seen a bow and arrow made orused within 10 miles of the village of Ramah since 1936. On the otherhand, I have seen these articles both made and used 30 miles south ofRamah as recently as 1948.A few simple and rather obvious generalizations can be made.There has been a steady increase in the buying of articles from tradingstores as opposed to home manufactm-e. As of 1950, only four orfive elderly men still made and wore moccasins. In 1936, the RamahNavaho possessed only 3 iron bedsteads; in 1950, they owned morethan 30. In 1936, only two Ramah Navaho families had automobiles.In 1952, they owned 39^ automobiles (more than half of them pickuptrucks and more than half manufactured prior to 1942). Threepossessed Ferguson tractors and planters; about 35 had plows andcultivators. Native foods (see Bailey, 1940) are less and less fre-quently prepared except that sheep and corn are still ordinarily cookedin the old styles. About 5,000 pounds of meat was dried in 1951.Ritual paraphernalia is still made, but the number of individuals whohave requisite knowledge decreases each year. Moreover, as Tschopik(1938) has documented in the case of basketry, the sheer ritualiza-tion of some features of material culture has tended to make for theobsolescence of these objects.Another dimension of material culture has been beautifully docu-mented by Roberts (1951) who examined the complete inventory ofthree contiguous households to a total of 578 items. Of these, 154were held in common by all three households, 58 were possessed byA and B, 50 by B and C, 33 by A and C: 89 existed only in A; 185 in B,and 109 in C (p. 77).The general environmental setting has been considered elsewherein this volume. Here I shall review briefly only some features ofthe specifically Navaho adaptation. Of the 456 uncultivated plantspecies collected in the area, there were only 3 for which no Navahoname was given when shown to two or more informants, and for 1of these a use was stated. This does not mean that every plant iswell known, but it does mean that the people are observant of theirbotanical surroundings and can readily distinguish between plants ofmajor, secondary, or minor importance in their lives. Even thevery young children know the names and uses of the common plants.The vegetation enters into the lives of everyone from birth untildeath. Poisonous plants are a threat to livestock; many plants havemagico-religious and/or economic significance. The uses of plantsare multiple, and from the Navaho standpoint they fit into that
' Most families lacking automobiles have wagons.
346 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196harmony of related parts which is the Navaho view of the universe,and with which people must make harmonious connections for anabundant life. (Vestal, 1952.)By far the greatest number of plants are used as medicines, eitherin association with ceremonials or as home remedies during parturitionand nursing and for stomach ache, tooth ache, constipation, and sores.Only one narcotic {Datura meteloides) is known, and this is used onlyas a last resort to control excessive pain and only by those who possessritual qualifications. Some plants are used for good luck in gamblingor trading. Bows, arrows, dyes, ceremonial equipment, baskets,and household articles are made of plant materials. Wood is impor-tant, of course, for fuel and for constructing dwellings. Uncultivatedfood plants are of minor but varying (between families) importancein the total economy, with the exception of the pifion nut which isfrequently a major source of income. Tubers, seeds, fruits, andbulbs are eaten. Yucca is used both for food and to provide ashampoo. Gums and resins are used as chewing gum. The principalcultivated crops are maize, beans, squash, melons, and potatoes. Afew families raise small acreages of oats, wheat, alfalfa, and gardenvegetables. In 1941, the Ramah Navaho cultivated 158 pieces ofland (ranging in size from less than an acre up to 100 acres) amountingto approximately 3,000 acres. Maniiring and other "modern"farming methods were hardly followed at all, though two large fieldswere tractor plowed in the 1950 period. Yields are poor owing tofarming practices, inferior seed, and uncertain weather. (Vestal, 1952.)In absolute terms the contribution of wildlife to the diet of theRamah Navaho was, as of 1950, trivial. To the poorer families,however, rabbits, porcupines, other small animals, and an occasionaldeer* sometimes made the difference between nourishment and hunger.The abundant birds are almost never eaten. Various animal pestsplague the cultivated fields, and coyotes are a danger to sheep,especially in winter. Actually, as O'DonneU (MS., 1950) has shown atlength, the greatest significance of animal Ufe in recent times has notbeen economic but ritual. Many mammals, reptiles, and birds arenot only tabooed as food but also pose all sorts of supernatural dangersand are constantly described as sources of illness.In 1950, the Ramah Navaho controlled 153,600 acres of land.^The amount used for dry farming is said to have dropped to 1,085acres ;*° 1,640 acres were malapais or other land utterly barren and
' Thirty, for instance, were killed in the fall and winter of 1941-42.
' The 1945 figure (Bureau of Land Management statistics) was 143,313 acres of which Navaho allotmentscomprised 43,331, Navaho homesteads 1,600, with the remainder leased from the Federal and State govern-ments, the Santa Fe Railroad, the Pueblo of Picuris (52,169 acres), and White ovmers.
'» This figure is from Indian Service Extension reports, 1951. It Is almost certainly too low, but fieldobservations Indicate a substantial drop ftom 1941.
ANTHROP. Pap.No. 79] THE RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 347
waste; 126,355 acres were used for grazing. Each household had atleast one relatively permanent cluster of establishments, usually withone or more adjoining fields. Clusters encompassed as many as 15buildings of various kinds. In addition, many of the kin groups hadone or more smaller, rough and temporary establishments or campsat various distances from their larger clusters of buildings. Eachpermanent establishment included at least one hogan, made of logslaid in saddle-notched fashion to form a hexagonal or octagonaldome-shaped structure, surmounted by an open smoke hole and roofedand floored with earth. At most clusters there were also small,rectangular log cabins, many of which were equipped with a window,fireplaces, and heating or cooking stoves of iron. There were otherstructures for storage; "shades"; corrals of logs, brush, or wire;and small sweat houses. Water for household use came from nearbysurface accumulations or stock tanks or wells constructed by theGovernment, (Landgraf, 1954.)LIVELIHOODIn 1951, the Ramah Navaho owned 7,318 sheep, 580 goats, 199cows, 460 horses, and a small number of mules, burroes, swine, andpoultry. Because of drought conditions prevalent in 1950 and 1951,these figures are sizably smaller than during the first years of thevalues study and the 10 years preceding. The dipping records for1941, for instance, show 17,885 sheep and 1,055 goats, ^^ The differ-ential ownership by families in 1951 is shown in table 1.
