Today, the Navajo are the second-largest Native American tribe in the United States, but they live on the largest reservation.
Through many negotiations with the U.S. government, the Navajo have been able to triple the size of the reservation granted to them in 1868. Located in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, the Navajo Indian Reservation is now about the same size as the state of West Virginia.
The large Navajo Nation is governed by a tribal council that operates programs to improve the education, health, housing, and employment opportunities of the Navajo people.
In many ways, the lives of today’s Navajo are similar to those of whites in the Southwest. Most speak English and live in the same types of houses and work at the same types of jobs as their non-Navajo neighbors.
But all the while, they have preserved Navajo ideals, values, and traditions.
