The Naja
We celebrate the Naja for the legacy it holds of war, survival, and beauty in the Southwest.
The Naja design is a reminder of the Diné (Navajo) people’s resilience in the face of unimaginable adversity. It is a symbol of creating something beautiful out of despair, of rising from the ashes, of fertility and new life.
“Diné learned silversmithing from people to the south,” says Paulo Dineclah, a Diné elder. “They picked up silver coinage from them and melted it down to make Concho belts. It is said we wear turquoise jewelry, diyiin dineh, to acknowledge and honor land, people, and show respectfulness to a good life.”
The Naja, which is the crescent pendant at the center of the Navajo squash blossom necklace, has roots in the Goddess-based religions of Phoenicia, Greece, Crete and Rome where it could have represented a pomegranate and used as a fertility symbol. However, it was the Moors – who dominated Spain for eight centuries – who adopted what would become known as a “Naja” on their horses’ bridles to protect the animal and its rider against “the evil eye”. In the 16th century, the Spanish arrived in the New World in search of gold, executing their conquest upon ornamented Andalusian horses and introducing the Moorish bridle design to the Diné and other first inhabitants.
“The Dine' people are very articulate people especially in art,” says Ceria Hogue, a Diné elder and matriarch we spoke to about the significance of the design in her culture. “Since the Diné planted vegetables and one of them was squash, squash has blossoms. Also, as mentioned, there were the silversmiths and the
horses. The Diné people adopted the horses, horses have horseshoes. So all in all, maybe they designed their jewelry after something of significance to the Diné people.”
While Diné don’t consider the Naja to have any spiritual or symbolic significance in their culture and religion, they have always been held in high esteem as a form of wealth and bravery, proudly worn by men and women. First contact with the Spanish, who were adorned and armed in never-before-seen metals and riding atop strange four-legged beasts, was of course a moment that would forever affect the lives and culture of the Indigenous peoples of land. To survive, the Diné became fierce warriors and to return from war or raiding parties with Spanish Najas was most likely a way of counting coup on their enemy.
“The original idea of the Naja could have come from our beliefs in harmony that we live by as Diné people,” says Carmalie Denetclaw, who is also a Diné elder and matriarch. “Our people always believed that the most sacred center of our existence centers around the hogan.”
It wasn’t until the 19th century that the Diné began to integrate silversmithing into their lives and culture, a practice that was also imported from Spain. The ability to work in silver, leather and other metals allowed the Diné to move their culture from a warrior society to that of a merchant society. The Long Walk of 1864, a forced 300 mile relocation and detainment of all Diné people by the United States, was also a key moment in the necessary adaptation from a nomadic to more settled existence.
Upon the Diné’s return from their four-year detainment at the Bosque Redondo internment camp, life was forever altered. Where prestige and wealth used to come from raiding, it now came from herding and trading. Silverworking became a very important part of this transition. At this time the squash blossom necklace,
most famous for its inclusion of the Naja pendant, became popular. The squash blossoms are represented as having long petals at the brink of opening,
connected to a spherical bulb at the base of the blossom. While the squash plant represented life and sustenance to the Diné, originally the flower pendant represented the pomegranates of Andalusia where a variation of this design can be found in the motifs of Granada, Spain.
“My son, Andrew, suggested that to be in perfect balance with life, we follow a path that leads out to the East (from the hogan) with a circle around us, and from the East everything leads to ‘hozhon’,” says Carmalite. “The opening in the Naja could represent this belief to the original Diné Naja artist...The Naja on the squash blossom should be symbolic to the path of goodness.”
Story & photos by Ungelbah Dávila-Shivers.
Ungelbah (Ungie) is an award winning Diné writer & photographer, and IAIA alumnus.
@udavilaphotography
From the Library: Adair, The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (1944)
1944 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1944, not today.
According to Adair (1944, p. 41), the crescent the Navajo called najahe hung by a small metal loop from the center silver piece on the headstrap of the old silver bridles. [1]
Adair (1944) noted the variety of the old pendants:
“Usually there are buttons at the ends, and on many of the old najahes there are small hands with four or five fingers”
— Adair (1944), p. 41 [1]
According to Adair (1944, p. 42), the Navajo could have taken the crescent directly from the Mexicans and Spaniards who settled New Mexico, with no need for a roundabout route across the Southern Plains. [1]
From the Library: Tanner, Navajo Silver Craft (1954)
1954 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1954, not today.
