The Long Walkto

Bosque Redondo

Creation Story

• The Sacred ancestors emerged

• The “Glittering World”• Built Sacred

Mountains from four sacred objects

SisnaajinMt.Blanca

TsoodzilMount Taylor

Dook-O-OosliidSan Francisco Peaks

Dibe NitsaaHesperus Peak

Sacred boundaries of the Dine’

• Homeland called Denetah

• Walk in the harmony that comes when all things are in balance- ho’zho

• Center of sacred boundaries

• Canyon de Chelly

The

Sacred

Canyon

De

Chelly

The Spanish Invasion• 1500’s peaceful villages raided

• Forced into slavery

Rock Chiseling

Why do you think the Spanish felt they could control the Navajo

peoples?

Petroglyphs found at Crow Canyon in Northwest New MexicoDepicting the Spanish invasion of the Navajo

US Arrive

• Brigadier General Steven Watts Keary arrive in Santa Fe

• Navajo life forever changed

• Navajo tried to live in peace with “New Men”

• Mexican raids continue

• Children sold

Navajo weaving

Why do you think the US ignored what was happening to the Navajo?

US Steals Navajo Land

• Tricking the Navajo people into treaties and agreement that served the purpose of the Americans

• Did not try to understand the Navajo people

• Dine’ scattered in family clans, bound by beliefs and land

• Many headmen or chiefs• Treaties not binding to all

Navajo beadwork

Fort Defiance built in 1851

Summer of 1858

• Severe drought

• Navajo return to land near Fort Defiance

• Cattle belonging to Navajo Headman Manuelito slaughtered

• Hostilities followed

• Bonneville Treaty ends hostilities

• Punishes the Navajos and steals more land

Manifest Destiny?

1860

• Faced with starvation the Navajo fight back

• Led by Manuelito they attack Fort Defiance to reclaim their land

• The campaign fails• Comly Treaty signed• Navajos given rations

Rock Chiseling

General Carlton

• Believed there were great riches

• Wanted to eliminate the Navajos

• In 1863 Carleton enlists Colonel Christopher “Kit" Carson

• His mission was to gather the Navajo people and remove them to Fort Sumner

Navajo sand painting

AnnihilationWhat other periods in history has

one culture tried to eliminate another?

Christopher “Kit” Carson

Carson’s Campaign

• Invade the sacred Canyon de Chelly

• Aided by Navajo enemy the Utes

• Forced the people from their homes

• Burned crops• Slaughtered cattle• Pivoted on coming winter• Starving Navajo had no

choice but to surrender

Rock Paintings

Navajo field

In

Canyon de Chelly

Petroglyph found in Largo Canyon, New Mexico, depicting the story of Carson’s campaign against the Navajo

The Actual Walk

• Several walks• First through Santa

Fe• Alternant routes

taken due to large numbers of Navajo

• Columns of more than five miles

The Long Walk

Conditions Along the Walk

• Harsh weather• Forced to sleep

outside• No shelter or

blankets• Little food• Food they could not

digest

March 4 1864

• 2500 Navajo

• General Carleton words

“The weather was very inclement, with terrible gales of wind and heavy snow. The Indians were nearly naked; and besides many died from dysentery from eating too heartily of half cooked bread from our flour to which they were not accustomed.”

•Many more than were expected•Walks ended •More than 8000 Navajo, Apache placed on the Reservation

Bosque Redondo

Acculturation?

On the Reservation• Crops fail due to poor soil• Little timber for shelter of firewood• Water bitter• Many became sick with stomach problems• Without their land and their corn the Navajo

were wasting away• Period from 1863 to 1868 darkest period in

Navajo history

Treaty of 1868

• Navajos return home• Fraction of their

original holdings• The Navajo have

survived and are one of the largest Indian tribes today

Father Sky and Mother EarthSand painting

Revitalization Movement

Navajo Children playing with their pets after a rain

Harrison Begay. 1955, Navajo artist

The Navajo Nation Today

Window Rock ArizonaWindow Rock is the administrative Capitol and administrative center of the Navajo Nation, getting its name from the hole in the 200 foot high sandstone hill (Window Rock)

BibliographyBail, Raymond. The Long Walk, The story of Navajo Captivity. New York: Cavendish. 2003

Bruchac, Joseph. Navajo Long Walk, The Tragic Story of a Proud People’s March from Their Homeland. Washington Geographic Society. 2002.

Fish, Peter. “The Riddle of Kit Carson”. Sunset. (2001): v206. Expanded Academic Index. Info Trac. Sunset.20 Mar. 2006 http://libproxy. vsc.edu:2093/itw/infomark

Roberts, David. “The Long Walk”. Smithsonian. 28(1997):46(10). Expanded Academic Index. vsc Info Trac: Smithsonian Institution. 20 Mar. 2006.< http://libproxy. vsc.edu:2093?itw/infomark>

University of New Mexico. The Long Walk. 2000.RETA. Museum of New Mexico office of Statewide Programs and Education. 18 Mar.2006.<http://reta.nmsu.edu/modules/longwalk/default.htm>

James, Ramon. Art of the Southwest: Sandpaintings of the Navajo. 30 Mar. 2006. http://canyonart.com/sandrugs.htm

James, Ramon. Crow Canyon Ruins. 30 Mar. 2006. http://www.neartime.com/ruins/CrowRockArt.htm