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Show THE FEARING 97 them to attack in return. Both the innocent and the guilty suffered in this cycle. Except for a brief time in the 1770s and 1780s, Spanish and Mexican leaders made little effort to conduct Indian relations in a just and sensible way. Their Indian policy was selfish and confused. During this time, the Navajos gained strength. They added to their skill at resisting the New Mexicans. But much of that strength grew from fear. All Navajos knew that their enemies could attack at any time. The People came to have more cultural unity. They were more and more one people living similar lives. Sheep-raising spread through Navajoland. It became as familiar a part of Navajo life as farming, hunting, and gathering. Unique Navajo clothing appeared, including silver jewelry and the blankets which quickly became famous. But, despite the lifestyle that the People shared, the Navajos did not have political unity. Men and women acted on their own. Their loyalty went first to the clan. Although there was never a sharp break with the past, many changes came to the Navajo way of life. By the late nineteenth century, when this photograph was taken, silverwork, trade goods, metal tools, and European-style clothing had become as much a part of Navajo life as the hogan in which these men sit. A G. Wharton James photograph, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution National Anthropological Archives. |