Navajo Nation: History - The People Anthropologists believe the Navajos probably arrived in the Southwest between 800 and 1,000 years ago, crossing the Bering Strait land bridge and traveling south. The Navajo people call themselves Dine', literally meaning "The People." The Dine' speak about their arrival on the earth as a part of their story on the creation. The Navajo are believed to have learned the rudiments of agriculture after arriving in the Four Corners area. They became aquainted with domesticated livestock after contact with the Spanish, taking on shepherding and horsemanship. After the United States defeated Mexico in 1846 and gained control of the vast expanse of territory known today as the Southwest and California, the Navajos encountered a more substantial enemy.Colonel Kit Carson instituted a scorched earth policy, burning Navajo fields and homes, and stealing or killing their livestock. After starving the Navajos into submission, Carson rounded up every Navajo he could find - 8,000 men, women and children - and in the spring of 1864 forced his prisoners to march some 300 miles to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Navajos call this "The Long Walk." Many died along the way, and died during the four long years of imprisonment. In 1868 after signing a treaty with the U.S., remaining Navajos were allowed to return to designated lands currently occupied in the Four Corners area of the U.S. THE LAND HISTORY - THE PEOPLE LIFESTYLE