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Authors: Nancy M. Armstrong

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BOOK: Navajo Long Walk
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Suddenly Kee was filled with hatred. White soldiers had taken their herd of sheep. They must find a way of getting revenge. “My father is right,” he said. “We must never surrender.”

Chapter Three
Soldiers Find the Canyon

Many families were hiding in caves in the canyon. Navajo scouts told them that white soldiers were often seen on the rim of the canyon searching for ways to get down the steep sides. Kee knew that farther up the canyon, trails known only to Indians wound around, the steep rocks. It was possible to get out of the canyon on foot or horseback, but these trails were dangerous because they were so steep and narrow.

Food was scarce. Already frost had killed what crops were left in the gardens. Women of the same clan as Wise One came in the night begging for food to feed their children. Wise One told Kee and Hasba that sharing had always been an important part of their way of life. It had helped the Navajos as well as other tribes survive many hardships in the past. Kee was not surprised when she said that they must share as much of their food as they could.

It was not safe to let the animals out to graze where they could be seen from the rim. Each night Kee and his father went into the canyon to cut grass for them.

Finally, one by one, Strong Man killed their sheep. There were so few of them that they hated to see even one of them go. Winter was coming and it was cool enough so the meat would keep. They ate only small amounts
so it would last as long as possible, and Wise One used the bones and marrow to make soup.

Gray Dog gnawed at what remained of the bones, and kept himself alive mostly by catching mice, pack rats, and chipmunks. Once Kee saw him catch a small black, tuft-eared squirrel.

When five of the six sheep had been eaten, the children knew the last one had to go. They ate only a little corn meal that day, with a few of last year's piñon nuts and some bitter juniper berries mixed in, and Kee knew that although his father never showed his grief, Strong Man's feelings about killing the last of the sheep were as strong as his own. Kee watched as Hasba put her arms around the sheep, talked to it, and cried into the wool on its neck. Kee stood by, showing no emotion. He was glad his father did not see the tears that trickled down his face. When he was helping Strong Man skin and dress out the sheep, he noticed that Hasba was nowhere to be seen.

The goat ate any dry grass and brush Kee could find for it, but it got thin and quit giving any milk. When all the mutton was gone, the goat had to be eaten, too. Although some winters in the canyon were without snow, it snowed often that year of 1864, adding to the misery of the hungry Navajos.

Late one night, the scout, Long Earrings, came to Strong Man's cave to warn him that Kit Carson, with four hundred soldiers, was setting up camp at the west mouth of the canyon. The canyon had two branches and Long Earrings asked Strong Man to ride up one branch while he rode up the other. “Tell the people to put out their fires in the daytime, hide any animals they have, and keep out of sight.”

After Strong Man rode away, Wise One said, “Kee, go and bring Small Burro into the cave.”

Kee called Gray Dog from the back of the cave to go with him. He said to his grandmother, “Do not worry. We shall all be safe here together.”

Wise One sighed. “Safety is not much use, child, if we are to starve.”

Strong Man did not return that night. Hasba cried because he was not there when she awoke. “He is hiding today. He will come tonight,” Kee said. “Do not be afraid.” But Strong Man did not come that night either.

The following day, when afternoon shadows were filling the canyon, the three in the cave saw soldiers and mules floundering through snow toward the west end of the canyon. White soldiers had somehow discovered a way in from the east end, and were on their way to join Kit Carson at the west end.

The path along the stream bed was covered with thin ice. At times the mules' hoofs broke through the ice. The animals rolled and struggled to keep their footing. Men slipped and fell. Watching from the cold cave, Kee laughed at their struggles. He could tell from the way Wise One made soft little clickings with her tongue that she was sorry for the white men. He wondered how she could be. They were the cause of all their troubles. Then, to Kee's great surprise, he saw many Navajo men, women, and children, following the soldiers. They were surrendering! Kee could feel only contempt for them.

Chapter Four
Time to Surrender

The following morning was gloomy, threatening more snow. Strong Man had not returned. Wise One brought their only sack of dried corn from the storage space at the back of the cave. She gave each of the children a small handful for their breakfast. She gave Gray Dog a smaller handful, then searched out a few corn husks for Small Burro. She sat and looked sorrowfully at the children as she slowly chewed her small portion of the hard corn. Then she folded their sheepskins and blankets and laid them across Small Burro's back.

