Historical and Regional Variability in Navajo Women's Roles

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Abstract
Data from Navajo community studies over the last fifty years allow us to go beyond global statements about the status of Navajo women to a more historically nuanced analysis of variability in women's roles. Focusing on the gender division of labor and female exchange networks, this paper documents community variation within and between areas studied during this time period. Variation has increased dramatically with the incorporation of Navajo women into a capitalist wage economy. Depending on the viability of a livestock economy, residence choice, and the size of female sibling sets, women in rural areas might forge strong female-dominated networks or be relatively isolated. In urban areas, some women have professional jobs, large networks, and substantial ties to the reservation, while others have low-wage jobs and are more dependent on husbands, isolated from kin, or supporting children as single parents. The overall outcome of Navajo incorporation into the larger economy has been to create more diversity in women's situations and a tendency towards polarization along class lines.

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