Silver Crescent: A Look into the History of the Naja

What is a Naja?

The word naja (pronounced nuh-yuh) is the anglicized version of a word, which in Diné bizaad (the Navajo language) is called a najahe (pronounced nah-zhah-hay), which means crescent. [1] The naja pendant, an inverted crescent-shaped symbol, commonly seen in Diné silverwork, is most recognizable as the centerpiece of the squash blossom necklace. The exact origin of the symbol is still up for debate. It is an ancient symbol for sure. It has represented Astarte, the Phoenician goddess of fertility. It’s also mentioned in the Book of Judges, which is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, as an ornament worn on camels’ necks. [2] There seems to be a general consensus that it was the Muslim people from North Africa who brought the symbol into Spain when they conquered the country in 711 AD and ruled there for the following eight centuries. [1]

The Naja’s association with horses

When the Spanish arrived in the Americas in 1492, their horses’ bridles were often adorned with the symbol, echoing the shape of their horses’ shoes. It was supposedly worn as a talisman to protect the horse and rider. [3] It was not too long before horses became a fixture of Navajo lifestyle. Historians suspect the Diné were introduced to horses not from the Spanish themselves, but through their Pueblo neighbors in the mid 1500s if not earlier. [4] If you are familiar with Navajo history, you may know that prior to colonization the Navajo lived as nomadic people who were known to raid neighboring communities such as the Pueblos or Mexican villages further south. One theory is that the metal crescents became a highly coveted object during these raids and stealing them became a way of counting coup on the enemy. [5] I found an anonymous internet blogger who did a deep dive on the squash blossom necklace. They noted that “early on, the Navajo[s] wore the [crescent] on a rawhide necklace as an ornament of beauty and these pieces also came to symbolize wealth.” [6] It is unclear what the writer is saying exactly, but one could interpret this to mean that before the Diné became silversmiths, they removed the metal crescents from horses’ bridles, possibly during raids then strung them on rawhide to wear around their necks, subsequently becoming symbols of wealth and status since they were especially difficult to acquire during that time.

The First Navajo Metalsmith

The first known Diné silversmith was named Atsidii Sání, which translates to Old Smith in Diné bizaad. Atsidii Sání was born around 1830. He learned ironworking in 1853 from a Mexican teacher. Atsidii Sání was mostly interested in making bridles for horses so that his people could purchase them from someone within their own community. There seems to be some confusion on whether Atsidii Sání made his first silver pieces in the early 1850s, at the same time he learned to work iron or after he returned from Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation around 1870. [7] If you are not familiar, Bosque Redondo was a project executed by the U.S. Government in 1863 with the help of the U.S. Army, which ultimately failed. The idea was to round up the Diné, using unimaginably brutal techniques, then march them 300 miles to Fort Sumner, New Mexico where they would establish a reservation. This event was called the Navajo Long Walk. The settlement was fraught with problems such as overcrowding, a brackish water supply, crop failures, flooding, inept management of supplies, raiding on the settlement from the nearby Comanches. Eventually, the U.S. Government decided to abandon the project and signed a treaty with the Diné who were gratefully allowed to return to their homelands, of course not without specific conditions. [8] In 1868, Atsidii Sání returned home to start his life over again. It was probably during this time that he taught all four of his sons, named Big Black, Red Smith, Little Smith, and Burnt Whiskers, how to work with silver, establishing the legacy of Diné silverwork. Most of the early Diné silversmiths obtained their silver by melting down U.S. and later Mexican silver coinage. [9] Eventually, it came to be that a "smith" was a respected man and enjoyed prestige given to few others. [6]

Navajo woman wearing squash blossom necklace. Photograph taken by Edward Curtis in 1909.

Side Note

It may be interesting to note that my mother’s maiden name is Smith, which is a name given to her from her father, which probably means I am a descendant of silversmiths, although this is difficult to confirm because we have lost contact with this side of the family. My mother only has one memory of him, and there are only a few things that I know about my grandfather through my grandmother. He was a Navajo man; he served in the Marine Corps and fought in World War II; he survived the war, but he never spoke to my grandmother about his experiences as a soldier; he died young when he was struck by lightning while mounted on his horse.