348 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196to land; eight families use 160 acres or less, while four families haverights to 10-30 sections.Total income from animals in 1951—sales of wool, lambs, hides,and products consumed at home—may be estimated at about $70,000.The comparable 1943 estimate was $40,000. The value of cultivatedplants (corn,^^ cereals, squash, melon, beans) eaten was probablyin the neighborhood of $5,000. Cash income from wagework inpostwar years has averaged at least half as much as livestock income.Each year Ramah Navahos have worked as railroad section hands;as pickers of beets, carrots, and cotton; as farm and ranch hands,herders, loggers, etc. In 1951, 23 men earned a total of $12,000 onthe railroad, and they and others gained $24,000 from other work,locally and away from Ramah. Handicrafts (rugs, silver, beadwork)brought in about $1,500. Welfare and other Government benefitsbrought some $23,000 into the community. Other miscellaneousincome (trade, gathering, sale of timber, fees of ceremonialists andherbalists, etc.) might have accounted for as much as $3,000. A veryrough estimate of per capita real income would be $230.There is a per person indebtedness of approximately $100. This isowed primarily to the trading stores, advanced against wool andlamb crops or secured by the pawning of jewelry, saddles, guns,and other articles of value. The stores charge 10 percent on overdueaccounts. Probably less than 12 percent of Navaho buying in theRamah area is by cash.For 1941, Landgraf (1954) characterizes Navaho purchases asconsisting largely of food and clothing but with relatively sizableinvestments in machinery, automobiles, and tools from time totime. The bulk of the food purchases were flour, fruit, sugar, coffee,and cooking fat. The greatest changes in consumption patternsthat took place between 1941 and 1951 were increased gasolinesales, more money spent in car repairs (perhaps $5,000 in 1951),more purchase of medicines, and closer approximation of Anglo-American buying of food and clothing. In 1951, Ramah Navahosbought almost everything that Ramah Whites bought at the tradingstores except canning equipment, cooking spices, and electric lightbulbs. The Navaho purchased little feed for livestock, although a fewowners bought bales of alfalfa, cotton cake, and grain. Expendituresfor wine, liquor, and beer are not inconsiderable, but I would notventure even an estimated total annual figure.Hobson (1954) sums up Navaho economic values as follows:
. . . wealth accumulation is a primary preoccupation. A high valuation isplaced upon the possession of land, livestock, houses, clothes, and jewelry. The
" Navaho com yields average 600 pounds to the acre, beans 400.
No.^79]^' ^^^' THE RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 349
stress is not only on quantity ("lots of property," "big herds," "plenty to eat"),but on quality ("nice things to wear," "good horses"). . . . the statementsexamined evidence a surprisingly intense interest in making money, saving money,and getting wagework for money as well as a deprecation of losing money throughgambling. The value placed on money (though not on property) may be regardedas an index of acculturation. [Ibid., p. 28.]Sheer accumulation of wealth is of less importance than its display or itsgenerous distribution. . . . Through the possession of property one can "goanywhere without being ashamed." The way to earn money, to acquire property,and to become a rich man is by working hard.But far outweighing hard work as a means of accumulating wealth is thecaution to preserve one's possessions.
... a set of socio-economic values which regulates the accumulation of wealthand dictates the manner of its distribution: "don't be too rich," "never get poor,"
"look after your family," and "help people out." [Ibid., p. 29.]OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALIZATIONIn 1950, tliere were 21 ceremonial practitioners including those whopracticed divination by hand trembling. The only singer of consider-able standing died in this year, and his death left his two brothers(one not a singer but a practitioner of Blessing Way) as the onlyrespected ritualists, though there were a number of "mouth-put men"(i.e., "amateurs" who know only excerpts of a rite and its accompany-ing myth). Eight individuals (four of them women) practiceddivination. All ceremonialists gained some income, but only theone singer, the conductor of Blessing Way, and three of the divinersdevoted a significant segment of their time to these activities. Therewere also four recognized herbalists (three of them women) whogathered plants for rites and as folk medicine (including herbs forabortion and birth control).One man and his two wives were silversmiths at this time. Thirty-three women did some weaving, but only seven or eight could beconsidered regular weavers. The last potter was dead. Only onewoman still made baskets. Three elderly men made moccasins forsale as well as for themselves and their families. Some men and somewomen had reputations for special skills as shearers of sheep. Other-wise the only occupational specialization was along sex lines: Womenprimarily but not exclusively did the cooking and looked after thechildren; men broke horses and looked after cattle; the sheep werecared for by children and by adults of both sexes; and heavy farmworkwas carried out mainly by men, with women and children doing theweeding and other lighter work. Ramah women do not sing atceremonials, but women singers have been imported from other areas.747-014—66 23
350 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 196DEMOGRAPHYBIRTHSFrom 1871 to 1949 (inclusive) there were 1,105 established con-ceptions by period and sex as given in table 2. Twenty-three ofthese conceptions are known to have resulted in the death of themothers. Live births totaled 984.^^ Of these, 122 died within thefirst year of life and 28 more during the second year. Of the 605 Uvebirths at Ramah prior to 1935, 210 men and 216 women reachedadulthood as determined by one or more of the following criteria:marriage, known first menstruation, and age of 16 in the case of boys.Table 2.
—
Conceptions from 1871 to 1949
Period
Anthrop. pap.No. 79] THE RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 351lected. Twelve pairs of twins (all except one of like sex) have beenborn since 1874.'*Of those who had reached adulthood by 1950, there is a presumptionthat seven men and five women are infertile because all of these hadmarried at least two different individuals and failed to have children.Three other men and one woman had a single marriage of 3 yearsor more duration without conception resulting. Lack of fertilityseems to attach to a limited number of family lines. Four of the menand two of the women who have had two or more marriages, and allthree of the men with a single marriage, are closely related, all beingdescendants of the Chiricahua Apache women who married at Ramah,Three of the other women with two or more marriages who are infertileare full sisters. MARRIAGES AND AFFAIRSFertility is increased by the early age of marriage. Before theRamah Navaho went to school in any numbers, girls were, with veryfew exceptions, married within a year or two after their first menstru-ation. Even in the 1940-50 decade, nine were married at 16 or under,but the average age of first marriage had cHmbed to 17.7.'* Prior to1910 (and in a sizable number of cases thereafter), it was rare for aboy to be unmarried at 19, and some were married at 15 and 16. Inthe 1940-50 period, the average age of first marriage was 19.9.'*Total cases of first marriages occurring from January 1, 1940, toSeptember 1, 1950, are as shown in table 4.Table 4.
—
Total cases of first marriages occurring January 1, 1940, to September1, 1960
352 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 196
ally) of the Government and the general influence of non-Indian cul-ture has diminished a little the incidence of polygyny during the past20 years. However, in 1950, nine men were still living with twowives. Over the 80-year period, polygyny has surely contributed tothe fertility of this population.Finally, it may be presumed that the strong tendency for RamahNavahos to mate during their lifetime with two or more differentindividuals affects fertility, since impediments to conception or livebirth in one marriage may disappear with a change of partners.Table 5 gives the figures by marriages and by "affairs." It is neces-sary to include the latter category because of the existence of unionsof longer or shorter duration which the Navaho, speaking in theirown language, refuse to term a "marriage" but which are more orless publicly recognized as such. Entered in the tabulation are onlythose instances where either publicly acknowledged children resultedor where the association went on steadily for at least a few months.Cases in which gossip reports or an individual in question admittedto intercourse on one or a few occasions are not included. In a fewinstances, informants disagreed as to whether a union did or did notconstitute a "marriage." I have tabulated as "marriages" only thosecases where all or a vast majority of informants agreed on this judg-ment. For purposes of human biology, it makes no difference, ofcourse. But for purposes of social organization, there is a significantdistinction.Table 5.
—
Marriages and "affairs^' by age group and sex
Age group
'
Anthrop. Pap.No. 79] THE RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 353deliberately not reported. In respect to individuals who died priorto 1910, there were instances where no person was alive after 1935who was in a position to give complete information on the marriagerecord. Table 5 shows four individuals in their thirties who had beenmarried four times. Actually, of individuals in their twenties in 1950or who died before reaching 30, two women and one man had alreadymarried four times, one man and one woman three times.Table 6.
—
Average number of marriages among Ramah Navahos
354 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196Table 7.
—
Age and sex composition of the popidation of Ramah 'Age
Anthrop. Pap.No. 79] THE RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 355workers to toothache, mouth abcesses, teeth pulled, and the like.There are individual cases of minor abnormahties : tumors, boneexostoses, supernumerary nipples, six toes, spinal curvatures, de-formed arms, and squint eyes.Degenerative diseases are not absent here but are relatively in-frequent. Of approximately 450 persons examined, about 95 percentrevealed no heart abnormality and only 3 individuals showed a con-dition that could be described as serious or semiserious. There wasone Imown case of cancer in the previous decade. There is one knowncase of cerebral hemorrhage. DEATHSTotal Ramah Navaho deaths (including those of immigrants) forthe period 1871-1949 are given in table 8. Further information onconditions of life as they may bear upon values can be obtained froma consideration of the available facts upon causes of death. I includeonly those data that are based either on accidents (e.g., an infant'sburning to death) or medical testimony. Of the total 372 knowndeaths in this population (table 8), there are definitely establishedcauses for 129 as detailed in table 9.Table 8.
—
Ramah Navaho deaths, 1871-1949 ^
Period
356 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 196A few comments ^vill illuminate these figures. One man killedanother whom he beheved to have caused the death of his wife by-witchcraft. A grandfather killed his infant grandchild on the groundthat this infant's birth had resulted in his daughter's death. Theother four murders all occurred in drunken brawls. Drunkennesswas also responsible for two deaths from an automobile accident, onedeath by pneumonia (a man slept out of doors at freezing tempera-tures), and four deaths from freezing while drunk. Finally, a motheraccidentally killed her infant son by falhng upon him while drunkand a drunken man was killed when his horse fell upon him. "Acci-dents" also include three boys who froze to death while running awayfrom school,^* eight deaths (all except two of youngsters) caused bya horse, an infant struck by lightning, an infant who died of snake-bite, an infant who died as a consequence of being bitten by redants, an infant who choked to death, and one case of drowning.Adair, Deuschle, and McDermott (1957) present the followingtable (10) for causes of death among the Navaho in general.Table 10.— Ten leading causes of death among Navahos and comparative UnitedStates general population rates, 1954^
Cause of death
No.^Tir' "^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 357
acculturated males despite their younger average age. Family analysis suggeststhat sex-specific genetic factors partly determine blood pressure within the normalrange and that this genetic control is more effective or achieves greater vaso-motorstability in the Navaho environment than in modern industrial society,PHYSIQUE 19A mean stature of 167 cm. places the Ramah Navaho male in themedimn-tall category. Although a few women are obese, the typicalRamah Navaho is not heavy in terms of stature. They are moder-ately long armed and broad shouldered and their legs are relativelyshort compared to stature. The head is round with a mean cephahcindex of 86 in both sexes. The occiput is usually flattened but rarelydeformed. Head height ranges from low to medium. The face isbroad with relatively large and projecting malars although thebizygomatic breadth is not great compared to head breadth. Totalfacial mass is large compared to cephalic mass. Nose form rangesfrom narrow to medium and a moderate degree of midfacial prog-nathism is usually present.Skin color varies from light-yellow brown to dark-yellow brown.Exposed areas of the skin are deeply tanned. Hair color is mediumbrown to dark brown and is Ughter in females and children than inadult males. A minority have some red hair pigment not masked bymelanin. The hair is typically straight and coarse. Head hair isabundant; body hair is scarce, although some males have moustaches.Eye color is typically dark brown but light-brown eyes occur in somekindreds.There is considerable variation in body types both within andbetween sexes. Females are higher in endomorphy and males arehigher in ectomorphy. The range of adult body types in females is721 to 215 and in males 543 to 135. The two most common bodytypes in females are 413 and 423 and in males 225 and 434.About 77 percent are blood group O and 23 percent are Ai, the Bgene being absent from the population. Only 1 percent are type Nand all are Rh positive. Less than 2 percent are nontasters forphenylthiocarbamide and less than 1 percent are nonsecretors forthe ABO blood group substances. About 2 percent of males arered-green colorblind.Table 11 presents 12 measurements of body size and weight in adultRamah Navaho Indians compared to adult White residents of AnnArbor, Mich., all measured by the same technique and investigator.^"
'» For motor habits, see Bailey, 1942.20 The section on "Physique," with table 11, was kindly prepared by Dr. J. N. Spuhler, Departmentof Medical Genetics, University of Michigan.
358 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196Table 11.
—
Comparative measurements of adult Ramah Navaho Indians and adultWhite residents of Ann Arbor, Mich.
Measurement Ramah Navaho IndiansMales(N=101)Mean S.D Females(N=117)Mean S.D
Ann Arbor WhitesMales(N=202)Mean S.D Females(N=2281Mean S.DWeight (pounds)Stature (cm.)...Sitting height (cm.)Head length (mm.)Head breadth (mm.)Head height (mm.)Minimum frontal breadth (mm.)Bizygomatic breadth (mm.)Bigonial breadth (mm.)Total face height (mm.)Upper face height (mm.)..Nose height (mm.).Nose breadth (mm.)
133.1167.388.8182.7158.0126.8110.1148.0109.7119.368.951.739.0
21.16.33.16.75.66.64.35.15.16.14.03.52.9
122.3156.482.3174.1160.6124.3107.5140.2104.1111.864.847.036.4
21.06.03.56.35.36.63.54.24.45.03.93.12.8
167.8174.691.6197.0154.0133.7107.7140.3106.2121.971.455.136.3
25.96.53.46.66.17.34.76.16.47.46.04.43.1
134.0161.486.0185.6147.2126.6102.8131.398.0111.666.460.932.5
25.06.13.26.55.37.46.04.96.46.24.33.62.7SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONThe technical details of the Navaho kinship system have beenreviewed by Bellah (1952) and others. Here only some salient pointswill be mentioned. Descent is matrilineal. The brothers of themother play an important role with her children as disciplinarians,in arranging marriages, and in inheritance. Maternal grandparentsalso take considerable responsibiUty, though this may be assumed bypaternal grandparents in the case of patrilocal residence. There areseparate terms for maternal grandfather and grandmother, only oneterm for paternal grandparents. The relationships between siblingsof the same sex is characterized by closeness and solidarity (especiallyin the case of sisters) ; toward siblings of opposite sex, restraint andrespect are observed. There are joking relationships of various typesand intensities between relatives of various classes, that with bothmale and female cross-cousins being coarse. Mother-in-law andson-in-law avoid each other.Each Navaho belongs to the clan of the mother and is "born for"the clan of the father. Members of one's own clan are addressed bythe same kinship terms that are used for immediate biological relativesof corresponding sex and generation. There are sentimental linkagesand some economic reciprocities between aU clansmen. These apply
—
but in attenuated form—to the gi'oup of two to five clans that are
"linked" to one's own. In recent generations, however, the primefunction of clans and of linked clan groups has been that of regulatingmarriage. One may not marry:1. A member of one's own clan2. A member of one's father's clan3. A member of a clan "linked" to one's own clan4. A member of a clan "linked" to one's father's clan
No^TOr" ^^^' "^-^^ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 359The Ramah genealogies show four violations (out of 399 marriages)of the first prohibition and five violations of the second. Transgres-sions of the third and fourth regulations have been more frequent butcannot be enumerated exactly because of disagreement among theNavaho themselves as to which of the clans should be consideredlinked. Indeed many Navahos under 40 years of age in 1950 could notname with confidence the clans linked to their own, let alone to thoseof their fathers.The first known violation of clan exogamy occurred in 1932 andwas a serious one because a man who was Bitter Water clan (father'sclan: Meadow) married a woman of Meadow clan whose father was ofBitter Water clan. There was a great local scandal, and strenuousefforts were made to prevent the marriage and to break it up after itoccurred. By 1950, the prohibition against marrying into the clangroup of one's father or mother could be considered operative only inthe case of a small number of very conservative famiHes.Of the more than 50 Navaho clans, 25 have been represented in theRamah genealogies, but a number of these by only one or a very fewindividuals who married in from other Navaho bands. As of 1948,19 clans were represented in the Ramah population. Four of thesewere represented by single in-marrying males, and only six hadmemberships comprising more than 16 individuals. These six clansincluded 97 percent of the total population: The four largest clanscomprised 77 percent, the two largest about 40 percent. (Kluckhohnand Griffith, 1950; Spuhler, 1953.)MARRIAGEIn theory—and to a considerable (though decreasing) extent inpractice—the first marriage is celebrated with a simple ceremonythat has often been described in the literature. Prior to 1940, wellover 90 percent of first marriages and approximately 75 percent oflater marriages were arranged by the families of the two prospectivespouses—or, in the case of males in middle age and beyond, by theman's direct negotiation with the family of his prospective wife.Marriages in the 1940-50 decade were arranged in only 60 percent(roughly) of the cases, though in a good many of the instances wherethe initiative was taken by the principals, the families eventuallybecame involved in the exchanges of property which normally accompa-nied arranged (socially sanctioned) marriages. Many of the "affairs"represent only philandering. Others, however, are cases where manand woman were drawn to a stable relationship, but marriage wasopposed by their relatives on economic gTOunds or violation of clanor clan group exogamy. A sizable proportion of the affairs becomerecognized marriages on the birth of children.
360 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196Approximately 12 percent of all marriages involved a mate fromoutside the Ramah population. These were predominantly arrangedmarriages. It was 1930 before a Ramah girl went to live on theNavajo Reservation with a boy she had met at school. (This wasalso the firet instance of a Ramah woman emigrating on marriage.)Since 1940, four women and two men have made seven nonarrangedmarriages with Navahos they had met at school or while at workaway from Ramah. The Laguna Indian who moved into the Ramaharea in 1894 as a sheepherder for Spanish-Americans represents theonly other case of a nonarranged marriage with "outsiders."Men ordinarily move away from Ramah on their marriage to awoman elsewhere. Since 1890, 26 Ramah men have married out(12 to the Two Wells area, 8 to the Thoreau area, 3 to Fort Wingate,and 3 to other parts of the Navaho country) . Five of these marriagesare more correctly described as bilocal because the family spent atleast a few months a year in the Ramah area. Fourteen of the menreturned to Ramah on the dissolution of their marriages elsewhere.Conversely, only five women moved away from Ramah upon marriage;one to the nearby Zuni farming village (Pescado), two to the Thoreauarea, and two to the Navajo Reservation. Of these, three returnedto Ramah.Since 1890, 39 men from outside have married into Ramah (24from the Two Wells area, 8 from Thoreau, 2 from Fort Wingate, 2from Zuni, and 3 from other Navaho regions). Of these, 18 returnedto their former homes on the dissolution of their Ramah marriages.Eleven women (six from Two Wells, three from Fort Wingate, andtwo from Thoreau) settled in Ramah on marriage to men there,though one of these marriages could be called bilocal. It is notablethat, in contrast to the figures for the men, only one of these womensubsequently moved out of Ramah and she left with her husbandand family.The fact that marriages both in and out come overwhelmingly fromthree areas (Two WeUs, Thoreau, and Fort Wingate) reflects threefactors; relative proximity, historical association, and the Navahopattern of exchange of sibhngs between family groups. Actually,proximity is clear cut only in the Two Wells case, though Thoreauby trail is about as close as any Navaho band except Two WeUs. Thehistorical factor arises from the circumstance that a number of the
"founders" of the Ramah population were either born in these threeareas or had settled in one or more of them for some time before movingto Ramah. Connections with relatives in these regions have beenkept up through the years .^^ This, in turn, facilitated the arrange-M Ceremonials (e.g., Enemy Way) are an occasion during which relatives from different areas meet andpotential spouses can look each other over.
No.''79r' ^^^' '^^^™ RAMAH NAVAHO—^KLUCKHOHN 361ment of marriages, particulariy in the form of repeated exchangesbetween an extended family at Ramah and an extended family inone of the other areas. For instance, four men and two women(all closely related) from Thoreau over a period of years marriedindividuals from the same family line at Ramah. Reciprocally, theRamah group sent two men and two women back to the Thoreaugroup. Fully three-fourths of all emigrating and immigrating mar-riages since 1890 fall into the category of perpetuation of an exchange(initiated before or after 1890) between very close or slightly lessclose relatives in the Ramah area and a similar group in the other area.This same pattern prevails, of course, for marriages within theRamah population. If a young man from family A marries a girlfrom family B, there is a strong likelihood that a younger brother orsister from family A will marry a girl or boy from family B. If oneis not available from the biological family, one will often be providedfrom the extended family. Failing this, there is an appreciablepreference for a biologically related spouse from the same clan as thechildren of family B. This is the probable explanation of the factthat marriages between clans at Ramah (Spuhler, 1953, p. 301) showpreferential tendencies for clans to exchange members in ways notdetermined by the system of linked clan exogamy.On September 1, 1950, there were 41 women and 19 men of theage of 25 ^^ or over who lacked spouses. Seven men (only one pastthe age of 40) had never married and were not reported to have hadchildren. Seven women (all still of reproductive age) had neithermarried nor had children. Four women had never married, but hadsubadult children. There were six divorced men (three under 40,one of 48, one of 56, and one of 72), nine widows (all past reproductiveage), and three widowers (all over 69 years of age). An additional 10widows, 2 widowers, 11 divorced women, and 2 divorced men wereliving as ''heads of families"—i.e., without spouses but with subadultchildren in their homes. Of the widows, seven were beyond repro-ductive age; of the divorced women, three. Two of the men were intheir fifties, two in their sixties.On the same date, there were 97 marriages in force at Ramah(see table 12, p. 364). Of the 11 polygynous ones, 7 involved themarriage of a man to two full or haK sisters (daughters of the samemother or of the same father, but by two different wives who werebiological sisters) ; 2 were cases of the marriage of a man to a womanand to her daughter by a previous marriage; and 2 involved themarriage of a man to two unrelated women. Of all the polygynousmarriages at Ramah, 29 have been sororal, 10 have involved step-
s' This seems the right age to take as of this date. (See table 4, p. 351, for the age of first marriage,1940-50.)
362 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196daughter marriage, and 12 have involved marriages to unrelatedwomen. Only three of the latter occurred prior to 1930. The datashow this form of polygyny to be much less stable than the other twotypes.There are seven cases of the simple sororate. If one looks at thematter from the Navaho point of view, including cases of a widowermarrying a parallel cousin (or other "clan sister") of his deceased wife,the nmnber mounts to 18. There are only three instances of thesimple levirate; seven more as defined by Navaho cultm-e.One is tempted to say that sororal polygyny, the sororate and allother forms of marriages preferred by this culture are merely specialinstances of the more general principle; repeated exchanges betweentwo extended famihes or other groups of close relatives. This generahzationwill cover the overwhelming majority of all Ramah marriages,^^ em-bracing such instances as the following which are less sharply patternedthan the exchange of marriageable siblings between two biological orextended families. A man married the divorced wife of his sister'sson. Another married the widow of his sister's son. Conversely,another Navaho married the widow of his mother's brother. Stillanother married two daughters born to the wives of his mother'sbrother by their previous marriages. A young man married thedaughter of his father's divorced wife (from Thoreau) . Six men havemarried a sister of a wife from whom they had been divorced. Oneman married three sisters in succession with one of the two fromwhom he was divorced marrying his biological brother and the othermarrying his parallel cousin. There are numerous cases of menmarrying former wives of their brothers and of women marryingbrothers or "clan brothers" of their ex-husbands. Two men (brothers)married (in succession) the daughter of their brother-in-law by aformer marriage. In this instance, as in others, one has grounds tosuspect the factor of sheer propinquity as well as that of the pat-terned economic and other reciprocities. In fact, one can ordinarilyseparate these two factors only by somewhat artificial abstraction.Quite frequently, the relationships involved become somewhat intri-cate. For example, a man married as his first wife the sister of hissister's husband and as his second wife the daughter of his father'ssister's son (who was also the man's mother's brother's son).In most cases, Navaho women are younger than their husbands.Often—and this iucreasingly in the last 20 years—the difference inM There is, to be sure, always a first time. But one marriage of any duration almost always leads toothers. An instance occuring in the 1940-50 decade is entirely representative. In 1942, Jo Miguel marriedMary, the daughter of Pete Caballo. Two years later a marriage was arranged between Jo's son. Easy, anda cousin of Mary. In 1946, Jo also married Mary's sister. In 1949, Pete, Mary's father, married the youngdaughter of Jo.
No!^T9r* ^^^' '^^^™ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 363age is only a few years. However, in the total Ramah records,^*the wife was 5-10 years younger in 49 cases, 10-15 years younger in27 cases, 15-20 years younger in 18 cases, and more than 20 yearsyounger in 28 cases. The last figure reflects the fact that men past50 who are widowed or whose wife has passed the reproductive agefrequently marry again and prefer a young wife if they can obtainone through economic or other arrangements. The converse of thisis that 13 men have married women 5-10 years older than themselves,7 have married women 10-15 years older, and 5 have taken wivesmore than 15 years older. In all save four of these cases, the mar-riage has been the young man's first. In 11 cases, the women hadone or more daughters by a previous marriage, and in 3 of theseinstances the young man eventually also married his wife's daughter.All of these marriages of young men to older women have beenarranged in the pattern of continuiug exchanges, largely but notexclusively economic. The Navaho also rationalize this type ofmarriage by saying that it is good for a young man to marry a womanwho is experienced in sexual and subsistence activities.Table 12 provides information on the duration of marriages andincidence of termination by death and divorce. It is evident thatthe first 2 years (and especially the first months) are crucial. Thisis notably the case with arranged marriages. The birth of a childwho survives is no guarantee that a marriage wiU endure beyond ayear or two, but it does make a difference because then the familiesof both spouses will usually bring considerable pressure to preservethe marriage. Navaho women who conceive at all, ordinarily con-ceive quickly. Figures (as of 1946) are: 11 mothers had their firstchild when they were 15 years of age or under; an additional 61 mothershad a first child when the mother was under 20; 46 more women borewhen they were under 25; and only 19 women had their first childafter the age of 25.One cannot, of course, specify the "causes" of divorce with equalprecision. One can only list the factors the Navaho talk about mostfrequently and which seem to obtain from observed behavior. TheNavaho often speaks of laziness or irresponsibility or drunkennessor physical aggression. Unwillingness or inability to perform thesex act is also considered a valid ground for divorce. There is muchtalk of nagging or unreasonable demands from relatives of the spouse.On the basis of inference, there is reason to suspect that many of
** The population from which this and other statements referring to all marriages recorded in the Ramahcensus should be taken as "around 400." Actually, some information on about 750 marriages appears on thecards. But data on marriages before 1890, on marriages of emigrants, and on marriages of some individualswho died before 1920 are incomplete. For some purposes where reasonably reliable dates are necessary, thenumber that can be tabulated falls to around 300. But for most of the tabulations in this section the num-bers fluctuate between 360 and 425.
364 BUREAU OF AJVIERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196Table 12.
—
Duration of marriages ' *
Years
No!^79r' ^^^' '^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 365the old one or it had fallen into bad condition). In the case of otherfamily groups, however—and most especially in the case of those ofunfavorable economic circumstances—shifts are often sudden, fre-quent, and major. A biological family will break off from one ex-tended family unit and join another or will establish neolocal residence.The combinations of orphaned children and isolated adults attachedto one or more biological families constantly break and re-form innew ways. Moreover, it should be realized that some old widowsand widowers (these most of all) can hardly be said to have "a" resi-dence at all. They move, with stays of varying duration, among thehomes of their children, primarily their daughters; but there are caseswhere widowed fathers divide their time exclusively among the homesof their sons. Most of the children of marriages dissolved by deathor divorce are likewise constantly shifting residence at intervals ofweeks, months, or years. In the case of divorce, children ordinarilystay with the mother, but there are instances where they divide theirtime between their parents, and a few where some of the children ofa broken marriage have resided consistently with the father. In thecase of death of the mother, children most often go to the mother'smother or mother's sister, but sometimes alternate residence with oneof these and the father's mother, father's sister, father alone, orfather with new wife.Only one generalization as to residence is without exception in thehistory of this group. In cases of sororal and stepdaughter polygyny,each wife has her own hogan, but the hogans of the cowives are closetogether. When men have married unrelated women, the hogans ofthe wives are at some distance and in several cases have been 15 milesor more apart. So far as other patterns of residence are concerned,one can at best describe relative incidence. Thus one can say thatuxorilocal residence has always been the preferred form at Kamah,but that there has always been a not negligible minority of virilocalresidences and at least a few bilocal and neolocal residences. Theproportion of virilocal and neolocal residences has slowly but steadilymounted over the years.The only way to get a vivid and concrete picture of the variety ofresidence and of composition of units is by summarizing the facts asof June 1950.2^ Even here cautions must be specified. For example,a family is not classified as bilocal unless approximately half the timefor the preceding year in question was spent at each residence. How-
s' In the case of Individuals or families away from the Ramah area at this time (but who had not movedaway permanently) the facts are detailed as of the most recent residence of these individuals at Ramah.School children are assigned the residences of their parents or the residence where they last stayed while athome on vacations. There are some small discrepancies between the figures in this list and in table 7because the residence survey was made early in the summer of 1950 and some deaths and other changesoccurred before September 1.747-014—66 24
366 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196
ever, in certain instances, families assigned as "virilocal" spent asmuch as 4 months that year in uxorilocal or neolocal residence. Intwo cases hsted as "virilocal," wives and children (joined by the hus-bands for portions of these periods) spent 3 months or more "visiting"the mothers' families of orientation in Thoreau and Fort Wingate.A man (with wife and child) who had been working at the KamahNavaho Day School some time is considered as a case of neolocalresidence. This assignment is arbitrary and arguable. From thepoint of view of interaction and economic reciprocities, this familycould properly be grouped with the husband's divorced sister (alsoworking at the Day School) and her two children as constituting anextended family, or—stUl better—as belonging to the extended familyof the parents of the man and his sister, who resided only a few milesaway. The above are given merely as examples to warn against anoverly literal interpretation of the list about to be presented. Thelist, should, nevertheless, prevent simple generalizations (other thanpurely statistical) as to residence patterns and composition of familyunits.In 97 cases, residence was uxorilocal in 47,^^ virilocal in 33,^^ bilocalin 6,^^ neolocal in 8, and could be classified only arbitrarily in 3.^^COMPOSITION BY SOCIAL GROUPSI have made a complete listing of the population for June, 1950 by
"units." A "unit" consists of persons (in three instances of only asingle person) who ordinarily live together (though not necessarilysleeping in the same dwelling) and who share meals, chores, and—tosome extent—possessions. The term "household" would be appro-priate except that, on the one hand, it perhaps implies a single "roof"and that, on the other hand, it could properly be applied to at leastsome of the extended families of the Ramah Navaho. In manycases a unit means an elementary family or a polygynous family.In other cases it consists of a single divorced or widowed parent withsubadult children. Often, however, a unit includes additional adults:unmarried or widowed or divorced children or siblings of a spouseor spouses; a widowed or divorced parent of a spouse; collateralrelatives and adopted children. When two parents are present (andsometimes in other cases), additional adult relatives ordinarily sleepin a different dwelling, but the unit nevertheless works and eats to-gether. A type of unit that occurs frequently and characteristicallyM This means residence In an area occupied by the family of the wife or husband, respectively. It doesnot necessarily mean residence within a stone's throw of wife's or husband's parents or parent (if still alive)
.
" These figures embrace, of course, only marriages In force at that time; they do not Include widowedand divorced persons residing with one or more subadult children." Two of these ambiguous cases could be considered avunculocal as far as Instigating circumstances areconcerned, but the residence of the maternal uncles in question was virilocal. The other case could perhapsbe described as flllolocal.
No.^TOr* ^^^' '^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 367among the Ramah Navaho I call a "relict" unit; one that lacks asingle complete biological family but comprises the "remains" of twoor more marriages broken by death or divorce or the "relicts" of onesuch marriage plus an unmarried adult.An "extended family" comprises two or more units each of whichincludes one parent with child or children and at least one of whichincludes both parents. These units must also be linked by at leastone lineal ancestor common to all children in the group. The dwell-ings of an "extended family" are ordinarily within sight of each other;at any rate, they are close enough so that daily meals and workactivities rather constantly cut across the lines of the distinct units.The extended family is involved, as well as the biological family, inquestions of inheritance, marriage, etc.To comprehend Navaho social organization, one must introducetwo additional categories: "group" and "outfit." The criterion forgroup is primarily geographical. A group consists of two or moreunits that live within a radius of a few miles and are in frequentinteraction. Each unit has close relatives in at least one other unitin the group, but there is ordinarily no lineal link of aU children inthe group. In the few instances where this condition does prevailwith units I have classified as a group rather than as an extendedfamily, the classification was made on one or more of the followinggrounds: One or more units in the group resided at such a distancefrom the others that interaction occurred more nearly at a weeldythan at a daily level; there was irregular and relatively infrequentsharing of meals and work activities; the group had more than one
"center of gravity" as judged by its aflfiliations and participationsand by the absence or irregularity of joint decisions on matters ofinheritance, marriage, and the like.In other words, a group is a somewhat attenuated, less fully orga-nized or unified extended family.The criterion for "outfit" is primarily that of fairly infrequent butrather regular pooling of resources among a group of relatives (widerthan the extended family) for certain major occasions such as sheepdipping, shearing, and lambing; the giving of long ceremonials; some-times planting and harvesting. A group is sometimes coterminouswith an outfit, and an extended family could be regarded as a moreclosely knit outfit that performs a greater number of functions. Butmost outfits embrace either a good many units residing over a sizablespace or at least one unit that is at a considerable distance from thegeographical center of the outfit. Finally, an outfit always haseither an actual leader or a figure (a man in most cases) who hasprestige through age, ceremonial knowledge, wealth—or two or moreof these factors. Navahos, speaking either in English or in Navaho,
368 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196
will constantly attach the name of this individual to indicate theaggregation of units they have in mind.Western speech designates as an outfit a group of persons whohabitually cooperate for certain purposes under recognized leadership,either genuine or symbolic. This fits the observed facts in the RamahNavaho case very well. While the lines defining many of the outfitsare somewhat fluid and amorphous, it is nevertheless impossiblewithout attention to this category to understand not only the com-position of groups v/hich work together on major occasions but alsosuch phenomena as Ramah Navaho "politics" and certain apparentlycasual patterns of visiting and small economic reciprocities.There were (in June 1950) 125 units (135 if one counted the polyg-ynous marriages separately). These units were composed of 39simple nuclear families; 25 nuclear families where one or more of thechildren did not belong to both spouses; 5 nuclear famihes where oneor more children did not belong to either spouse ^^ (including twofamilies where one or more children were grandchildren of the spouses)
;
6 nuclear families plus one unmarried adult; 11 units of polygynousmarriage; ^° 17 units where a single parent lives with subadult chil-dren; 19 relict units; and 3 isolated individuals.^^Of these units 53 are embraced in 18 extended families. If oneused somewhat more flexible but still relevant criteria or considereda period a year or two earher, one could speak of an additional 14extended famihes. There are 5 uxorilocal groups, 2 vii-ilocal, 5 mixed,and 2 relict groups. There are seven clearly recognizable outfits, allbut one of which are also geographical groups.In part, both the list and this breakdown merely reflect famiharaspects of Navaho culture such as the frequency of children beingseparated from one or both parents by death and divorce and the propen-sity for repeated exchanges of marriage partners between two famihesor extended families. But some less familiar trends with hints as tothe values underlying them also emerge. Both the list and the break-down show that Navaho social organization is based upon the asso-ciation of relatives, but it is equally clear that actual patterns takemany forms; matrilineal, patrilineal, and bilateral. Just from thedistribution one could guess (and this is confirmed by field notes)that some gi'oupings arise not from standard factors of Navaho cul-ture but individual likes and dislikes and from economic convenience.Some groups contain particularly large aggregations of regroupedcouples or of single spouses with their children or of women with
» All save one are ciises of adoption of relatives. The other instance is that of orphaned siblings of thehusband.3» Only 3 husbands out of 11 have children by both wives.31 Only two of these actually Uve mainly in complete isolation. The third individual lives alone but Ina hogan next to hogans occupied by two other units.
