They were nomadic hunting and gathering people who lived in small, scattered bands. 

The actual date of their arrival onto the Colorado Plateau is not known, it may have been before the Anasazi disappeared from the Cliff Dwellings - or may have been later - after the Anasazi had abandoned their fortified estates. 

The Spanish when they arrived on the scene saw the Apaches and Navajos as wild Indian tribes. To the Spanish they were known for raiding and trading.

The Navajos hunted, wherever they could find prey, and their farming was very limited, mainly corn.

After the de Vargas reconquest of New Mexico in 1692-96, thousands of Pueblo refugees joined their communities, especially along the upper San Juan River. 

By 1754 Utes and Comanches from the north attacked them and the Spaniards with such fury that the Navajos were forced to move to the canyonlands of northwest New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. 

By taking with them Indians of various areas, the Navajos learned how to keep domestic animals, weaving, pottery-making, and even constructing stone masonry hogans.

Today the Navajos are the keepers of much of the historic places dating back to the Ancient Ones, the Anasazi, including The Canyon De Chelly, a National Park with prime examples of historic ruins and cliff dwellings.