Naja Variations

As in the version that we sell on Old Cedar Native Arts’ online shop created by Colton Charley, some silversmiths add hands on each end of the crescent, which many suspect originate as a reference to Hamsa or the hands of Fatima. According to the Jewish Women’s Archive, this symbolic hand symbol represents “protection in both Jewish and Islamic cultures [and relates] to Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammed (the founder of Islam), and Miriam, the sister of Moses.” [10] Also in Colton Charley’s version, is a fleur-de-lis design, which is another common embellishment of the naja and also clearly derived from outside of Diné culture. The fleur-de-lis, which is a stylized representation of a lily flower, is most commonly associated with the traditional coat of arms of France. [11]

Why the Naja?

One question that lingers in my mind is why were my Diné ancestors so drawn to the crescent-shaped symbol? Of course they may have gravitated towards the design because of the importance of horses to the Diné lifestyle, which is probably true. We could also attribute its value to not being able to easily acquire it, creating the right circumstances for it to become a status symbol. This is logical, but I believe this is not the entire picture. As a Navajo person myself, my mind immediately goes to the hogan, our traditional housing structure. While doing a little internet research, I found some support for this theory in a statement made by Diné elder, Carmalite Denetclaw, recorded in T. Skies’ blog regarding the najahe:  “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 naja on the squash blossom should be symbolic to the path of goodness.” [5] What Carmalite is referring to is the way that hogans are constructed. The doorway is always on the eastern side. When you enter a hogan, a circular structure with the fireplace in the center, you always walk clockwise, first heading to the South, then the West, then the North. When you exit the hogan, you walk through the doorway facing the East. Also consider the pattern of the Navajo wedding basket, which has a pathway incorporated into its design. During the Diné ceremony, which binds two people together in marriage, the pathway in the design of the wedding basket should also face east. This concept of a pathway leading east is an essential aspect of Diné cosmology. To live a life of balance, harmony, beauty or as one would say in Diné bizaad, “hózhó,” having the doorway on the eastern side makes perfect sense since it allows you to start each new day facing the direction where you would greet the rising Sun.

by Carolyn L. Anderson
Owner of Old Cedar Native Arts
Enrolled Member of the Navajo Nation

Notes

1. “What Is a Naja?” The Naja, thenaja.com/about.

2. “Naja Symbol.” Garland’s, www.shopgarlands.com/blogs/news/70545091-naja.

3. “The Naja Pendant: Meaning and History.” Kachina House, April 14th, 2023, blog.kachinahouse.com/the-naja-pendant-meaning-history.

4. McLemore, Andrew. “Horses Transformed Native American Life Earlier Than Thought, Study Says.” ExploresWeb, March 31, 2023, explorersweb.com/horses-transformed-native-american-life-50-years.

5. “The Naja.” Tskies, April 14th, 2021, tskies.com/blogs/news/the-naja.

6. “Naja and the Origin of Squash Blossom Necklace.” Goddess Findings… Jewels for the Spirit, March 22nd, 2008, goddessfindingsjewelsforthespirit.blogspot.com/2008/03/naja-and-origin-of-squash-blossoms.html.

7. Adair, John. “The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths.” University of Oklahoma Press, December, 1989.

8. “Long Walk of the Navajo.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, July 10th, 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Walk_of_the_Navajo.

9. “Diné Silversmithing.” Arizona Museum of Natural History, October, 22nd, 2020, www.arizonamuseumofnaturalhistory.org/explore-the-museum/exhibitions/athapascan-way/din-silversmithing.

10. Nuri, Leila. “Unity through Symbolism: The Hamsa.” Jewish Women’s Archive, October 19, 2022, jwa.org/blog/risingvoices/unity-through-symbolism-hamsa

11. “Fleur-de-Lis.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, July 7th, 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur-de-lis.