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Navajo Long Walk: Tragic Story of A Proud People's Forced March from Their Homeland
Powerfully written from the perspective of the Navajos and illustrated with deeply personal interpretations of historic events, this book sheds fresh light on a shameful episode of American history.
47 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2002
181 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Bruchac
279 books597 followersJoseph Bruchac lives with his wife, Carol, in the Adirondack mountain foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York, in the same house where his maternal grandparents raised him. Much of his writing draws on that land and his Abenaki ancestry. Although his American Indian heritage is only one part of an ethnic background that includes Slovak and English blood, those Native roots are the ones by which he has been most nourished. He, his younger sister Margaret, and his two grown sons, James and Jesse, continue to work extensively in projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture, language and traditional Native skills, including performing traditional and contemporary Abenaki music with the Dawnland Singers.
He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief. Forthcoming titles include Squanto's Journey (Harcourt), a picture book, Sacajawea (Harcourt), an historical novel, Crazy Horse's Vision (Lee & Low), a picture book, and Pushing Up The Sky (Dial), a collection of plays for children. His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature and both the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.
As a professional teller of the traditional tales of the Adirondacks and the Native peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Joe Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States from Florida to Hawaii and has been featured at such events as the British Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for Native American organizations and schools throughout the continent, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School. He discusses Native culture and his books and does storytelling programs at dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year as a visiting author.
He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief. Forthcoming titles include Squanto's Journey (Harcourt), a picture book, Sacajawea (Harcourt), an historical novel, Crazy Horse's Vision (Lee & Low), a picture book, and Pushing Up The Sky (Dial), a collection of plays for children. His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature and both the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.
As a professional teller of the traditional tales of the Adirondacks and the Native peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Joe Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States from Florida to Hawaii and has been featured at such events as the British Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for Native American organizations and schools throughout the continent, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School. He discusses Native culture and his books and does storytelling programs at dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year as a visiting author.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 18, 2023
Reviewed for THC Reviews
"4.5 stars" Navajo Long Walk is a non-fiction children’s book that’s aimed at middle-schoolers. It begins with a brief history of the Navajo people who lived in relative peace in the desert southwest until the Spaniards first came along and started colonizing the area that would become knows as New Mexico. The Spanish would then often raid Navajo rancherias, taking slaves, and sometimes the Navajo would retaliate with their own raids. This went on for a very long time, until in 1846, the U. S. Army took control of the New Mexico Territory. After that, the Navajo thought perhaps the United States government would deal fairly with them, but few U. S. representatives bothered to try to learn and understand Navajo ways. Instead they made and broke treaty after treaty, which eventually led to some of the Navajo feeling they had no other option but to break certain parts of the treaties themselves in order to simply survive.
Eventually General James H. Carleton was sent to be commander over the New Mexico Territory and he dealt very harshly with the Indians, forcing both Navajos and Apaches out of their homelands and compelling them to march 470 miles from Fort Canby on the Arizona/New Mexico border, all the way to the Bosque Redondo reservation near Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico. Many died or were killed along the way, and those who made it to the reservation found nothing but desolation. The area was virtually uninhabitable and the Indians were unable to grow crops or keep livestock. Even the rations sent by the U. S. government were tainted, leading to many more deaths. It wasn’t until 1865, when public outrage over the treatment of the Indians rose, that General Carleton was finally removed from command and control of the reservation was turned over to the Department of the Interior. When a Peace Commission was sent, headed up by General William Tecumseh Sherman who was appalled by the conditions at the reservation, the Navajo were finally allowed to return home. Once they began receiving some of the livestock promised them in a treaty, they were able to rebuild their lives and today have the largest Native American reservation in the United States.
I thought Navajo Long Walk was an interesting book that details a little-known piece of American history. I’m familiar with the Trail of Tears, but despite living in Arizona for many years, I’d never heard of this forced march of the Navajo. It’s a very sad, tragic tale that makes me angry on behalf of the Native Americans who were affected by the United States policies which caused so much destruction of culture and lives. General Carlton was one of those white people who believed in the “kill the Indian to save the man” approach, so he tried to mold them into the white man’s ways. He also seemed to think that the Bosque Redondo was some sort of Indian utopia and appeared to engage in some next-level gaslighting until others finally wised up and removed him from his post. I was happy to learn that General Sherman, a Civil War hero from my own hometown, was apparently a friend to the Indians and was instrumental in them being allowed to return to their lands. Since I’ve always been rather fascinated by Native American culture and history, I enjoyed learning more about the history of the Navajo. My only small complaint is that there were a lot of players in this story and not a lot of background on who they were, so it was a little hard to keep things straight at times, which might also present an issue for the middle-school audience at which it’s aimed. Otherwise, though, this was a well-written book. The illustrations, particularly the larger ones that take up a full page or sometimes even two, are beautifully rendered, museum quality paintings that are very evocative. So overall, this was a great book that was a pleasure to read.
