the march itself, known as the "long walk," was a harrowing 300-mile trek in which many navajo were exhausted and malnourished, and they faced cruelty from soldiers who, in one account, even refused to allow a pregnant woman to give birth . upon reaching bosque redondo, the conditions were dire"the water was brackish, and the round grove of trees was quite small", and crop failures were common due to poor management . despite the u.s. governments promises under the treaty of bosque redondo in 1868, life at the internment camp was fraught with difficulties. however, this treaty allowed the navajo to return to their ancestral lands, making the navajo one of the few tribes to be permitted to return to their homeland after forced displacement . in reflecting on the experience of the long walk, howard gorman, a navajo elder, noted, > our ancestors were taken captive and driven to hweldi for no reason at all. they were harmless people, and, even to date, we are the same, holding no harm for anybody... this statement encapsulates the lasting impact of the long walk on the navajo sense of identity and the generational trauma stemming from this event. the long walk is often cited as a formative moment in navajo history, deeply influencing their collective memory and identity. the trauma and hardships endured during this period are still felt by the navajo people today. the consequences of their internment, displacement, and the subsequent genetic bottleneck in navajo populations have had lasting health effects, and the cultural legacy continues to be reflected in navajo art, literature, and music.
United States