Navajo Timeline
| Navajo History | Navajo Emergence Origin stories of the Diné (Navajo) tell of First Man and First Woman leading the Diné through a succession of worlds until a flood brings them to the present Glittering World. In this world the Navajo settle in Diné Bikéyah, the Navajo homeland, bound by the four sacred mountains. |
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| World History | 28,000 B.C. | Cave paintings in Europe |
| World History | 9,000 B.C. | Farmers in Middle East grow vegetables and keep livestock |
| World History | 4200-3500 B.C. | Domestication of early maize in Mexico |
| World History | 3400-2300 B.C. | Domestication of cotton in Indus River Valley and Peru |
| World History | 2,500 B.C. | Pyramid construction begins in Egypt |
| World History | A.D. 30 | Establishment of Christian faith |
| World History | A.D. 300-900 | Mayan civilization flourishes in Mesoamerica |
| Navajo History | A.D. 1100-1500 | Distinctive Navajo culture emerges Believed to have been born to Earth centuries earlier, a distinctive Navajo culture takes hold in the Four corners area of the Colorado Plateau. |
| Navajo History | c. A.D. 1300 | Beginning of Renaissance in Italy 1400s-1600s Renaissance spreads from Italy to the rest of Western Europe. |
| Navajo History | A.D. 1400 | Aztecs at the peak of their influence |
| Global History | 1492 | Columbus lands in the Americas First settlement in Hispaniola the following year. |
| Global History | 1519-1521 | Cortes defeats the ruler of the Aztecs |
| Navajo History | 1581-1583 | First Spanish contact with Navajos Antonio de Espejo expedition at the base of Mount Taylor. |
| Navajo History | 1600s | Spanish take Apaches, Navajos, and Utes as slaves and/or servants |
| Global History | 1700s | Height of transatlantic slave trade |
| Navajo History | Mid-1700s | Growing tensions between Pueblos and Navajos Aggravated by drought and Navajo raiding. |
| Global History | 1750 | Beginning of Industrial Revolution |
| Navajo History | 1774 | Navajo drive Spanish settlers from eastern regions of their land |
| Global History | 1776-1781 | The American Revolution Southeastern American Indian tribes brought into the conflict. |
| Global History | 1804 | Napoleon crowns himself Emperor |
| Global History | 1804 | Lewis and Clark expedition begins |
| Navajo History | 1805 | Massacre at Canyon de Chelly Spanish soldiers kill more than 100 Navajo women, children and elders hiding in a cave. |
| Goverment History | 1819 | The Civilization Act passed (During the Monroe Presidency.) Subsidizes missionaries to eliminate the practice of Native religions. |
| Goverment History | 1824 | Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) created in the War Department |
| Global History | 1846-1848 | War between U.S. and Mexico U.S. takes possession of Santa Fe in 1846. At the end of the war, Mexico cedes New Mexico to U.S. |
| Navajo History | 1846-1850 | Navajo and Apache sheep raids They take an estimated 450,000 sheep from Spanish-American settlements. |
| Goverment History | 1850 | BIA transferred to Department of the Interior Includes Arizona. |
| Navajo History | 1851 | U.S. Army establishes Fort Defiance It is the first military fort in what becomes Arizona territory. Used to patrol the Navajo, it is located near present-day Window Rock. |
| Global History | 1861 | The Civil War Ten tribes, many from the South, in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) sign alliances with the Confederacy and raise 4 regiments of 5,000 troops. Two Indian regiments are raised for the Union. |
| Navajo History | 1863 | Scorched Earth Campaign Conducted by Kit Carson against the Navajo. Captives are force-marched on the “Long Walk” to Fort Sumner of Bosque Redondo, 350 miles east in New Mexico, where those who survive are held as prisoners until 1868. At Fort Sumner there are poor rations, unclean water, starvation, and disease. There is a shortage of wood, and crops fail in the poor land. |
| Goverment History | 1864 | Arizona Territory established |
| Navajo History | 1868 | The Treaty of Bosque Redondo creates a Navajo Reservation The reservation lies to the west of where the majority of Navajo had been settled, on 10% of their original land. This is the only reservation created by treaty; all others were by Acts of Congress of Presidential Order. |
| Goverment History | 1879 | Railroad arrives in New Mexico Marks the beginning of incorporation into the national economy. Increasing arrival of manufactured goods, tourists and new settlers. |
| Goverment History | 1879 | Carlisle Indian School opens in Carlisle, PA First of the off-reservation boarding schools run by the U.S. Government to assimilate and acculturate Indian children into mainstream society by removing them from their families and communities and forbidding the practice of Native culture and languages. |
| Navajo History | 1884 | Northern part of San Juan Paiute land is added to the Navajo Reservation |
| Goverment History | 1887 | Dawes Act or General Allotment Act passed Designed to promote assimilation by changing land ownership from tribal to individual. "Surplus" land was sold to non-Indians, cheating many tribes out of their land. |
| Navajo History | 1900 | Continued annexation of Paiute land to Navajo The summer homes of the San Juan Paiute in Tuba City and Willow Springs are officially annexed as Navajo Reservation land. Moenkopi Wash is divided between the Hopi and Navajo. |
| Navajo History | 1900s | Boarding schools established on the Navajo Reservation |
| global History | 1903 | Wright brothers fly first aircraft |
| Goverment History | 1912 | New Mexico and Arizona admitted to the Union as the 47th and 48th states. |
| global History | 1914-1918 | World War I: The U.S. enters the War (1917) 4,744,000 Americans serve. Between 12,500 and 15,000 or 25-30% of the adult male Native American population serves. Native American soldiers use their native languages to send messages undecipherable by the enemy. |