“Where are we going?” Kee asked, but Wise One did not answer. Kee worried as he helped her carry their few belongings out of the cave and stack them neatly near Small Burro. He understood why his grandmother would feel that they must now try to escape from the canyon, but where would they go? There was no safer place. He wanted to ask again, but he knew she would not talk until she was ready.

Finally, she sat on a rock ledge just outside the cave and, holding her thin arms out toward Hasba and Kee, she beckoned them to her. Hasba ran and sat on her grandmother's lap. Kee followed and tried to read his grandmother's eyes as he waited quietly for her to speak.

Finally, Wise One reached out and took his hand. “We
are going to the white soldier's camp. To make peace with them is the only way left to us.”

Kee stiffened and pulled away. “No, Grandmother. No! We can't do that. Father would be very angry!”

Hasba cried. “We cannot leave here, Grandmother. Father will not know where we are. He will not be able to find us.”

“He will find us, little one. He will know there is no other place for us to go. Let us start now before more snow comes.”

Wise One tied her cooking pot and water jug on Small Burro's back, and carried the sack of precious corn herself. Kee guided the donkey over the rocks down to the trail. “You could ride behind the things or Small Burro,” he said to his grandmother.

“No, it is enough for him to carry our belongings. He is too weak to carry me, too.”

Upon reaching the garden patch, they were horrified to discover all their peach trees had been cut down. The day before Kee had heard chopping sounds echoing along the canyon walls and decided the soldiers must be gathering fire wood. Now he saw they had been destroying the peach trees, another way of starving the Navajos into surrender, and making sure they did not try to come back.

Wise One walked among the fallen trees looking as if she had just lost many good friends. Kee could not look at her unhappy face. Anger rose up within him. He held back. He wanted nothing to do with the cruel soldiers. How could they do this to people who had done them no harm? He wanted to drag Grandmother and Hasba back to the cave, to run away and try to hide in the mountains, anywhere. He was sure Wise One must hate the soldiers as much as he, but he also knew she would
say it was better to cooperate with them than to starve or freeze alone in the mountains.

Wise One walked on to the brush-covered summer hogan. Mice had built a nest inside, away from the snow. Gray Dog was happy to discover them. Small Burro pawed the ground finding a few soggy cornstalks under the snow, but the family found nothing they could use.

Walking was not difficult since the snow had been trampled into a trail by men and mules the day before. Before they saw the soldiers' camp that dark, stormy afternoon, they could smell meat cooking. Kee's stomach churned, and growled. He looked at Hasba, and their steps quickened a little. Then Hasba stopped, saying, “It is the white man's food. They will not give us any.”

Kee's heart thumped as they neared the camp. He knew Hasba was afraid also. If Wise One felt fear she did not show it. They were almost to the first tent when a Navajo they knew by the name of Many Goats appeared. “Greetings, Wise One.” he said, “You show wisdom in coming here. Where is Strong Man?”

“Long Earrings asked him to take messages to our people. When he is finished, he will come to find us.”

With all his heart, Kee hoped what Wise One said was true. He was afraid his father had been killed by white soldiers, or had gone away from Navajoland rather than surrender.

Many Goats said, “Come with me. I will take you to Colonel Carson. Do not be afraid. He treats kindly the Navajos who surrender. I will tell you what he says, and will tell him what you say.”

“You are a smart man to learn the white man's language,” Wise One said.

“Someday all Navajos will learn it, I think,” Many Goats replied.

A look of scorn crossed Kee's face. To himself he said, “Here is one Navajo who will not learn the white man's ugly language.”

Colonel Carson was not big. He would scarcely have reached Strong Man's shoulder. In a quiet voice he spoke to Many Goats, who then said, “Colonel Carson is glad you have come. He hopes all Navajos will come. He want us all to gather at Fort Defiance. There we will be fed until plans can be made for us to go to Fort Sumner, which will be our new home.”

Kee thought, “He only asks us to give up our home and our way of life. How would he feel if someone asked the same of him?”

What kind of meat Strong Man's family ate that night they could not tell. Most likely, it was horse or oxen stewing in the big vessels on the campfires. They were given their fill of the tough meat with a bit left over for Gray Dog.

The tired family rolled up in their sheepskins on the ground, between two tents. Wise One rested with her head on Small Burro's side. He was stretched out full length soaking up the warmth of the fire. Gray Dog curled up with Kee. The boy ached with longing for his father. He strongly felt the Diné, a proud people, should not be sleeping at the white man's fire.

BOOK: Navajo Long Walk
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