All about the ancient tribes
It was around the beginning of spring 1864 that the ‘Long Walk’ began. Bands of Navajo led by the Army were transported from their native grounds in eastern Arizona Territory and western New Mexico Territory to Fort Sumner (located in a location known to the Navajo as the Bosque Redondo or Hwéeldi) in the Pecos River valley, where they remained until their deaths.
This campaign, also known as the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo, was carried out by the United States government between 1863 and 1864 to remove Native Americans from their homelands.
The following is a list of Native American reservations in the state of Arizona, in the United States. Pop. For the Tohono O’odham Nation, there are four distinct pieces of land under its jurisdiction, including the Tohono O’odham and San Xavier Indian Reservations, as well as the San Lucy district, which is located near Gila Bend.
The Bosque Redondo is a long walk for Navajo people. Navajos who had been captured and expelled referred to it as ″a reservation,″ but to them, it was nothing more than a deplorable prison camp. This campaign, also known as the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo, was carried out by the United States government between 1863 and 1864 to remove Native Americans from their homelands.
A last standoff at Canyon de Chelly resulted in the Navajo surrendering to Kit Carson and his forces in January 1864, ending the war. Upon ordering by his United States Army superiors, Carson destroyed their property and orchestrated the Long Walk to what was already held by Mescalero Apaches on the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation.
Forcibly moving more than 10,000 Navajo (Diné) to the Bosque Redondo Reservation at Fort Sumner, in what is now New Mexico, occurred between 1863 and 1866. Navajo (Diné) men, women, and children were marched between 250 and 450 miles by the United States military during the Long Walk. The distance varied according on the route taken.
The forcible relocation of the Navajo, which began in January 1864 and lasted two months, became known as the ‘Long Walk’ because of the length of time it took. Historical records state that around 8,500 people were forced to flee their homes in northeastern Arizona and northern New Mexico, including men, women, and children.
A forced removal, the United States Army drives the Navajo at gunpoint as they trek from their homelands in Arizona and New Mexico to Fort Sumner, 300 miles away at Bosque Redondo, as part of a forced relocation program. Hundreds of people die during the course of 18 days of marching.
The Navajo people refer to themselves as Diné, which means ‘the People.’ Legends about Diné ancestors claim that they arrived in southwestern Colorado from the fourth world through the San Juan Mountains, which border the Mesa Verde National Park to the northeast.
Navajo people are believed to have separated from the Southern Athabaskans and moved into the Southwest between 200 and 1300 AD, according to anthropological theories. From around 900 to 1525 A.D., the Navajos flourished in the area that is now northern New Mexico, developing a thriving and diverse society.