I came across this Wikimedia map and was reminded of the size of the Navajo Nation (the large territory around northeast Arizona, the orange area not included) and also of how much larger it is than most other territories.
That prompted my curiosity as to what factors led to the Navajo Nation being the size it is compared to other tribal territories, most of which are considerably smaller. As such I'm not particularly asking why other territories are the size they are, just why the Navajo Nation in particular is so large.
To follow up and expand, were the relative lateness (1868) of the reservation's establishment, and the apparent poverty of much of the territory given factors in the difference between this and other reservations?
Add-on trivia - If you're travelling through that area in during daylight savings time, prepare for fun. I traveled once from Nevada to the Hopi reservation, which is located entirely within the Navajo land. Nevada uses DST. Arizona does not. The Navajo do. The Hopi do not. You can change the clock four times over the course of some hundred miles.
