Name used by its speakers (Endonym): Diné, Diné bizaad, (Naabeehó bizaad)
Native speakers (estimated): < 170,000
Total speakers, including second-language (estimated): 170,000
Where it’s spoken: Navajo is spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States by members of the Navajo Nation, who also refer to themselves as Diné—meaning ‘the people’. The term Diné bizaad thus means ‘the people’s language’. It is more widely spoken than any other indigenous language in the United States or Canada; a survey in the US showed that Navajo accounted for over 45 percent of those speaking Native languages at home. On the other hand, Navajo has far fewer speakers than some of the other languages native to the Western Hemisphere (including Quechua, Mayan, and Nahuatl languages); a significant majority of New World language speakers live in Mexico and South America.
Covering over 27,000 square miles of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah, the Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the United States. It is roughly the size of West Virginia and larger than 10 US states. In 2020, the Navajo Nation became the tribal group with the most enrolled members (400,000) in the United States, although by self-report including those of mixed descent, Navajo are second behind the Cherokee. Over half of tribal members live within the borders of Navajo Nation, with many also living in adjacent areas and larger cities. Over three quarters of Diné live in either Arizona or New Mexico.
Like many other Native languages, Diné has a long history of being suppressed and discouraged in favor of assimilation to English, but in recent years concerted efforts have been made to reverse this trend. The first newspaper written in the Navajo language was produced in the 1940s and 50s, though its successor the Navajo Times (Diné Bi Naaltsoos, www.navajotimes.com) has been published since 1959 in English. Two radio stations broadcast either entirely or partially in Navajo. Since 2018, Navajo is one of only two Native North American languages (besides Hawaiian) available on Duolingo, though there are relatively few learning modules. In 2024, legislation was signed making Navajo the official language of Navajo Nation.
Promoting the use of Navajo in schools has also been essential to maintaining its vitality. The Navajo Nation’s education standards support the availability of Navajo language instruction at all grade levels in all schools. Specialized resources include Tséhootsooí Diné Bi’ólta’, a Navajo-language K-8 immersion school near Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation; and Diné College, a two-year community college established in 1968 as the first tribal college in the United States. Beyond the Nation’s borders, there is also a Navajo immersion program for young children in the Flagstaff, Arizona school district; high school courses in Flagstaff and Albuquerque public schools; and college-level classes at several schools including Northern Arizona University, Arizona State, and the University of New Mexico.
Language family: Na-Dené family, Southern Athabaskan branch. As the most spoken Native language in North America, it also has the most speakers of any Na-Dené language.
Related languages: Athabaskan languages are spoken across a large geographical area of western North America. Navajo is related most closely to Western Apache and Chiricahua-Mescalero Apache, with which it shares a large portion of its vocabulary. While Apache and Navajo are spoken in the southwestern US, most other Athabaskan languages are spoken in the Pacific Northwest, northwestern Canada, and Alaska. Because of this it is believed that the ancestors of the Navajo and Apache migrated southward from those areas over 1,000 years ago. Other Athabaskan languages with more than 1,000 modern-day speakers are Chipewyan, Gwich’in, Slavey, and Tlicho (or Dogrib).
Of note, the name Navajo itself comes from Tewa (a non-Athabaskan language), in which the word Navahu translates to ‘large field’. In the 17th century it was first borrowed as a geographical name into Spanish (thus the ‘j’ spelling), then later into English as a name for the Diné people.