Once the Navajo returned from Bosque Redondo, they couldn’t just return to their normal lives because The Long Walk had ruined their economy. The Navajo were left with practically nothing, and the home that they had once known was destroyed. They were forced to rebuild everything from scratch. The land that the U.S. gave the Navajo was a lot less land than the Navajo originally had. The smaller space gave them less room for farming and raising livestock. The Navajo people also struggled finding jobs. Some people took any job they were able to find, no matter the danger, such as coal mining. They were poor, uneducated and traumatized from The Long Walk. The Navajo had to rebuild their hogans (houses) and some Navajo turned to a more modern way of life, building more modern houses. This was not at all what the Unites States had anticipated for the Navajos. The United States expected the Navajo to stay at Bosque Redondo; instead, they returned home to nothing. (Navajo, American Indian History)
Coal became a good and a bad thing for the Navajo. Coal mining has provided many Navajo with jobs, but the jobs are dangerous. Many people have gotten sick or injured from working in the mines. Also, because of their culture, the Navajo don't like their land being mined for resources. This video shows the effects of the U.S. mines in the Navajo Nation.
(Cursed by Coal: Mining the Navajo Nation. Vice News, 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.)
(Cursed by Coal: Mining the Navajo Nation. Vice News, 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.)