abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes and opinions of Navajo students toward the Navajo language and culture programs within the schools they were attending. Although in the final year of the No Child Left Behind, a majority of the 265 schools on and near the Navajo reservation have not been making Adequate Yearly Progress, a concern for the parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, and the Navajo Nation. The study entailed conducting a survey at five schools; three of which were not meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind. The purpose of the survey instrument (27 questions) administered to the students at the five schools was to examine their attitudes and opinions as to participating in Navajo language and culture programs, to determine if the programs assisted them in their academic achievements, and to examine whether these programs actually made a difference for schools in their Adequate Yearly Progress requirement Approximately 87% of 99 Navajo students, 55 boys and 58 girls, ages 9 through 14, Grades 3 through 8, who lived off the reservation in Flagstaff, Arizona and Gallup, New Mexico, and took the survey knew and spoke Navajo, but less fluently and not to a great extent. However, the students endorsed learning Navajo and strongly agreed that the Navajo language and culture should be part of the curriculum. Historically there have been schools such as the Rock Point Community School, Rough Rock Demonstration School, Borrego Pass Community School, and Ramah Community School that have been successful in their implementation of bilingual programs. The question presently facing Navajo educators is what type of programs would be successful within the context of the No Child Left Behind federal legislation. Can there be replications of successful Navajo language and culture programs into schools that are not making Adequate Yearly Progress? / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2013

abstract: This dissertation is a cultural history of the frontier stories surrounding an Arizona politician and Indian trader, John Lorenzo Hubbell. From 1878 to 1930, Hubbell operated a trading post in Ganado, Arizona--what is today Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. During that time, he played host to hundreds of visitors who trekked into Navajo country in search of scientific knowledge and artistic inspiration as the nation struggled to come to terms with industrialization, immigration, and other modern upheavals. Hubbell became an important mediator between the Native Americans and the Anglos who came to study them, a facilitator of the creation of the Southwestern myth. He lavished hospitality upon some of the Southwest's principle myth-makers, regaling them with stories of his younger days in the Southwest, which his guests remembered and shared face-to-face and in print, from novels to booster literature. By applying place theory to Hubbell's stories, and by placing them in the context of the history of tourism in the Southwest, I explore the relationship between those stories, the visitors who heard and retold them, and the process of place- and myth-making in the Southwest. I argue that the stories operated on two levels. First, they became a kind of folklore for Hubbell's visitors, a cycle of stories that expressed their ties to and understanding of the Navajo landscape and bound them together as a group, despite the fact that they must inevitably leave Navajo country. Second, the stories fit into the broader myth- and image-making processes that transformed the Southwest into a distinctive region in the imaginations of Americans. Based on a close reading of the stories and supporting archival research, I analyze four facets of the Hubbell legend: the courteous Spanish host; the savior of Native American arts and crafts; the fearless conqueror and selfless benefactor of the Navajos; and the thoroughly Western lawman. Each incarnation of the Hubbell legend spoke to travelers' relationships with Navajo country and the Southwest in different ways. I argue, however, that after Hubbell's death, the connection between his stories and travelers' sense of place weakened dramatically. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. History 2014

No description available.

Background: The Navajo population experiences high rates of food insecurity, contributing to high rates of chronic disease. We conducted in-depth interviews with Navajo tribal members in order to understand food insecurity in this community and inform the design of an intervention to improve access to healthy foods. Methods: Thirty individuals were interviewed over a three-month period, including Chapter House officials, Community Health Representatives and heads of households living in the Crownpoint Service Unit in Navajo Nation. Data was coded, grouped into analytical categories and integrated into a thematic framework. Results: Food insecurity in Navajo Nation demonstrates variability at the structural, community, and individual and household levels. Income, transportation, vendors, Chapter Houses, social support and health literacy were the main factors contributing to participants’ access to healthy foods. Responses to food insecurity were explored through coping strategies as well as through food purchasing strategies such as price, proximity, shelf life, family preferences, and ease of preparation. Lastly, participants discussed their endorsement for a proposed intervention to increase access to healthy foods. Conclusion: Food insecurity in Navajo Nation is a complex issue, influenced by the dynamic relationship between determinants of individual behavior and the broader environmental context in which they are embedded. A community-based multi-level intervention is necessary in order to achieve sustainable improvement in access to healthy foods.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the appropriateness of the Hiskey Nebraska Test of Learning Aptitude as a measure of ability for Navajo students with suspected learning difficulties. Item analytic procedures were employed for the 61 students in the younger group (ages 5-10) and for the 57 students in the older group (ages 11-17). Using Hoyt's analysis of variance routine, reliability estimates of .87 (younger group) and .81 (older group) were obtained. The majority of the items discriminated in the appropriate direction for both subtest and total test scores. It was concluded that the Hiskey Nebraska Test of Learning Aptitude would give acceptably reliable and consistent results for Navajo children with suspected learning difficulties. Further research to demonstrate validity of the instrument for this population was discussed.

