Navajo Nation - Geography

Geography

See also: Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation, Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation, and Tohajiilee Indian Reservation

The land area of the Navajo Nation is 24,078.127 square miles (62,362.06 km2), making it by far the largest Indian reservation in the United States; it is nearly the same size as the state of West Virginia.

Adjacent to or near the Navajo Reservation are the Southern Ute of Colorado, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, both to the north; the Jicarilla Apache to the east, and other tribes to the west and south. The Navajo Nation's territory surrounds the Hopi Indian Reservation. A conflict over shared lands emerged in the 1980s, when the Department of the Interior attempted to relocate Diné living in the Navajo/Hopi Joint Use Area. The litigious conflict, effectively ended as the "Bennett Freeze" in July, 2009 by President Barack Obama, was resolved or at least forestalled, by the award of a 75-year lease to Navajos who refused to leave the coal rich region.

Situated within the Navajo Nation are Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Monument Valley, Rainbow Bridge National Monument, and the Shiprock landmark. The eastern portion of the reservation, in New Mexico, is popularly called the "Checkerboard" because Navajo lands are mingled with fee lands, owned by both Navajos and non-Navajos, and federal and state lands under various jurisdictions. Three large non-contiguous sections entirely surrounded by New Mexico are also under Navajo jurisdiction: the Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation, the Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation, and the Tohajiilee Indian Reservation.

The Tribal Trust lands have no private land ownerships, and all Tribal Trust land is owned in common and administered by the Nation's government. On the other hand, BIA Indian Allotment lands are privately owned by the heirs and generations of the original BIA Indian Allotee to whom it was issued. With Tribal Trust lands, leases are made both to customary land users (for homesites, grazing, and other uses) and organizations, which may include BIA and other federal agencies, churches and other religious organizations, as well as private or commercial businesses.