| Goverment History | 1921 | Religious Crimes Code bans the practice of Native Religions |
| Goverment History | 1921 | Tribal Religious Ceremonies Prohibited Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) orders Indian agents to suppress "immoral" tribal ceremonies. |
| Navajo History | 1921-1927 | Oil discovered on the Navajo Reservation The Department of the Interior creates the Navajo Tribal Council to address issues associated with leasing of land and mineral rights. Chee Dodge is elected the Council's first chairman. Navajo communities are organized into chapters to deal with local issues, a system closer to traditional forms of governance. |
| Navajo History | 1922 | BIA permits mining interests in Monticello, Utah Located on San Juan Paiute land. In 1933, the mining company withdraws from the land, and the “Paiute strip” becomes Navajo land. |
| Goverment History | 1924 | Indian Citizenship Act Gives American Indians the right to vote, but voting remains prohibited in several states including Arizona and New Mexico. |
| Goverment History | 1928 | Merriam Report Summarizes the devastation caused by federal education and land policy. Native cultural values are emphasized. Native self-determination, self-government and land regeneration are encouraged. |
| global History | 1930 | The Great Depression |
| Navajo History | 1932 | Roosevelt appoints John Collier as Commissioner of Indian Affairs Collier advocates a system of livestock reduction to alleviate soil erosion problems on the reservation. The importance of sheep and livestock to the Navajo people makes this one of the major tragedies of Navajo history. |
| Goverment History | 1934 | Indian Reorganization Act (Wheeler-Howard Act) Ends allotment of Indian lands and persecution of Native religious beliefs and practices. Initiates the writing of constitutions and western-style government within a tribal nation authority. |
| Navajo History | 1935 | Navajo reject the Indian Reorganization Act Because it is identified with livestock reduction. |
| global History | 1939-45 | World War II 16,535,000 Americans serve. More than 25,000 Native Americans enlist. Thousands move to urban centers where war-related job opportunities are available. Following the war, the GI Bill offers many soldiers the chance for a college education. |
| Goverment History | 1940s-1960s | Termination-Relocation Policies Attempts to reduce federal involvement with Indian tribes. Terminates federal status and benefits for more than 60 tribes. Tribal land is sold. Policies fund relocation to urban areas and some job placement. In 1970, President Nixon ends the policies on moral and legal grounds. To the present day, terminated tribes continue efforts to reestablish federal recognition. |
| Navajo History | 1941 | Paiute land allotments are reverted back to tribal ownership |
| Navajo History | 1941-1945 | Marine Navajo Code Talkers in World War II Navajo Marines use their language as a battlefield code, which the enemy is unable to decipher. |
| global History | 1948 | Native Americans in Arizona and New Mexico win the right to vote |
| global History | 1950-1953 | Korean War An estimated 10,000-15,000 Native Americans serve in the Korean War. Three are awarded the congressional Medal of Honor. |
| Navajo History | 1951 | Uranium discovered on the Navajo Reservation Navajo miners work under unsafe conditions with no protective clothing and no understanding of the danger from radiation poisoning. Many men become violently ill due to unventilated mines and consumption of radioactive water. |
| Navajo History | 1951 | First woman elected to Navajo Tribal Council Annie Dodge Wauneka, the daughter of Henry Chee Dodge. |
| global History | 1954-1975 | Vietnam War 9,200,000 Americans serve. 147,000 Native Americans serve during the period of U.S. involvement, most volunteered. |
| Navajo History | 1955 | Navajo Tribal Government increases control over natural resources This includes oil, coal, uranium, and forestry. |
| Navajo History | 1960 | The Navajo Tribal Museum established At Window Rock. |
| Goverment History | 1968 | Formation of American Indian Movement (AIM) Protests general conditions in Indian America. Under the Johnson Administration, the Indian Civil Rights Act passes, giving full civil rights to individuals living under tribal law. |
| Navajo History | 1968 | Opening of Navajo Community College The first Native-operated college. |
| global History | 1969 | U.S. astronauts land on the moon |
| Navajo History | 1969 | Navajo Tribal Council declares the reservation the Navajo Nation |
| Navajo History | 1974 | Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act Attempts to resolve land dispute. |
| Goverment History | 1975 | Indian Self Determination Act Gives tribes the authority to contract with the Federal Government to operate programs serving their tribal members. Designed to increase tribal participation in the management of Federal Indian programs. |
| Goverment History | 1978 | American Indian Religious Freedom Act Protects American Indians' inherent right of freedom to practice traditional religions, including, but not limited to: access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites. |
| Goverment History | 1990 | Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) passed Establishes federal policy for the return to tribes of aboriginal human remains, associated funerary objects, and items of cultural significance. |
| Navajo History | 2000 | President Clinton approves Congressional Medals for World War II Code Talkers |
The Navajo Timeline was originally commissioned by The Heard Museum, and represents the opinions of an enrolled member of the Navajo Tribe who was employed by the museum. It has been modified and updated by KGHR. Multiple cultural, historical, and anthropological interpretations exist.