Navajo Resistance Essay Research Paper The Navajo

Navajo Resistance Essay, Research Paper

The Navajo s Struggle for Survival

There are many ways to define the word resistance. One way that the Standard College Dictionary defines it as: To strive against; the act of resistance; act counter to for the purpose of stopping, preventing, defeating, etc. That s how the dictionary defines it. Personally, my definition of resistance is the act of being against someone s orders, rules, or demands. The reason why we resist some of these orders, rules, or demands is because our belief, morals, and religion come into play. The way that we were brought up plays a big role in our ability of making our own decisions. If we were brought up one way, and someone tries to force us to become someone else, or to mold us into something else, we would not feel right. Due to the fact that we grew attached to many ideas, beliefs and religion. The only natural thing to do is to refuse to give in to the idea of change. It s a basic and a natural instinct. That s exactly what the Navajos carried out. The Navajos rejected the idea of being force to become civilized, even after being put into the Bosque Redondo Camp. The only thing to do now was to survive and by all means refuse to accept the idea of becoming civilized. There were several activities that the Navajos executed while they remained at the camps which showed there resistance against the ideas of General Carleton of forcing them to become civilized.

One of the activities that the Navajos resisted against was the idea of sending their children to school and get educated. To the Navajos it seemed like a good idea, but they had other things in mind. Such as: worrying how are they going to gather the next meal to feed their families. They were living in the worst conditions imaginable. No food, shelter, or extra spare of clothes. They were very venerable to the conditions they were put in. For those reasons many of them got sick and eventually past away. But they did consider the advantages of the education program. Most of them took advantage of the opportunities given. Thinking about survival, they took such training in Carpentry, leatherworking, and blacksmithing (Osburn, The Navajos at The Bosque Redondo: Cooperation, Resistance, and Initiative, 159). These programs are very useful only when the resources are available. When realizing that the resources were not available, they changed their priorities. Education was the very last thing on their list. Their primary priority was to find a way to get food and survive. As the Osburn states, Yet the Indians claimed they were not opposed to education; they were simply more absorbed with the immediate concern of daily survival and considered the benefits of education to be peripheral to more urgent matters, such as obtaining enough food to fend off starvation. Their attempt to procure money and extra ration coupons for sending their children to school demonstrates the Indians shrewd survival strategy (159). The Navajos used simple and obvious strategies just to stay alive. It s very much like if your stranded in an island, away from civilization. Your first instinct is not to worry about your make-up or your clothes. The first thing you have to worry about is how are you going to survive. Which eventually leads you to sub categories as: food, shelter, clothes, etc. It s easy to say, but it is hard to do.

The Navajos had to undergo many obstacles. When they realized that they were not getting enough coupons for food, and forging them wasn t enough, they had to take drastic measures. Many of the Navajo women had to do things that were against their religion and their morals. The very last resort had to be taken, which eventually brought shame to the Navajo tribe and families. Many of the woman thought that the only way to attain extra food was prostitution. Osburn states, Another method of obtaining extra food was prostitution, which was not a standard practice under less stressful conditions. Navajo women were generally considered to be modest and decent before and after the Bosque Redondo years While the Navajo recognized the degradation of prostitution at Fort Sumner, they also indicated that the women were compelled to set aside their moral prescription because of poverty and hunger (159). Anybody would set aside his or her morals just to stay alive. Even if it means to kill someone just to gather food. It s like Darwin s theory: Survival of the Fittest. The weak people die and the strong survive. It takes valor to do something drastic like this. That is why I respect them so much. It makes people think of just the things we are capable of achieving if we just put our morals aside for awhile, and think about survival when put in a aquared situation and are forced to take extreme measures.

Another activity that the Navajos resisted was the idea of barrack housing. Forcing them to start a new life as civilized people and living in a civilized community, the Navajos rejected the idea of living somewhere else that wasn t their homeland. As the article states, Carleton had originally planned to house the Navajo in neatly ordered barracks similar to the type of housing found in Pueblo villages. The Navajos, however, found this scheme unacceptable because their traditional housing was widely dispersed. Furthermore, they rejected the idea notion of permanent homes because of their beliefs about departed souls (160). Lots of