Are Navajo indians noble savages or cannibal, why?

Question

Please help me i am having trouble finding resources and research. Thank you!

Answer 1

I have never read or heard that Navajo Indians are cannibals. As for being noble savages, I would simply say that the Navajo were a tribe trying to live off the Earth. Whether that makes them "noble" or "savages" is for you to decide.

Answer 2

This is a bit of a weird question.

In regards to being cannibals, the Navajo are not and never were cannibals.

In the American southwest where they live, there was a prehistoric people known as the Anasazi (now more frequently called Ancestral Puebloan) who lived in large farming communities and built the impressive ruins at places like Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelly. Note however that the Navajo migrated into the area long after the Anasazi collapsed and Navajo are NOT related to the Anasazi in any way (the Hopi and Zuni are the descendants of the Anasazi).

The peak of the Anasazi culture was from around 1000 to 1200 AD. Their civilization collasped sometime before 1400AD for reasons that are still being debated. Archaeologists have discovered a few late Anasazi sites with human bones that show signs of having been butchered and cooked - probably as part of a ritual.

There is a lot of controvesy around it, but whatever the case it did not happen for very long nor did it appear to involve all of the Anasazi communities - only a few locations for a brief period of time as their civilization was collasping. It would probably not be fair to call the entire Anasazi culture cannibalist anymore than it would be fair to say that all Americans were historically cannibals because a few desparate frontiersmen did do it on occasion (like the famous Donner party).

As noted above, no matter what did or did not happen with the Anasazi, the Navajo are NOT related to the Anasazi and there is NO credible historic record of the Navajo ever engaging in cannibalism. Historically the Navajo were roaming hunters and gatherers living in small family units. When the spanish introduced sheep to the southwest, they became famous as sheep herders and weavers.

As for 'nobel savage'... that is a pretty outdated term that was largely created by eastern Americans in the late 19th and early 20th century when there was a sense of lost romanticism about native cultures. The term is considered somewhat condescending today because it implies all Native Americas are 'simple children of nature' and somehow less complex or less-human than 'civilized' people. It is similar to the way that one might refer to a lion or a horse as being a 'noble beast'.

Regardless of how one wants to characterize their past and traditional life-style, most Navajo today live pretty much like everyone else. They drive trucks and cars, watch TV, worry about their checkbooks, and work at jobs or at home.