Navajo Clans

Navajo Clans

Clan Connect

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Kinship, or K’éí, among the Navajo People, is an important part of the culture that has its foundation in the stories of the creation of the Navajo People. Changing Woman, Asdzáá nádleehe, who created the first four men and women, sent them from Huerfano Mesa to make their home in the lands between the Four Sacred Mountains and gave each a staff made from a different material. In their trek across the desert each dug for water with their staff: The one with the staff made of Abalone Shell dug up bitter water, and thus the clan came to be known as Bitter Water Clan (Tódích’íí’níí); the one with the staff made of White Shell dug up salty water, thus the clan came to be known as Salt Water Clan (Tódik’izhí); the one with the staff made of Black Obsidian dug up muddy water, thus the clan came to be known as the Mud Clan (Hashtl’ishnií); and the staff made of Turquoise dug up clear water, thus the clan came to be known as Near Water Clan (Tó’áhaní).

From there, the clans continued to walk and encountered other groups of people. They would call out to each other: “Who are you and where do you come from?” This way of introduction is the beginning of the Navajo People introducing themselves by clan. As those new groups joined with the Navajo People, either through peaceful coexistence or warfare, and married into the Navajo Clans, they were given names that became their Navajo clan names. For example, the Ute Indians, Nóóda’í people, were brought into the Navajo society by marriage and began the Nóóda’í dine’é, or Ute Clan.

All Navajos are known by their four clans – they are born of their mother’s clan, and born for their father’s clan, and then announce their maternal grandmother’s clan and their paternal grandfather’s clan. In this manner, the People establish kinship among the people they meet.

Here’s the proper way of introducing yourself in Diné bizaad, the Navajo language. Simply insert your name in the top line and your four clans as indicated:

 Yá’átééh. Shi éí _____[name] yinishyé.
________[Mother’s clan] nishļí;
________[Father’s clan] bá shíshchíín;
________[Maternal Grandfather’s] dashicheii;
________[Paternal Grandfather’s] dashinálí.

The Navajo Clans