I just found this, Does theis mean Navajo are Asian?

Question

http://www.lapahie.com/Timeline.cfm

I'm Navajo.

Answer 1

Currently accepted thinking on the subject has all North and South American indigenous peoples having originated in Asia. The largest point of debate seems to centre on the issue of timing.

Until recently it was generally accepted that humans first reached the Americas by crossing a land bridge between the two continents during the last ice age, i.e.: between 10 and 15 thousand years ago. These were the so-called early Palaeoindians, or Clovis people, evidence of whom has been found in both N and S America.  

Incontrovertible evidence of pre-Clovis settlement in the Americas has been rare to non-existent, depending on what and whom you choose to believe. Nevertheless, owing largely to linguistic evidence and DNA studies, there is growing acceptance of the idea that the earliest arrivals may have made their way to the Americas as much as 40,000 years ago.

So you pays your money and you takes your choice, but the consensus is still that all N and S American indigenes are descended from Asian ancestors. So yes, the Navajo were Asian a very long, long, long time ago, or maybe even longer than that!

Answer 2

Not an answer, but an interesting bit of trivia:

The Navajo language is not mutually intelligible with their neighbours' languages.  Instead, it is related to some languages (like the "Carrier" or Wetsuwet'en) in northern Canada.  I studied "Carrier" for a term, and it was VERY different from languages I know with Roman or Slavic roots.

During WW2, these languages were used successfully as an alternative to conventional coding.  Navajo speakers, for example, could communicate easily with each other, without having to worry about having their conversations "deciphered,"

Answer 3

The Na-Dene are an amazing mix of DNA haplogroups & even have haplogroup X DNA.  They are basically Haplogroup C from Asia, but also have Haplogroup X, an ancient DNA (about 20,000 yrs removed from that found in found only in Western Europe.) The current hypothesis is that the European DNA arrived accross the Atlantic about 20,000 yrs ago.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/article...

For info on haplogroup X DNA.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/article...

Strangely the Ancient line of haplogroup X is not found in Asia, but is found in Western Europe.

Thi should give you a good run down on Mt haplogroups common to Navajo & other Amerind populations:

A, B, C, & D: Haplogroups A, B, C, & D. Native American mtDNA Haplogroups. Also see mtDNA Haplogroup X.

Clan Aiyana Home Page by Amelia

mtDNA Haplogroup A (Clan Aiyana) by Blaine Bettinger

Native American Lineage and mtDNA Haplogroups Yahoo Group

MtDNA Haplogroup B Project by Ernie Alderete

As stated:

"These findings leave unanswered the question of the geographic source of Native American X2a in the Old World, although our analysis provides new clues about the time of the arrival of haplogroup X in the Americas. Indeed, if we assume that the two complete Native American X sequences (from one Navajo and one Ojibwa) began to diverge while their common ancestor was already in the Americas, we obtain a coalescence time of 18,000 ± 6,800 YBP, implying an arrival time not later than 11,000 YBP."

Edit: Note I edited the haplogroup when I posted this... Navajo are mainly haplotype C,not A & B as was posted.  Somehow the edit failed to take.  I apologize to the board. A&B are Inca haplogroups. Hope this edit takes.

Answer 4

Not really.  It discusses the first Americans.  Navajo were one of the last immigrants to Americas, a few thousand years before the Europeans.  There certainly were successive waves of migrants from Asia but in fact there may have been immigrants from Europe as well before the Navajo, but that doesn't change the fact that Navajo are obviously primarily descended from Asia and are very closely related to northern Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese (and some others)

Answer 5

No it means your ancestors probably came from Northern Eurasia.

At the time they migrated there was no such thing as Asians anyway.

Answer 6

There are many theories - this being the most respected.  

Answer 7

native americans came from north east china and south west mongolia originally

Answer 8

The Navajo could also be considered "African."

It's well understood that humans first came into the Americas from Asia. Teeth, blood type, DNA all demonstrate this.

However, among many tribes of the Americas this is not acceptable. Their creation narratives have them as always being in their tribal lands. This was an issue in the Kenniwick Man case where the confederated tribal position was that the "ancient one"was one of the tribe as the tribe had always been in that geographic location. This was their reply to the requirement to prove some cultural affiliation.

If you go far enough you'll find that everyone can be traced back to African origins. However, very few would agree that they were African. Instead they would be of their current nation or identify a heritage that goes back just a few centuries.

The Navajo are more then just their racial origin. Their land is bordered by four sacred mountains and their culture is very rich.

Tribal membership requires 1/4 Navajo blood. That is a link to one of the four Dine clans. "The Navajo Nation took lessons from other indigenous American tribes which implement much lower blood quantum requirements. Unfortunately as a result, many of these tribes are currently suffering from individuals who intentionally falsely identify themselves as Native American."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Nati...

Based on this, most Dine would identify themselves as Native American