On a warm spring day, as twelve Navaho chiefs looked on, Lieut. General William Tecumseh Sherman dipped a pen and solemnly squiggled his name on the document before him. With that act in 1868, the U.S. formally promised that in return to the Navahos for keeping the peace, the Government would provide the tribe with a reservation (now extending into Arizona, Utah and New Mexico), schools, and at least one teacher for every 30 children. The promise has been badly kept. As recently as 1951, Mrs. Annie Wauneka, daughter of the last great Navaho chieftain, Chee Dodge, said sadly: "We will...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In