Adapt -- “to make suitable to requirements; adjust or modify fittingly." Adaptability is a trait which has been attributed to Navajo2 Indians by anthropologists, educators, novelists, psychologists, artists) -- in fact, by almost everyone who has had dealings with them over a period of time. Yet, to identify specific examples of their adaptability and the attempt to measure the effect upon interpersonal relations of evidences of adaptation has proved to be no easy task.

Western Whiteface and Navajo-Churro Ewes, two types of sheep present in the Intermountain West, were compared for their milk production ability. Amount of milk produced per individual and the group milk composition were analyzed for butterfat, lactose, somatic cell count, protein, calcium, and phosphorous. Ewes were fed ad libitum alfalfa hay and had access to free-choice grain while in the milking parlor. Lambs were weaned at 35 d of age and removed to another holding area and placed on creep feed . Ewes were milked for 90 d following the weaning of the lambs. Western Whiteface ewes had a much higher milk production level than the Navajo- Churro ewes (P < 0.05). Western Whiteface ewes were almost double in their overall level of production versus the Navajo-Churro ewes. Half of the Western Whiteface ewes completed the 90-d lactation period, producing an average of . 83 kg of milk per day. Navajo-Churro ewes did not complete the full lactation period, with I 000/o of them ceasing milk production before completion of the 90-d milking period. The criterion for being considered dry consisted of completing six consecutive milkings while producing 50 ml or less of milk. Overall production for the two groups of ewes was .83 kg/day of milk for the Western Whiteface ewes and .52 kg/day for the Navajo-Churro. The average number of days in production for the Western Whiteface ewes was 69.5 d and 50 d for the Navajo-Churro. Western Whiteface ewes consistently exhibited higher milk production levels than the Navajo- Churro ewes and they adapted well to the milking barn. Navajo-Churro ewes did not produce an adequate quantity of milk for a dairy setting.

Understanding the adaptational responses and ecocultural niche of the Navajo adolescent mother from her perspective provides a richness of information about a little-studied population . The overall purpose of this study was to explore the ecocultural factors determined to be significant in the decision of a Navajo adolescent mother to remain in high school or drop out of high school. Thirty Navajo adolescent mothers recruited from two small reservation towns in eastern Arizona participated in the study. Navajo adolescent mothers in the study participated in a one and one half hour semistructured accommodations interview, and completed a Family Resource Scale and a Family Support Scale. An assessment tool, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, was administered to infants and toddlers of Navajo adolescent mothers. Computation of effect sizes determined the magnitude of difference between the two groups. Findings indicated that (a) Navajo adolescent mothers who remained in high school had more family support than those who dropped out of high school, (b) Navajo adolescent mothers who remained in high school had more family resources than those who dropped out of high school, and (c) Navajo adolescent mothers who remained in high school made greater adaptations than those who dropped out of high school. An additional question focused on the relationship between Navajo adolescent mothers' current enrollment in school and the cognitive and motor performance development of their children. Findings indicated that children born to Navajo adolescent mothers in the drop-out group scored higher on both the cognitive and motor performance tests of development than those infants born to the in-school group mothers.

A study was made to determine the reliability of Navajo Indian and American Caucasian subjects to air conducted pure tones. Audiograms were obtained on 30 Navajo and 27 Caucasian subjects as they responded to pure tones presented via a conventional audiometric technique and also via an automatic recording technique. One audiogram via conventional audiometry and one audiogram via automatic audiometry were obtained on the same day. Replications of the same tests were administered on the following day. Statistical analysis of the data was employed to determine the reliability of repeated test measurements. Mean threshold differences, standard deviations, Student's "t" test and analysis of variance were all utilized in making these determinations. The test results revealed the reliability to be beyond acceptable limits, according to previous research, under all test conditions except condition one. Statistical significance was demonstrated at all four conditions. Significant differences between performance of the two populations involved were not shown. However, differences due to changing conditions were demonstrated.