They are called the Canoncito Band of Navajos in government documents by congress, the administration, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and also by themselves. This band of Navajos traditionally lived on and around the Mt Taylor region for centuries. They called Cabolleta their home until they were removed to Ft. Sumner in eastern New Mexico. The government used them to build quarters for the soldiers, command post, and administrative offices for what was to be known by the Navajos as Hwéeldi. Building with adobe was a skill they learned from the earlier foreigners, the Spanish and the Mexicans.
In 1868, they were required by the Navajo Treaty of 1868 to go and live in the new treaty reservation in northwest New Mexico and northeastern Arizona along with the other Navajos of Dinétah. They didn’t want to live far from their traditional homeland, so they negotiated their return to the Mt. Taylor region in exchange for exclusion from the provisions of the new treaty.
When the band returned to their homeland, they found that the Mexicans and Pueblos had taken their property. For many years, they tried to live with the newcomers but found overwhelming hardship and too restrictive. They could not live “as the deer” as they had in previous centuries. Eventually, they moved east to the “little canyon” or Canoncito.
In one of the canyons, a natural spring always had abundant water approximately 30 feet down from the canyon cliff. People went there to collect water for domestic use. To fetch water, it was a practice to tie a rope or cord to an earthen jar and drop it into the water. When the jar was full, it was hoisted up and the contents emptied into a larger container. The cycle continued until the hauling container was full. The process of catching the water and hoisting up is called tó hajiileeh (water one hoists (it) up) in Navajo. The term refers to a person bringing up the water.
In Navajo naming convention, verbs or clauses can be converted to nouns or names of things and people by the use of the suffix -nii. So in that wise, a group of people who host water up can be referred to as Tó hajiileehnii. That could mean clan or tribe of water well gatherers.
Recently, the meaning of that term was extended to refer to the place of Canoncito. Today, both terms are used interchangeably. However, the descendants of the original Canoncito band have a preference for the historical Canoncito.