According to Tanner (1954, p. 29), the number of horses a Navajo man owned was a mark of prestige, which helps explain why silver was used early on their leather trappings: seven to thirteen strips of silver were fitted closely over the straps of the headstall. [2]
Tanner (1954, p. 29) noted that seemingly every bridle, even the plainest, had two features: a concha at the side of the headstall and a pendant hanging from the center front, which she considered very possibly the source of the naja. [2]
On the crescent's older history, Tanner wrote in 1954 that the headstall pendant
“may have been the survivor of the old world charm against the “Evil Eye,” a charm likewise suspended from the headstrap to protect horse and rider alike.”
— Tanner (1954), p. 29 [2]
Tanner (1954) described how the pendant changed:
“Very old najas were of single crescent form and the open ends sometimes terminated in human hands; in others, the ends were marked with plain or ribbed circles.”
— Tanner (1954), p. 29 [2]
By 1954, according to Tanner (1954, p. 29), many najas were double or even more complex, often with a small turquoise drop at the center top of the pendant. [2]
From the Library: Dubin, North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment (1999)
1999 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1999, not today.
Dubin, writing in 1999, on the crescent before it reached the Navajo:
“With probable Paleolithic origins, the inverted crescent form (called naja by the Navajo) has represented the Phoenician goddess of fertility, Astarte, and is mentioned in the Book of Judges among the "ornaments on camels' necks."”
— Dubin (1999), p. 503 [3]
Dubin (1999, p. 503) writes that the Moors, in the eight centuries they dominated Spain, adopted the crescent for the horse's bridle to guard horse and rider against "the evil eye," and that the idea reached the Americas with the Spanish. [3]
From the Library: Franciscan Fathers, An Ethnologic Dictionary of the Navaho Language (1910)
1910 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1910, not today.
The Franciscan Fathers (1910, p. 279) recorded that the silver bead necklaces of their day usually carried a large crescent-shaped pendant in the front center. [4]
Writing in 1910, the Franciscan Fathers described the Navajo silver headstall, which they said had been made more widely in earlier years:
“They consist of broad bands of silver, large and numerous enough to almost entirely conceal the leather, with more or less heavy pendants dangling on the cheek straps.”
— Franciscan Fathers (1910), p. 281 [4]
Its price, as of 1910, according to the Franciscan Fathers:
“These bridles cost from twenty-five to thirty dollars, or their equivalent in sheep, ponies, or other stock.”
— Franciscan Fathers (1910), p. 281 [4]
Writing in 1910, the Franciscan Fathers recorded who made the bits:
“Bits are made by native smiths of old horseshoes and iron scraps.”
— Franciscan Fathers (1910), p. 150 [4]
According to the Franciscan Fathers (1910, p. 150), a hackamore ring hung from the lower part of the bit and was often decorated with dangling chains. [4]
The Franciscan Fathers (1910) described the headstall that carried the silver:
“The headstall, consisting of brow band and cheek straps, is often made of common rawhide, decorated with heavy silver plates, and is a great favorite with women on festive occasions.”
— Franciscan Fathers (1910), p. 150 [4]
By 1910, the Franciscan Fathers added, the store had taken over much of this work:
“Bits and headstalls are now usually purchased at the stores.”
— Franciscan Fathers (1910), p. 150 [4]
In their section on leatherwork, the Franciscan Fathers (1910) described the riding headstall:
“They are made of an ordinary leather strap, and heavily ornamented with oblong silver plates, which are clasped to the cheek straps and the head-band. In addition, two conchas of silver are fastened with thongs at each end of the head-band, while two silver pendants dangle at the sides of the headstall.”
— Franciscan Fathers (1910), p. 312 [4]
Sources
- Adair, John. The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths. The Civilization of the American Indian Series. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1944. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1944.
- Tanner, Clara Lee. “Navajo Silver Craft.” Arizona Highways 30, no. 8 (August 1954): 16–33. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1954.
- Dubin, Lois Sherr. North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present. Original photography by Togashi, Paul Jones, and others. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1999.
- Franciscan Fathers. An Ethnologic Dictionary of the Navaho Language. Saint Michaels, Arizona: The Franciscan Fathers, 1910. Public domain (U.S. publication before 1931). Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1910.
