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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,254
Chipmunk
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OP
Chipmunk
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,254 |
Navajo Could Make History with Female President (follow link for full story text and audio)October 21, 2010 As polling places open around this country on Nov. 2, for the midterm elections, members of the country's largest Native American tribe -- the Navajo nation -- will be voting to elect a new Navajo president. And for the first time in the tribe's history, the presidential ballot will feature a woman. New Mexico State Senator Lynda Lovejoy is running for the tribe's highest office against vice president, Ben Shelly. And if she wins, she'll become the first female leader of the 300,000-member Navajo tribe, in modern history. Host Michel Martin speaks with Lynda Lovejoy from the campaign trail.
per aspera ad astra: Through rough ways to the stars...
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 17,644
Highest Posting Power Known to Humanity
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Highest Posting Power Known to Humanity
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 17,644 |
This is exciting news, Wendy. Thanks for sharing the link with us. It seems like Lovejoy has a pretty good chance of winning. This would be a very historical event and change for the Navajo peoples.
Walk in Peace and Harmony. Phyllis Doyle Burns Avatar: Fair Helena by Rackham, Public Domain
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Joined: Feb 2008
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BellaOnline Editor Koala
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BellaOnline Editor Koala
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,100 |
Does anyone know how the traditional Navajo leadership was comprised?
Visiting the Eastern Cherokee many years ago, we were told there was a War Chief and a Peace Chief. There was also a Tribal Grandmother who had the power to depose the Chief, and the women had the final say in whether or not to go to war.
If the Navajo had a similar system, Lovejoy's election would be somewhat of a return to traditional ways, with a woman having the major leadership position within the Council.
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Joined: Jul 2004
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Chipmunk
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OP
Chipmunk
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,254 |
Historically, the structure of the Navajo society is largely a matrilocal system in which only women were allowed to own livestock and land. Once married, a Navajo man would move into his bride's dwelling and clan since daughters (or, if necessary, other female relatives) were traditionally the ones who received the generational inheritance. Any children are said to belong to the mother's clan and be "born for" the father's clan. The clan system is exogamous, meaning it was, and mostly still is, considered a form of incest to marry or date anyone from any of a person's four grandparents clans. Traditional Navajo Yes, I know it's wikipedia... this was taken from the section marked culture.
per aspera ad astra: Through rough ways to the stars...
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 17,644
Highest Posting Power Known to Humanity
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Highest Posting Power Known to Humanity
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 17,644 |
Very interesting info, Wendy. Thank you. I love the Southwest areas. Monument Valley is so beautiful. The pictures on that site are really nice.
Walk in Peace and Harmony. Phyllis Doyle Burns Avatar: Fair Helena by Rackham, Public Domain
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