"4.5 stars" Navajo Long Walk is a non-fiction children’s book that’s aimed at middle-schoolers. It begins with a brief history of the Navajo people who lived in relative peace in the desert southwest until the Spaniards first came along and started colonizing the area that would become knows as New Mexico. The Spanish would then often raid Navajo rancherias, taking slaves, and sometimes the Navajo would retaliate with their own raids. This went on for a very long time, until in 1846, the U. S. Army took control of the New Mexico Territory. After that, the Navajo thought perhaps the United States government would deal fairly with them, but few U. S. representatives bothered to try to learn and understand Navajo ways. Instead they made and broke treaty after treaty, which eventually led to some of the Navajo feeling they had no other option but to break certain parts of the treaties themselves in order to simply survive.
Eventually General James H. Carleton was sent to be commander over the New Mexico Territory and he dealt very harshly with the Indians, forcing both Navajos and Apaches out of their homelands and compelling them to march 470 miles from Fort Canby on the Arizona/New Mexico border, all the way to the Bosque Redondo reservation near Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico. Many died or were killed along the way, and those who made it to the reservation found nothing but desolation. The area was virtually uninhabitable and the Indians were unable to grow crops or keep livestock. Even the rations sent by the U. S. government were tainted, leading to many more deaths. It wasn’t until 1865, when public outrage over the treatment of the Indians rose, that General Carleton was finally removed from command and control of the reservation was turned over to the Department of the Interior. When a Peace Commission was sent, headed up by General William Tecumseh Sherman who was appalled by the conditions at the reservation, the Navajo were finally allowed to return home. Once they began receiving some of the livestock promised them in a treaty, they were able to rebuild their lives and today have the largest Native American reservation in the United States.
I thought Navajo Long Walk was an interesting book that details a little-known piece of American history. I’m familiar with the Trail of Tears, but despite living in Arizona for many years, I’d never heard of this forced march of the Navajo. It’s a very sad, tragic tale that makes me angry on behalf of the Native Americans who were affected by the United States policies which caused so much destruction of culture and lives. General Carlton was one of those white people who believed in the “kill the Indian to save the man” approach, so he tried to mold them into the white man’s ways. He also seemed to think that the Bosque Redondo was some sort of Indian utopia and appeared to engage in some next-level gaslighting until others finally wised up and removed him from his post. I was happy to learn that General Sherman, a Civil War hero from my own hometown, was apparently a friend to the Indians and was instrumental in them being allowed to return to their lands. Since I’ve always been rather fascinated by Native American culture and history, I enjoyed learning more about the history of the Navajo. My only small complaint is that there were a lot of players in this story and not a lot of background on who they were, so it was a little hard to keep things straight at times, which might also present an issue for the middle-school audience at which it’s aimed. Otherwise, though, this was a well-written book. The illustrations, particularly the larger ones that take up a full page or sometimes even two, are beautifully rendered, museum quality paintings that are very evocative. So overall, this was a great book that was a pleasure to read.
December 14, 2019
rating: 3.5
This appears to be a picture book for children, but it isn't. The facts are too dense, liberally strewn with dates and names which would mean nothing to kids.
The U.S. govt's treatment of the Navajos reminds me of Hitlers treatment of Jews ... 'tragic' to say the least.
Good intro to the connections between the Civil War and the Long Walk.
Begay's art captures the pain of the people. (And his skies are reminiscent of Van Gogh.)
This appears to be a picture book for children, but it isn't. The facts are too dense, liberally strewn with dates and names which would mean nothing to kids.
The U.S. govt's treatment of the Navajos reminds me of Hitlers treatment of Jews ... 'tragic' to say the least.
Good intro to the connections between the Civil War and the Long Walk.
Begay's art captures the pain of the people. (And his skies are reminiscent of Van Gogh.)
March 30, 2020
Navajo Long Walk: Tragic Story of A Proud People's Forced March from Their Homeland
by Joseph Bruchac
Joseph Bruchac is one of the primer Native American history sources. Starting with Sitting Bull, he has become one of my favorite authors of Native American history. He does not let the reader down with this story. Navajo Long walk, is the unknown and tragic story of how the southwest was conquered and exploited. Starting from first contact the Spanish used a policy of exploitation, and extermination. The Navajo people were killed, enslaved, and hunted. Treated as subhuman for centuries, and blamed for the violence that they repeated tit for tat. The Long walk is another story of this exploitation, the need to control them, to exterminate them. The leaders and the soldiers are the perpetrators. Like Joseph Bruchac says most of the time the Native American side was not always heard. I hope that students use this book to see the other side of the story.