No!^79r" ^^^' '^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 369unmarried children. Finally, the evidence of acculturation uponresidence and other aspects is obvious. In general, the greaterthe influence of European culture the gi-eater the probability thatresidence will be vhilocal or neolocal and the greater the tendencytoward "weak" social organization. It is almost impossible today tomake valid generalizations about "ideal patterns" of residence as op-posed to the behavioral facts. The best one can say is that there isstill—even among younger people—a feeling that uxorilocal residence
"ought" to be preferred but a growing conviction that the newlymarried couple can properly choose theu' place of residence in accordwith all the circumstances bearing upon their particular case.POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONPower has tended to be in the hands of older people '^ who are stillin full possession of thek faculties, of the more wealthy, of singers.More often than not at least two of these qualities are combined inthe person of a leader. The degree of power of, say, an elderly, well-oft*singer depends upon his individual personality and upon the numberof energetic and respected relatives he has in his extended family oroutfit. The exercise of power is seldom overt and direct but rathermasked, oblique, and diffuse. Evident power, like evident wealth,is a cause of jealousy and an invitation either to attack by witchesor to gossip that the holder is a witch.Most decisions, from the level of the nuclear famUy to that of thetotal Ramah group, are in fact arrived at by informal and often longprotracted discussions. In the old days—and to some extent as lateas 1950—^matters of dispute or decisions that went beyond the ex-tended family were threshed out in a meeting in the presence of therecognized leader of the outfit or the headman of the Ramah band.Anyone present (including women) might speak. The leader orleaders would ordinarily say Httle (beyond asking questions) untiltoward the conclusion of the discussion when advice or a decisionwould be rendered.From about 1880 until 1942, the leaders of the Ramah communitywere from a single family line: Many Beads; his son, Bidaga; thebrother-in-law of Bidaga; and the son of the daughter of Many Beads.These individuals were recognized as headmen by the United StatesGovernment, though in 1924 the Government introduced a "chapter"organization. According to this system an annual meeting of adultmen and women elected a president, vice president, and secretary.But annual meetings were not always held, and the authority of
" In the postwar years several younger men have emei^ed to positions of distinct leadership. The mostrecent "headman" has been in his middle to late thirties, wealthy, and married polygynously.
370 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196the headman continued to be recognized until 1942 whether or nothe happened to be president of the chapter at the tune. Indeed,Bidaga exercised great influence and was consulted more or lessformally by individuals and groups after he had (in 1935) turnedover his post as headman to his brother-in-law. In fact, his roleas elder statesman of the community prevailed until his death in 1954.After 1939 the Ramah band elected not only chapter ofl&cers butalso a delegate to the Navaho Tribal Council. This position camewithin a few years to be regarded as equivalent to the old headmanship,and from 1942 onward many elections were hotly contested alongfactional lines which in considerable part were those of "progressive"and "conservative" and, on some occasions, Christian versus theancient religion. There have usually been two main factions, thoughtheir membership has fluctuated and some families have never con-sistently alined themselves with either faction. From time to timeanother issue between the factions has been whether the Ramah bandshould be under the jurisdiction of the Navajo Agency at WindowRock or the United Pueblos Agency at Albuquerque (with subagencyat Black Rock)
.
Frequency of community meetings has varied greatly with thecharacter and personality of local leaders and representatives of theBureau of Indian Affairs. In some years during the 1940-50 periodthere were only 2 or 3 meetings a year, in others as many as 20. Meet-ings are held at the chapter house ^^ near the school which was builtin 1943. Adult attendance has been as low as 15 and as high as 98.Matters considered range from complaints of improper conduct onthe part of members of the group to consideration of the activitiesof missionaries, sending the Navaho children to school, elections,and requests to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for services or action ofsome kind. Discussion often lasts 5 or 6 hours or longer, for the goalis still that of reaching a unanimous consensus of opinion. Moreover,presentations are stylized, deliberate, and repetitious. Most of thespeeches are by men and by individuals of at least middle age, thougha few of the veterans of World War II have spoken often and at length.During most of the period since 1943, there has also been a local,elected Navaho judge who hears cases that are not serious enoughfor the Federal courts. Analysis of the records shows that chargesare most frequently brought for the following (in order of frequency)
:
drunkenness with attendant bodily or sexual assault or propertydamage; theft; and trouble between a married couple or illicit sexualacts. An attempt is usually made to arrange restitution or otherwisework out an amicable settlement between the parties. Where this
33 Built by cooperative Navaho effort under stimulation from the then agent at Black Rock
No.^xir' ^^^' '^^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 371fails, fines or jail sentences are imposed. Intermittently since 1939there has been a local Navaho policeman.The main mechanisms of social control in daily life remain theinformal and customary ones. The Ramah Navaho have neverconstituted a unified and tightly knit community. Trends in thisdirection have been sporadic, short lived, and artificial because insti-gated from the outside. During an interval in the forties when theagent at Black Rock was exceptionally interested in the RamahNavaho and was liked and trusted by them, the chapter house wasbuilt by voluntary effort and there was an attempt to run a cooperativetrading store with two veterans as managers. But this latter venturecollapsed after a few years, and the store was sold to one of the Mor-mon traders from Ramah. Probably one of the principal reasonsthat the Navaho have been much less resistant to cultural changethan the Zuni is the lack of a strong central social and political orga-nization to oppose change. RELIGIONNavaho religion in general, and that of the Ramah Navaho inparticular, has been presented at great length in numerous pubU-cations (see Rapoport, 1954). Here, therefore, I shall only add alittle new material.The 1940-50 period was one during which a fair number of RamahNavahos for longer or shorter periods completely rejected theirnative religion. However, Vogt's (1951, p. 107) figures on ceremonialparticipation of 15 young men during 1947 demonstrate that only 1failed to attend a single ceremonial during that year and the meannumber of ceremonials attended was 10.6. Indeed there are otherhints (such as increased taking of sweat baths during at least 1947and 1948) of a response of antagonistic acculturaltion to missionaryactivity, the Ramah Navaho Day School, and other new pressures.The number of witchcraft stories (gossip and actual accusations)also hit a new peak during the 1945-50 epoch. This latter probablyreflects the heightened economic anxieties and increased interpersonaltension consequent upon economic threat, erosion of the traditionalculture and the reforming of the community after the dislocations ofWorld War II (soldiers leaving and returning, men and whole familiesleaving the area to work in ammunition depots, etc.). The peyotereUgion has gained no adherents at Ramah.A vivid and detailed account of Navaho rehgion in the life of oneperson (himself a diviner) wUl be found in Leighton and Leighton(1948). Spencer (1957) has analyzed intensively a portion of Navahomythology to throw light on Navaho life view.
