Talk:Long Walk of the Navajo

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View comments (edit) Good and could use a little more Navajo point of view Also needs sources cited in-line, not just at the bottom of the article --Miskwito 18:05, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

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[edit] Comment

Overall this is a good description suitable for someone who wants a little more information.

I am a non-NA but think it needs more of a Navajo point of view expressed perhaps in the last sentence

"On June 18, 1868, the once-scattered bands of people who called themselves Diné, now united as one, set off on the return journey, the Long Walk Home."

For example, not many peoples were removed from their land and then later were told to return, certainly not in the volume of the Navajo. How many other reservations increased in size? Something happened in the period of the Long Walk. I am sorry I can not find the quote of a Navajo whose words were written. I remember something like, "Some Navajo were bad. We went on The Long Walk. We returned to the Navajo Way and went back to our land. It has been that way ever since." There was more going on than White greed, quality and quanity of the US military. My opinion --Rcollman 11:50, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia: The plan was originated by Gen. James H. Carleton, the U.S. Army commander for the New Mexico region, and executed by Kit Carson, who used a scorched earth campaign to divide the Navajo people, and starve them out of their traditional homeland, Carleton also asked Carson to kill all the Mescalero Apache men. Gen. Carleton sought primarily to "pacify the natives," but also believed Navajo land to be rich in gold, and it was thought the presence of hostile Indians would impede mining.

RC Comment: The US Military in the Military Department of New Mexico retracted units at the start of the Civil War, 1861. Once the North started pushing the Texans out of New Mexico, the military looked at the Navajos. Canby was the Commander of the NM Department, who sent Colonel Carson and 4 divisions of NM Volunteers to Ft. Wingate. Canby also had the idea of seperating and educating the Navajo in modern farming practices. General Carleton who commanded the California Volunteers relieved Canby in Sept 1862. It was Carleton who gave Carson the order and put his own spin on Canby's reservation idea. Carson did not divide as much as force bands out of their traditional areas by destroying crops and livestock.

RC Comment: I made the edit called "Edit by an Anglo" when I was not logged in. --Rcollman 23:42, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Number of dead

David Williams, in A People's History of the Civil War, says that "of the more than eight thousand Navajos who started the journey, three thousand died on the Long Walk." He cites two sources. That's a far cry from the two hundred mentioned in this article.Lexi McCologist 18:49, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

What sources does he quote? With all due respect, that would probably be the long walk of the Cherokee peoples in what is called Trail of Tears? Even if I wanted to believe that the military lied to hide such a high number of deaths for the Navajos, Navajo oral tradition does not confirm that number, and Navajos know more than me :) Just goes to show you can't always believe what you read. --Rcollman 17:55, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps Williams is conflating the 2000 most frequently cited as the number who died at Bosque Redondo with the 200 generally said to have died along the way. It seems odd to leave out the larger number. 65.103.188.100 05:23, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Frankly, 2000 Navajos would be 20% or more of all Navajos in 1868. Navajo oral tradition would take note of this. I would expect to read about the deaths in Stories of the Long Walk and there is no mention of this ! Nor do I find anything like this in the dozen or so books on Navajo History in my library. What are the citations or sources for this very suspect figure? "Two sources" and "frequently" are not specific enough. Pease see Trail of Tears Thanks--Rcollman 03:23, 9 June 2007 (UTC)