Shonto Begay's art work will help children understand the conditions and the culture of the Navajo. His eye opening pieces bring the story to life in a way that is amazing.
by Joseph Bruchac
Joseph Bruchac is one of the primer Native American history sources. Starting with Sitting Bull, he has become one of my favorite authors of Native American history. He does not let the reader down with this story. Navajo Long walk, is the unknown and tragic story of how the southwest was conquered and exploited. Starting from first contact the Spanish used a policy of exploitation, and extermination. The Navajo people were killed, enslaved, and hunted. Treated as subhuman for centuries, and blamed for the violence that they repeated tit for tat. The Long walk is another story of this exploitation, the need to control them, to exterminate them. The leaders and the soldiers are the perpetrators. Like Joseph Bruchac says most of the time the Native American side was not always heard. I hope that students use this book to see the other side of the story.
Shonto Begay's art work will help children understand the conditions and the culture of the Navajo. His eye opening pieces bring the story to life in a way that is amazing.
January 25, 2022
Heartbreaking truth about the Navajo long walk.
Joseph Bruchac is the author
Shonto Begay is the illustrator. He includes a short commentary with each illustration.
In Bruchac's "Code Talkers" I learned that Begay was a name often given to children in residential schools.
Joseph Bruchac is the author
Shonto Begay is the illustrator. He includes a short commentary with each illustration.
In Bruchac's "Code Talkers" I learned that Begay was a name often given to children in residential schools.
July 10, 2022
Stunning art depicting the pain and beauty of the Diné people and their land. Tragic and essential story for all US citizens. This is a short but important introduction.
October 11, 2023
Powerful illustrations and an important story told.
May 1, 2015
Bruchac, J. (2002). Navajo Long Walk: Tragic Story Of A Proud Peoples Forced March From Homeland. National Geographic Children’s Book.
Theme/Topic: The experience and historical aspect of the Navajo tribe being forced off of their land.
Critique (comments, observations, questions):
Personally as a Native American, as well as a Navajo woman, I really loved this book because it taught me about my own people’s history. The only thing that I didn’t like about the book was that the writing style wasn’t interesting; it didn’t keep me interested, but because of the context I continued reading.
Various Teaching Ideas:
Teaching strategies that I would use this book for inside my classroom, especially in a native community, would be (1) teaching about the history of other tribes, which could encourage them to learn about their own tribe, (2) multiculturalism within tribal communities and throughout the world; and (3) making an opportunity to make illustrations that represent their tribe and people, such as how they did in this book.
Theme/Topic: The experience and historical aspect of the Navajo tribe being forced off of their land.
Critique (comments, observations, questions):
Personally as a Native American, as well as a Navajo woman, I really loved this book because it taught me about my own people’s history. The only thing that I didn’t like about the book was that the writing style wasn’t interesting; it didn’t keep me interested, but because of the context I continued reading.
Various Teaching Ideas:
Teaching strategies that I would use this book for inside my classroom, especially in a native community, would be (1) teaching about the history of other tribes, which could encourage them to learn about their own tribe, (2) multiculturalism within tribal communities and throughout the world; and (3) making an opportunity to make illustrations that represent their tribe and people, such as how they did in this book.
December 1, 2010
I'm really glad children are getting early exposure to the dark underbelly of American history. I don't think the Santa Claus version, the one that has to be replaced in middle and high school years by a version that addresses genocide and exploitation, does anyone any good. This book is an unflinching account of the ignorance and mendacity that governed Indian policy following the 'closing' of the frontier. It covers a lot of the same ground as Blood and Thunder, which I recently read, and it does a creditable job. My only complaint is that, perhaps, it goes too far in the revisionist, good Indian /bad white man direction. For example, kidnapping by New Mexicans is described as "slaving," whereas, when done by Navajos, it's called "taking prisoners."
April 28, 2011
This book will live in my classroom library as a resource for teaching westward expansion.A beautifully illustrated and written narrative that details the Navajo’s relocation from Canyon de Chelley, Arizona to Fort Sumner, Arizona. This historical account is one of many specific examples of how Native’s were treated in the midst of Europeans greed for territorial acquisition and colonization.
January 15, 2010
This was an interesting book. It is truly amazing any of them survived. One of the harshest parts in the story is when a woman gives birth the army wouldn't wait for her and then they went back and shot her as they marched the others on. Did they shoot her so she wouldn't die slowly or as an act of brutality? A short read by the National Geographic Society.
September 13, 2009
A heartbreaking piece of history too frequently overlooked.
January 5, 2015
Read this with Jonathan to prepare for his trip to the Grand Canyon. A part of American history that is not often told in detail in school.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews