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A look at America's dark past: The history of the Navajo Long Walk to Bosque Redondo
By Vincent Rodriguez. KOAT
A look at America's dark past: The history of the Navajo Long Walk to Bosque Redondo
OF THEIR HOMELAND. HERE’S TODD KURTZ. THIS IS A BRUTAL STORY TO HEAR. IT’S HARD TO EVEN FATHOM WHAT NAVAJO PEOPLE ENDURED LEADING UP TO THE LONG WALK. HISTORIANS SAY KIT CARSON WAS ORDERED TO DEFEAT THE NAVAJO. THEY SAY HE BURNED VILLAGES, SLAUGHTERED LIVESTOCK AND DESTROYED WATER SOURCES ON NAVAJO LAND TO CRIPPLE THE PEOPLE LIVING THERE. IT FORCED THOUSANDS TO SURRENDER AND MAKE THAT MARCH ANYWHERE FROM 250 TO 450 MILES DOWN TO BOSQUE REDONDO, WHERE THIS MUSEUM IS NOW FINISHED. THE MUSEUM DOCUMENTS THE FOUR YEARS WHERE 10,000 NAVAJO AND ABOUT 500 MESCALERO APACHE WERE FORCED OUT OF THEIR HOMELAND BY THE US GOVERNMENT. HISTORIANS SAY IT WAS TO ELIMINATE THEIR WAY OF LIFE TOO MANY NATIVES. THIS WAS THEIR HOLOCAUST. SIX VERY HARD AND HORRIBLE YEARS FOR THE NAVAJO PEOPLE. FOUR YEARS OF FORCED INTERNMENT AND TWO YEARS OF FORCED REMOVAL TO BOSQUE REDONDO, NEW MEXICO. THOUSANDS DIED AS ADULTS RELENTLESSLY RESISTED AND LETTERS FROM THE TIME SHOW AMERICAN LEADERS THEN FOCUSED ON WHAT THEY CALLED CIVILIZING THE YOUNG WHO WERE MORE MALLEABLE. IT WAS A TERRIBLE EXPERIMENT. IT A DISASTER, REALLY ATTEMPTING TO ASSIMILATE WHAT THE NAVAJO PEOPLE FORCED THEM TO BECOME CULTURALLY AMERICAN. WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE STORY WAS RIGHT AND IT WAS TRUTHFUL. SO WHEN YOU WALK INTO THE EXHIBIT, YOU’RE GOING TO IT’S IT’S A VERY IT IS VERY EMOTIONAL FOR THE BOSQUE REDONDO MUSEUM IS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE STATE AND TRIBAL PARTNERS IN THE CEILING. THERE ARE OVER 10,000 LIGHTS THAT ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE 10,000 SOULS THAT WERE HERE. THE PHOTOS AND ARTIFACTS AND STORIES THAT ACCOMPANY THEM ARE HEARTBREAKING. SO THERE IS SPACE AT THE END TO TAKE A MOMENT AND DECOMPRESS. YOU CAN ACTUALLY WRITE DOWN YOUR RESPONSES IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT MEDIAS, AND SO YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO LEAVE YOUR VOICE. HEAR, FEEL HEARD BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE BOSQUE REDONDO MUSEUM IS IN FORT SUMNER. IT’S OPEN WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAYS FROM 10 TO 4. NO MATTER YOUR HERITAGE OR BACKGROUND, YOU ARE SURE TO LEARN AND BE MOVED AS YOU WALK THROUGH THIS EXHIBIT. BACK TO YOU. THE TREATY OF 1868 ALLOWED THE NAVAJO TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND,
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A look at America's dark past: The history of the Navajo Long Walk to Bosque Redondo
By Vincent Rodriguez. KOAT
It's a brutal story to hear, one that is hard to fathom what the Navajo people endured in the 1800s as America was expanding to the West.An entire nation, 10,000 Navajo people, along with 500 Mescalero Apache, were forced out of their homeland by the United States Government.How the government did it? The answer is a hard one to hear.Learn more: New exhibit remembering the Long Walk opens in New MexicoHistorians say in the 1800's Kit Carson was ordered to "defeat" the Navajo People. Historians say Carson did this by burning villages, slaughtering livestock and destroying water sources on the Navajo homeland. This was meant to cripple the people living there.It forced thousands of Navajo to surrender. After that surrender, historians say the Navajo people were forced to march anywhere between 250 to 450 miles from the Four Corners area to the Bosque Redondo Reservation, which is near present-day Fort Sumner, New Mexico.Today, a museum stands where Bosque Redondo once was.The museum documents the 4 years where the Navajo and Mescalero Apache people were forced to stay after being removed from their homelands. Historians say it was a way to eliminate the way of life for those Indigenous cultures.Honoring Native American Heritage Month: Project CommUNITYThousands died at Bosque Redondo as adults relentlessly resisted.Letters from the time show American leaders focused on what they called "civilizing" the young children. Historians say it was to force the Navajo and Mescalero Apache people to become culturally American.The museum hopes to tell the story of the Long Walk and the time both Indigenous cultures were forced to stay on the land along the Pecos River. It's a collaboration between state and tribal partners.Photos and artifacts at the museum tell a heartbreaking story and those at the museum hope those who visit take a moment to reflect and decompress after learning about this tragic moment in history.The Bosque Redondo Memorial is located in Fort Sumner and can be visited Wednesday through Sunday.
FORT SUMNER, N.M. —

It's a brutal story to hear, one that is hard to fathom what the Navajo people endured in the 1800s as America was expanding to the West.

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An entire nation, 10,000 Navajo people, along with 500 Mescalero Apache, were forced out of their homeland by the United States Government.

How the government did it? The answer is a hard one to hear.

Learn more: New exhibit remembering the Long Walk opens in New Mexico

Historians say in the 1800's Kit Carson was ordered to "defeat" the Navajo People. Historians say Carson did this by burning villages, slaughtering livestock and destroying water sources on the Navajo homeland. This was meant to cripple the people living there.

It forced thousands of Navajo to surrender. After that surrender, historians say the Navajo people were forced to march anywhere between 250 to 450 miles from the Four Corners area to the Bosque Redondo Reservation, which is near present-day Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

Today, a museum stands where Bosque Redondo once was.

The museum documents the 4 years where the Navajo and Mescalero Apache people were forced to stay after being removed from their homelands. Historians say it was a way to eliminate the way of life for those Indigenous cultures.

Honoring Native American Heritage Month: Project CommUNITY

Thousands died at Bosque Redondo as adults relentlessly resisted.

Letters from the time show American leaders focused on what they called "civilizing" the young children. Historians say it was to force the Navajo and Mescalero Apache people to become culturally American.

The museum hopes to tell the story of the Long Walk and the time both Indigenous cultures were forced to stay on the land along the Pecos River. It's a collaboration between state and tribal partners.

Photos and artifacts at the museum tell a heartbreaking story and those at the museum hope those who visit take a moment to reflect and decompress after learning about this tragic moment in history.

The Bosque Redondo Memorial is located in Fort Sumner and can be visited Wednesday through Sunday.