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Why was the Navajo journey home so remarkable?

Select up to five sources that best support your argument about why the Navajo journey home was so remarkable. Use the arrows to browse through the sources and then choose the “Add to Evidence Kit” button to add a source.

Teacher Instructions
Shonto Begay, Long Walk
When the Navajo (Diné) were forcibly marched to the internment camp known as Bosque Redondo, they suffered enormous loss and horrific conditions at the hands of the United States government.
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The Blanket Weaver
The Navajo (Diné) tradition of weaving was essential during both the Long Walk and internment at Bosque Redondo. As explained by Navajo tribal member Ezekiel Argeanas (Diné), “Their [women’s] knowledge of weaving and the Churro sheep... at Bosque Redondo played an important role in our ancestors surviving during a time that was such a tragedy.”
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Navajo Indian Captives Under Guard
Mention of the years at Bosque Redondo brings up nothing but bad memories for the Navajo (Diné). Once interned, leaders of the Navajo (Diné) Nation continued to find ways to take care of their people and look for ways to return home.
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Barboncito Quote
Facing reports of the appalling conditions at Bosque Redondo and a realization that it could not sustain the camp, the United States sent peace commissioners to negotiate with the Navajo (Diné).
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Navajo Women and Children at Fort Sumner
Navajo (Diné) oral history tells how the Navajo (Diné) people tried to negotiate in order to return to their homelands. Local Navajo (Diné) leader Pete Price recalls how the men at first failed to prevail in negotiations.
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Studio portrait
Finally, the Navajo (Diné) Nation and the United States met to negotiate the 1868 Treaty. Navajo (Diné) leaders Manuelito and Chief Barboncito negotiated on behalf of the Navajo (Diné).
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Illustration
Harsh living conditions at Bosque Redondo shocked both General William Tecumseh Sherman and Peace Commissioner Samuel Forster Tappan. Two thousand Navajo (Diné) internees, one out of four, died there, of dysentery, exposure, or starvation..., and are buried in unmarked graves. After four long years, Navajo (Diné) leaders, along with pleas from many Navajo (Diné) women, successfully persuaded Sherman to allow their people to return to their homelands.
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Illustration
Once they passed Albuquerque and the Rio Grande River, they saw their sacred Tsoodził, Mount Taylor, and thanked the Holy People for answering their prayers.
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Manuelito Quote
Once they passed Albuquerque and the Rio Grande River, they saw their sacred Tsoodził, Mount Taylor, and thanked the Holy People for answering their prayers.
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Illustration
Dinétah, as the Navajo (Diné) call their homelands, is the foundation of generations of knowledge about the environment, practices related to survival, and teachings about origin stories and ceremonies.
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Map
The Navajo (Diné) were able to regain a major portion of their lands in the Four Corners area of the Southwest, and they continued to expand their nation’s boundaries in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
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Photographs
How we live—our culture—is reflected in the lessons and practices passed through generations. Navajo (Diné) people continue to reaffirm and strengthen culture through their language, their religious ceremonies, and their arts...—such as the making of distinctive silver jewelry.
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