372 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196The value themes identified in plot construction center in four areas: themaintenance of health; the acquisition of supernatural power; the maintenanceof harmony in family relationships; and the process of the young man's attain-ment of adult status. [Ibid., p. 86.]Responsibility and self-reliance are valued character traits, butself-assertion contains both beneficent and aggressive-destructivecomponents. The problem of aggression tends to be treated on thebasis of a "practical" morality. (Ibid., pp. 92-94.)PSYCHOLOGYLeighton and Kluckhohn (1947, especially chs. 4 and 8) have pre-sented a more extended treatment of Navaho "psychology" than willbe possible here. The purpose of this section is to summarize someof the material obtained in the past decade insofar as it appears toconstitute background relevant to an understanding of Ramah Navahovalues. The Navaho are not a very "open" people in dealing withoutsiders (cf. McAUester, 1954, pp. 76-77, 80-81). Even comparedwith, say, the Western Apache, they are reticent and suspicious andtake a good deal of Imowing. This is due, I believe, at least in part,to their having been so badly "seared" by their contacts with Whites.This reaction and the accompanying withdrawal and defensivenessappear more prominently at Ramah than in some other Navaho areas.Bruner (1953) administered the dart test to 152 Ramah Navahosover 12 years of age. This experiment indicated that the Navahoindividual changes his own aspirations in the direction of the aspi-rations of the Navaho gi'oup once the group's norms are made knownto him. The Navaho also tend to sit tight and do nothing in anunfamiliar situation. Women were found to be less conforming thanmen on the dart test.This last finding fitswith the demonstrationby Hughes (MS., 1951) andRapoport (1954) that women have joined the Nazarene church ingreater numbers than men and play a more active role in singing andother aspects of the services. It may also link with Strodtbeck's(1951) discovery that when Navaho couples engage in a discussionthe wives win more decisions than the husbands, although the numberof their acts of participation in these small group situations is lowerthan that of their husbands. The special psychology of Navahowomen may also be reflected in Edmonson's (MS.) finding that, incontrast to both Hispano and Anglo culture, Navaho culture has atype of "dirty joke" appropriate to each sex.Heath's (MS., 1952) study of drinking among the Eamah Navaho high-lights many features both of psychology and of social structure.Drinking parties are an occasion for sociabiUty but also for sexual
No.^Tir' ^^^* '^^^^ RAMAH NAVAHO—KLUCKHOHN 373
release and much expression of aggression. Drinking tends to takeplace in small groups. Heath's sample shows 39 pairs, 22 trios, andonly 12 groups of four or more persons. The most frequent combina-tions of kin are maternal uncle with maternal nephew and brothers-in-law. Biological brothers and clan brothers drink together withonly shghtly less frequency. Husbands and wives drink togetherabout half as often. Drinking by women is condemned by the moreconservative Navahos, and far the greatest part of female drinkingat Ramah is by women under 35. With the partial exception ofmarried couples, di'inking in mixed groups is generally disapproved,and out of 405 drinking episodes Heath found only 46 in which bothsexes participated.^* The hostility which comes out is not randombut bears a relation to some of the main tensions in Navaho socialstructure as well as to geographical propinquity. Drunken assaultsoccur in the following order of frequency : husband and wife ; maternaluncle and nephew; father-in-law and son-in-law; and clan brothers.^^It is noteworthy that although cross-cousins often drink together,there is not a single instance in the field notes of drunken quarrelsbetween them.Kaplan's (1954) work with projective tests indicates that only on afew points can one make sound generalizations (other than gross andsomewhat conflicting statistical trends) about the psychology of theRamah Navaho. They do (ibid., p. 24) manifest an oral dependencysyndrome which is completely absent in the Mormon group.A monograph by Bailey (1950) and a chapter by Kluckhohn (1955)contribute to an understanding of the sexual psychology of the RamahNavaho. Briefly, sex and the reproductive cycle of women are heav-ily tinged with supernatural beliefs and practices. On the other hand,sex at the suitable time and place and with a proper person is not
"nasty" but rather one of the good things of life. In Freudian lan-guage, the Navaho have object taboos but not aim taboos. While
—
by the standards of Christian culture—the Navaho are far frompuritanical as far as sexual behavior is concerned, and they makemany ribald jokes (though between certain relatives reticences mustbe scrupulously observed), they are nevertheless modest about expo-sure of the genital areas.As for the more cognitive aspects of psychology, the Navaho operatewith a more Hmited variety of hypotheses than do Anglos ; but withinthose limits the best Navaho minds think as rigorously as any others(cf. Ladd, 1956). Navahos tend to be systematists and classifiers,and they are often quite precise about their categories. There is a
'* In only 15 of these incidents did sexual promiscuity fail to occur.35 Includes only pairs reported on four or more occasions.
374 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 196marked tendency for all systems to be anchored at one or more pointsto Navaho theology and its terminology.FINAL REMARKSIn reflecting on the values of the Ramah Navaho one must alwaysbear in mind the variations as well as the similarities in the situationand culture of this group. Situation varies with age groups; degreeof acculturation of one or more members of the family; sheer location(distance from Ramah, Zimi, Atarque) ; and quahty of the land held.The effective culture varies along the lines of sex, generation, and ac-culturation as dependent upon personal experience regardless of age,location, and other factors. Even among closely related families ofnot dissimilar age composition, living contiguously, Roberts' (1954)microscopic investigation has indicated how many positive and nega-tive differences may exist.
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. The Navaho woman and Nazarene Christianity: A study of aChristian proselytizing problem in a Navaho community. M.S.Honors thesis. Harvard College, 1951.Jeffreys, M. D. W.1953. Twin births among Africans. South African Journ. Sci., vol. 50, pp.89-92.Kaplan, Bert.1954. A study of Rorschach responses in four cultures. Peabody Mus.Archaeol. and Ethnol., Harvard Univ., Pap. vol. 42, No. 2.Kluckhohn, Clyde.1944. Navaho witchcraft. Peabody Mus. Archaeol. and Ethnol., HarvardUniv., Pap. vol. 22, No. 2.1955. Sexual behavior in cross-cultural perspective. In "Sexual behavior inAmerican society," ed. by J. Himmelhoch and S. Fava, pp. 332-346.1956 a. Aspects of the demographic history of a small population. In
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376 BUREAU OF AIMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196Leighton, Alexander H., and Leighton, Dorothea C.1948. Gregorio, The Hand-Trembler. A psychobiological study of a NavahoIndian. Peabody Mus. Archaeol. and Ethnol., Harvard Univ.,Pap. vol. 40, No. 1.Leighton, Dorothea C, and Kluckhohn, Clyde.1947. Children of the people; the Navaho individual and his developnaent.Cambridge, Mass.McAllester, David P.1954. Enemy Way music: A study of social and esthetic values as seen inNavaho music. Peabody Mus. Archaeol. and Ethnol., HarvardUniv., Pap. vol. 41, No. 3.O'DoNNELL, Mary P.
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