Coming home
Re-encatment remembers Treaty Day

Shirdan Wilson, portraying Chief Manuelito, listens during a re-enactment of the signing of the Treaty of 1868 at the Navajo Nation Museum Wednesday. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo people knew they would be returning home from the hated Bosque Redondo when they placed a stone in a coyote’s mouth and it headed west, Barbara Morgan of the Office of Diné Culture, Language and Community Service said.

The signing of the Treaty of 1868 between the Navajo and the U.S. government ended the Navajo imprisonment at Bosque Redondo, or Hweeldi as it is known in Navajo, after the Long Walk.

Thousands of Navajos surrounded the building at Bosque Redondo as the Navajo chiefs and headmen met with Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and signed the treaty on June 1, 1868. Subsequently, the Navajo people returned to their beloved homeland.

The Navajo Nation Museum presented Treaty Day activities Wednesday to observe the signing and provide education about the time leading to the forced relocation to Hweeldi and the result of the signing of the treaty.

A re-enactment of the historic signing was a highlight of the day and showed how the discussions had to be interpreted for the Navajo chiefs and headmen and Sherman.

The re-enactment starred Tsehootsooi Diné Bi Olta students and historian Martin Link.

The third- and fourth-grade students worked on the re-enactment for a month. Link, an expert on the treaty, filled in as Sherman when the original cast member didn’t show.

Barsine Benally, one of the teachers, said that she thought they did an excellent job.

“They were perfect for the part because they understand the importance of the treaty,” she said.

Benally added that she would like to see the re-enactment done every year.

Rachelle Todea of St. Michaels said that it was interesting to see how the boys learned they have a role as Navajo men through their participation in the play.

“The portrayal of them — from little boys playing with rocks and friends to being men — I think that was really a strong portrayal,” she said.

The day had educational benefits for those in attendance.

Michelle McNeal was there to see her children Nathan, Taylor and Caleb in the play. Nathan Enoah played the part of Indian agent Theodore H. Dodd

McNeal admitted she didn’t know much about the Treaty of 1868 except for what she learned from her children’s participation in the Treaty Day.

While she took a Navajo studies course before, she didn’t learn much about the treaty then, but her children are now enrolled at the Navajo language immersion school “so they can learn their culture.”

Clifford Jack came from Shiprock to be a part of the activities Wednesday. He organizes an annual honor run to Fort Sumner, which will be held June 19-21 this year.

“We are also educating about our ancestor’s story,” Jack said.

He said that when he does presentations, he asks who the Long Walk and the imprisonment at Hweeldi happened to, and the answer is usually, “Those Navajos.” That is the wrong answer, he said.

“It happened to us,” he said.

Jack spoke about the generational trauma that exists because people have not dealt with what happened in the past.

Morgan, an education specialist with the tribe, showed a presentation with photographs of the imprisonment courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.

The photographs showed the huts that the Navajos would build at the reservation. In many photos, the Navajos are crowded together and the horses are so skinny, their ribs are showing.

Morgan spoke about the treaties that were signed with the U.S. government before Kit Carson’s scorched earth policy and the Long Walk.

“The U.S. government had a misconception we only had one chief,” she said. Instead there were several bands of Navajos, she said.

On Jan. 15, 1864, Secretary of Interior Usher recommended the establishment of a 40-square mile reservation at Bosque Redondo for Apaches.

James Carleton envisioned the Navajos living in a pueblo, Morgan said. However, he had to begin begging for more supplies when more Navajos showed up than anticipated.

“He didn’t realize there would be so many,” Morgan said.

Crops failed for various reasons in the alkaline soil at Bosque Redondo and the Navajos wanted to return home.

Since the U.S. government did not have the resources to feed the Navajo prisoners, Sherman offered to send them to Oklahoma but his offer was refused.

Barboncito eloquently and successfully argued to return to their homeland.

After returning, the Navajo people had to deal with the provision of the treaty to send their children to school, Morgan said.

Other activities at the Treaty Day included a reading of the treaty in the Diné language by Charles Long, legislative staff assistant for the Office of the Speaker, and film screenings of “Long Walk: Tears of the Navajo,” “Canyon de Chelly Through Navajo Eyes,” and “One Step Left.”

Museum director Manuelito Wheeler gave closing remarks.
The museum provided copies of the treaty for participants.