Traditional History Study of Navajo National Monument: An Ethnographic Literature Review of Publications on Hopi, Zuni, and Navajo

Norcini, Marilyn; Hieb, Louis; Holman, Nigel

This Traditional History Study is the Monument's first ethnographic report in a century of public service. The Scope of Work states:The Monument was established by Presidential Proclamation in 1909 to "preserve a number of prehistoric cliff dwellings and pueblo ruins ... which are new to science and wholly unexplored, and ... are of the very greatest ethnological, scientific and educational interest." Since that time, the dwellings have been extensively explored and have fulfilled the scientific and educational interest for which they are preserved by the National Park Service (see Rothman 1991). Excavations of the sites and archaeological surveys of the areas surrounding them have contributed greatly to scientific interpretations of the pre-Columbian past. The ethnological interest noted in President Taft's proclamation, on the other hand, has received little attention (NPS Scope of Work dated August 15, 1995, emphases added). This initial ethnographic study provides research on the cultural histories of three American Indian tribes, specifically the Hopi, Zuni and Navajo (Chapters l, 2, and 3, respectively), that directly expressed cultural affiliation with Navajo National Monument to the National Park Service. Determinations of other tribal affiliations may arise from future studies such as an ethnographic overview or cultural affiliation study. This project is the first phase of a two-part ethnographic study designed to address the question of how associated tribal communities view the role of Navajo National Monument in their own cultural pasts. It precedes other studies because (a) funding was available at the time and (b) of immediate concerns facing the NPS on the issue of what names to use for individual archaeological sites and for the Monument itself. Park management needed to understand how the Monument's resources related to the cultural histories of each affiliated tribe.The Traditional History Study is a first step in understanding diverse American Indian oral histories that relate to lands managed by the Navajo National Monument. It is intended to serve as an "ethnographic sourcebook" for NPS and tribal administrators and resource managers. It provides a reference tool for future NPS activities such as ethnographic interviews, tribal government consultation, site visits by elders, public interpretation of diverse cultural histories, issues of access and preservation of natural and cultural resources and repatriation.Our research objective is to search anthropological monographs and manuscripts for explicitcultural references to the region and prehistoric cliff-dwellings that today are under federalmanagement and known as Navajo National Monument (including Tsegi Canyon, Betatakin, Kiet Siel, Inscription House, Snake House, etc.). However, during the course of this study it became obvious to the project staff that site-specific statements are rare in the ethnographic literature.