Except for George P. Lee, in church literature Navajos (Lamanites back then) were always referred to as "Begay".

Other than this post, I hadn't noticed that Navajos were referred to as Begay until now.

Maybe it's a tribal name?

It must be. I also remember hearing Navajo speakers referred to as "Begay" on NPR. Maybe it's their largest tribal group? Mormons seemed to recruit mostly among them. Except for George from the Lee family.

Begay is a very common Dine surname as are Yazzie and Tso and rooted in the Dine language. The Dine did not have surnames prior to colonialism and it's an adopted custom from the Anglos.

Looking it up, Begay means his/her son. Hopefully I will get to take a Navajo language course after I graduate this spring. Living here in the Corners has been an interesting way to be immersed in my own roots.

I heard the same. Supposedly, when US census officials first began recording them, they were always saying a name plus "begay," or "son of." It was a kind of Ellis Island moment. But all kinds of cultures use "son of." Any official document I had to fill out in Pakistan (including driving license) says "Son of George."

I keep forgetting that Navajos are supposed to be called Dine now (The People). Navajo is a Spanish word, but I can't remember what it means.

Navajo is fine, I simply prefer Dine to Navajo, though. I also used to think that Navajo was just a masculinized version of the Spanish word knives, but it's actually derived from the Athabascan languages.

Edit: When I was double checking on the word Navajo, I ran across this:
http://www.crowcanyon.org/educationproducts/peoples_mesa_verde/post_pueblo_navajo_name.asp

"Navajo" is a Spanish adaptation of the Tewa Pueblo word navahu’u, meaning "farm fields in the valley." Early Spanish chroniclers referred to the Navajo as Apaches de Nabajó ("Apaches who farm in the valley"), which was eventually shortened to "Navajo." What is clear from the history of this word is that the early Spanish settlers recognized the close historical and cultural connections between the Apache and Navajo peoples."

So it IS a Spanish adaptation coming from the Athabascan language. Keep in mind I was not raised in Navajo/Dine or Spanish/Latino culture, so I'm still catching up with a lot of the nuances in both. Mormonism is pretty great at surpressing ethnic identity, or at least that's how it was for me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2017 09:47AM by Itzpapalotl.

I have heard that a tribe from Alaska is directly related to the Navajos, with the language almost the same. Athabascan is Alaskan?

Many tribes in Alaska, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories speak Athabascan. It's believed that the migration to the Southwest occurred about 500 years ago.

I thought "Dine" was the language. It was my understanding that a Navajo does not speak Navajo, they speak Dine.

I've heard both around here used interchangeably. Navajo is the more commonly used term since more people are familiar with that, but Dine is not improper either. The many Native children I work with often ask me if I am an Indian, Navajo or Native and none bother me and it doesn't seem to be an issue with most Native peoples when I ask their tribe.

http://navajopeople.org/

Also, the word Navajo is interchangeable as the language or meaning "The People."

I knew several navajo begays. It must be a common name or something.

It is a surname, might as well ask yourself why you have the surname you have, or why one surname is more popular than another. You might also ask why a navajo would have one of these names: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Navajo_surnames

Or are you just having a thing based on the "be gay" aspect of the name?

A lot of people from the Shoshone Bannock reservation in Idaho also have that surname.

Some Dine tribal members assume Anglo names for various reasons such as Peter McDonald or else the recently deceased iconic 100 year old matriarch Katherine Smith:

http://fronterasdesk.org/content/10623/katherine-smith-iconic-navajo-land-defender-and-matriarch-dies

They didn't have it as a surname until non-Native Americans began doing census statistics, and when questioned about who they were, they would say their name, son of so-and-so. Census takers just wrote down the "Begay" part. So as usual, these Natives, as well as all the other, got the short shrift. It's like when a dentist we used, whose name was Auslaender, was really named Derschowicz. But when his family emigrated from Eastern Europe, they got transit papers across Germany to Bremen. The papers identified them as "Auslaender"--"foreigner" in German. When they got to Ellis Island, the officials wrote down the word with big red letters, and no amount of protest would help.

Wasn't Navajo, the language that the American military used during WW2? It was the only language that the Japanese couldn't break the code

Yes, the Navajo Code Talkers. It's a really interesting part of history.

A Navajo in Arizona says, "Ya'ta hey."

A Navajo in Canada says, "Ya'ta hey, eh?"

Hahahahahahahhahahahah.

When Navajo children went to boarding schools they were given new English names. The common white man could not understand that biye’, prounounced like Begay meant son of. When the students would tell them their last name the teacher would use Begay because it was the shortest part. It was a misunderstanding that caused many Navajos to have the last name Begay

there is Begay and Yazzie, pick which one is most amusing to you, oh oh oh, and then, obviously of different origin and for different reasons than the use of Begay and/or Yazzie, the name of Johnson is used by many Navajos as well.

Like the Hopi, and the LSD, the people can't be gay. No way!

Because Laman and Lemuel were already taken by other tribes. Buh dum tsh!