The supposed solutions that the U.S. implemented for the Long Walk and its aftermath were solely favorable for themselves, causing further damage to be inflicted upon the Navajo. In the year of 1866 Bosque Redondo was named a failure by the U.S. The Navajo lands were in such bad condition, because of the tactics used to force the Navajos out, that the land had none of the original benefits that the Americans thought it would have economically. (The Long Walk, Denetdale)
The picture above shows Navajos lining up at Fort Sumner, a military post on Bosque Redondo, to receive their rations.
(Navajo at Fort Sumner. Digital image. The Navajo Long Walk to the Bosque Redondo. Legends of America, 1864. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.) |
Not only was it not beneficial, it was actually harmful to the U.S. economy and the political reputation of General James Carleton who was in charge of the whole operation. Even with the small amount of food being given out individually on Bosque Redondo, the sheer amount of displaced Navajos caused the price of feeding the Navajo to be very large. (The Navajo of Utah, Maryboy and Begay) It cost an estimated “one million dollars a year to keep them captive” (Broken Rainbow 00:21:10 - 00:21:13). The money for running and providing for Bosque Redondo all came out of the American people’s taxes. By the time 1866 had rolled around, the taxpayers were fed up with paying taxes into what seemed to be a black hole of resources and receiving no apparent gain. The end to Bosque Redondo came after the taxpayers began to protest both the existence of the reservation and Carleton’s control of it. (Broken Rainbow)
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Finally, in 1868 the U.S. Senate passed a treaty between the U.S. and the Navajo allowing them to return to a smaller portion of their homeland. They were restricted to a reservation, had to agree to send their children to government sanctioned schools, and had to give up fighting forever. (U.S.-Navajo Treaty of 1868, Treaty of Fort Sumner, Treaty of Hwéeldi) In exchange for this, the Navajo “were released and given two sheep each” and allowed to return to their now limited homeland (Broken Rainbow 00:21:28 - 00:21:34). They were given a few horses, but nothing else for their passage back and many of them died on the long trip; so close to their freedom and home. (Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period, Roessel) The U.S. had given the Navajo a physical solution of where they could live and survive, but they could never "solve" the thousands of deaths caused by The Long Walk or the decades of grief that were to follow.
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Navajo pictured above right before they embark on their long journey back home from Bosque Redondo.
(National Archives. Navajo at Fort Sumner. Digital image. In a Navajo Way. The Sad Red Earth, 1868. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.) |
I hope to God that you will not ask me to go to any other country except my own.
-Barboncito, one of the 29 leaders who signed the Treaty of 1868