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Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 1996. Graduate Programme in Social Anthropology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 332-352). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004 & res_dat=xri:pqdiss & rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation & rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NQ39284.

This study selects and arranges Navajo literature for an oral interpretation program. The presentation includes an introduction, a statement of purpose, an explanation of the limitations of the study, and the procedure used. There is a brief examination of the history of the Navajo Tribe. Also included is information for selection of material for the oral interpretation program and a discussion of the selection and arrangement of Navajo literature. A summary and conclusion are included, as well as an appendix which comprises the script of Navajo literature for the oral interpretation program. Through the oral interpretation program, this study conveys the beauty and poetry of the Navajo language.

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This study documents consensus and variation in the interpretation of symbolism in Navajo sandpaintings of the heavens. Navajo sandpaintings are sacred designs created to attract supernaturals and to create a ritual reality in which the patient and supernaturals interact for the purpose of curing and blessing. Precise rules of tradition determine the form of all images. Yet even ritual forms are created by individuals whose unique experiences pattern their interpretation of forms. Thus, ritual images index a system of cultural knowledge which possesses the interpretive variability and consensus of belief characteristic of any system of cultural knowledge. This study focuses on celestial constellations because they are a universally perceivable domain which therefore facilitates cross-cultural and intracultural comparison. This study identifies those constellations which are salient for the Navajo and documents their visual depiction in sandpaintings. By examining a corpus of sandpaintings defined by subject matter--sandpaintings with constellations--across ceremonials (sandpainting not limited to one chantway), more detailed comparison of form and meaning becomes possible. Thus, such variation can be systematically documented. Several factors are at work to produce this variation: the nature of the oral transmission process, infrequent performance of sandpaintings which contain constellations, and the relatively monotonous nature of constellation images in comparison to other more distinctive features in the sandpaintings. Interpretive variability in meaning is related to chantway specialization: different chanters provide different interpretations of the same constellation depending upon their ceremonial specialization. A fundamental internal consistency exists in the use of the same cognitive principles applied by chanters to identify and order the constellations and in the way they project key symbols from their chant specializations onto the constellations. Because constellations do not play a dominant role in chantway stories (which form the basis for sandpaintings)--relative to other supernaturals--variation in their depiction and interpretation is not disruptive of the ceremonial-symbolic system.

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No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Sociology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

In this thesis the nature of argument structure in the Navajo sentence is identified, with particular focus on the complex system of incorporated pronouns, and anaphora and obviation in the language. It is argued that Navajo is a pronominal argument language, where arguments are incorporated pronouns, while nominals are adjuncts. Descriptions of syntactic devices for marking co- and disjoint reference of arguments, within the simple clause, across the clauses in complex sentences, and in discourse contexts are given. These devices include: the yi/bi- alternation, which I identify as a voice contrast confined to sentences with all third person arguments; the "fourth" person, used for obviation and for deference, and the parallel processing convention.