The Navajo Long Walk
Introduction
The Navajo Long Walk was a very sad part
in our history because the settlers forced the Navajo off their land and
onto a reservation (in the northern part of Arizona and the northwest part
of New Mexico) to Ft.Sumner, New Mexico. This was a 300 mile
journey which took about one year.
About the Navajo
The Navajo are a large Indian tribe that
lived in the southwestern part of the U.S. The Navajo are an Indian
group that live in houses called hogans. They broke off of another
group and now they call themselves Dineh which means "the people"
Who and Why
The reason the Navajo long walk got started
is because in 1851 the U.S. built a fort on the Navajo land causing tensions
between the Navajo and the U.S. Then the Americans forced the Navajo
to sign a treaty saying they had to live on a reservation. Ft. Sumner
is on the Bosgue Rendondo Reservation.
Kit Carson gave the Navajo one month
to start walking. But the Navajo didn't start walking in that month.
So the U.S. took action they burned their crops which almost drove them
to starvation. Finally the Navajo gave up and walked the 300
mile journey to Bosque Rendondo Reservation.
The person who started the long walk
is General James Charleton. He ordered Scout Kit Carson to push the
Navajo off their land.
When It happened
The long walk started in January of 1864.
The Navajo Indians were walking for three months. They lived on the
reservation for about four years. Then in 1868 they went back to
their original land to rebuild their lives.
Quotes
Some quotes by Chief Manuelito are, "The
Americans fought fair, we like them. After war soldiers built fort here,
why here of all land why here? Americans gave us an agent who advised
us to behave well. Now our agent says to live peacefully with Americans
we say no he say yes. The American nation is too strong to fight,
also for us to win. We got told to move on a reservation many of
our people die from climate."
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| This is a picture of Kit Carson a main person in starting
the long walk |
This is a map of the long walk |
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| This is a part of the Navajo tribe |
Here are some people at Ft. Sumner |
Bibliography
"Navajo Indians." The World Book Encyclopedia.
1999.
Perrin, Pat. Native Americans, Researching American
History. Carlisle:Discovery Enterprises
Walden, Carl. Atlas of The North American Indian.
New York:Facts on File
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