The Navajo remain in closely knit family unites, which are built around the grandmother, mother, and aunts. Familes are apart of clans, and inhearitance traditional is all passed through the women. Fathers are from diffrent clans than children's mother, and are either very present in their lives for good or bad, or not there at all.
With just 1-5% of Navajo Christian, traditional beliefs are the norm. To the Navajo the physically and spiritual worlds are interwoven like the wool of their rugs. It is traditional to believe that it is humanity's responsiblity to keep balance between both the physical and spiritual worlds, and when bad happen that they have strayed off the path of balance know as the Beauty Way. The Navajo lanuage is still spoke, and their are still elders who speak only Navajo. As of 1986, the Bible was traslated in to Navajo for the first time.
It is often hard for the Navajo to accept Christ by themselves, for they are brought up to think of their family. For example, the worst insult to a Navajo is, "He acts as if he has no family." The concept of I, me, myself, was not traditionally part of their language, nor was there any word for owning land. Everything is thought of in family terms, and many times accepting Jesus cuts one of from their family, at least for the time being. Thus it is very important to reach out to not just individuals, but the whole family while working with among the Navajo.
