The Diné (Navajo) people are an Indigenous nation whose traditional homeland, Dinétah, lies in the Four Corners region of what is now the United States. They call themselves Diné, meaning “The People,” and speak Diné Bizaad, a Southern Athabaskan language related to the languages of other Dene peoples in Alaska and northwestern Canada. Linguists and archaeologists describe the Diné as descendants of Athabaskan-speaking peoples who migrated south from the subarctic and arrived in the Southwest roughly 800–1,000 years ago. In their own creation stories, the Diné tell of emerging through earlier worlds into the present “Glittering World,” bounded by four sacred mountains, and of receiving teachings for living in balance with Mother Earth and Father Sky. Over time, the Diné adopted corn, beans, and squash agriculture from Pueblo neighbors and, after Spanish contact, incorporated sheep and horses into their way of life, developing a pastoral economy in which weaving and herding became central.

The 19th century brought severe disruption and violence. After the United States took control of the Southwest from Mexico in 1848, military campaigns increasingly targeted Diné homelands. In 1863–1864, under General James Carleton, Colonel Kit Carson carried out a scorched-earth campaign in Dinétah, burning fields and hogans and killing or seizing livestock to force surrender. Beginning in 1864, more than 8,500–10,000 Diné men, women, and children were forced on the Long Walk, marching over 300 miles in winter from their homelands in present-day Arizona and New Mexico to Bosque Redondo at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Thousands died during the marches and the four difficult years of internment. On June 1, 1868, Diné leaders signed the Treaty of Bosque Redondo, allowing survivors to return to a portion of their homeland and establishing the initial reservation of about 3.5 million acres, a turning point that began the modern Navajo Nation and a long period of cultural and spiritual rebuilding.

Since that time, the Diné (Navajo) people have expanded their land base and renewed their lifeways while facing new pressures. Today, the Navajo Nation encompasses roughly 27,000 square miles across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, making it the largest reservation in the United States, with its capital at Window Rock, Arizona. With several hundred thousand enrolled tribal citizens and many residents on Navajo land, it is also one of the most populous Indigenous nations in North America. The Diné have traditionally organized life through matrilineal clans, with women owning most livestock and homes, and the hogan—a sacred dwelling whose door faces the east—remaining central to ceremonial and family life. The core Diné value of Hózhó—often translated as “walking in beauty,” or living in harmony and balance—continues to guide ceremonial healing and daily conduct. From weaving and land-based knowledge to the service of Navajo Code Talkers in World War II, whose use of Diné Bizaad created a secure military code in the Pacific theater, the Diné (Navajo) people carry forward a history marked by endurance, cultural creativity, and spiritual depth.