Navajo Nation

The Navajo Nation, or Navajoland, is the homeland of the Navajo (Diné) people in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico and southeastern Utah. The reservation was established by treaty in 1868 after the Long Walk, when thousands of Navajo were forcibly removed to Bosque Redondo and later returned. It is the largest Native American reservation in the United States, covering about 71,000 km², with its government seated at Window Rock, Arizona. Navajo society combines farming, sheep herding and weaving with a strong tradition of clan kinship, language and ceremony. The nation has its own president, council and courts, and its citizens have served in the U.S. military, notably as code talkers in the Pacific during the Second World War. Today the Navajo Nation continues to defend its land, water and cultural sovereignty. The Navajo language, Diné Bizaad, remains central to identity, and the nation's land base is held in trust by the federal government.