book chapter
Navaho religion: a study of symbolism
Bollinger Foundation • New York • Published In 1950 • Pages:
By: Reichard, Gladys Amanda.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is an exhaustive study of the significance of symbolism in Navajo daily and ceremonial life. The author, a well-known ethnologist with many publications on Navajo religion to her credit, spent years in gathering the material for this book. Believing that it is the Navajo religious system which has enabled the people to maintain their identity in a rapidly changing world, Miss Reichard shows how and why they are preoccupied with ritual. Secular and religious behavior are analyzed in the light of the mythology of the cosmos, and the spirits and gods. This analysis relates ideas about man and nature to the symbolism of space, time, direction, texture, form, color, sound, and taste. Consequently, the author materially contributes to an understanding of the fundamental concepts behind the Navajo way of life. Navajo RELIGION has the advantage of following upon the earlier work done on the subject by Father Berard Haile, and Kluckhohn and Wyman. Although the author disagrees with many of their observations and conclusions, she is quick to acknowledge her indebtedness to their pioneering efforts.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Representative art
- Magical and mental therapy
- Shamans and psychotherapists
- Mythology
- Spirits and gods
- Sacred objects and places
- Purification and atonement
- Revelation and divination
- Ritual
- Ritual
- Ethnophysics
- Ethnobotany
- Ethnozoology
- Ethnopsychology
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Navajo
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2004
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- book chapter
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Katchen S. Coley ; 1951-1952
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1930-ca. 1948
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- not specified
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Navajo Reservation, Arizona, New Mexico, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Gladys A. Reichard
- This document consists of excerpts
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Navajo Indians