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Show 134 IX. HWEELDI DOO AHA'DEET'4 In early 1865, the situation seemed hopeful. More land had been cleared and planted. The crops looked good. Farmers hoped to raise nine million pounds of grain. The harvest promised to feed the entire group of Navajos through the following year. The ability and endurance of the Navajo farmers seemed about to pay off. Besides insects, they had dealt with the bad Pecos water and floods that had washed away the dams. But then, during the summer, farmers saw the eggs of the army worm. The People began to lose hope. And less than a half-million pounds of grain survived. By this time, there was no wood anywhere near the reserve. Kiowas or Comanches attacked almost weekly. Disease still struck both soldiers and Navajos. Desertion and raiding increased. As more and more Navajos fled, Carleton placed a double circle of guards around the Bosque. The army sent soldiers to watch the mountain passes. Guards had orders to shoot any Indian found off the reserve without a pass. Any Navajo who could travel, however, was willing to take his chances against the guards. The number of people at Bosque Redondo dropped sharply. The Return to Navajoland In the summer of 1865, the government began to study the Navajos, as well as other Indians throughout the West. The Indians were angry, and many conflicts had led to fighting. A congressional committee came to New Mexico in June. At hearings in Santa Fe, the senators took note of Navajo problems. To them, Carleton's experiment seemed certain to fail. A second government study was more complete and less critical. It concluded that the Bosque was doing well enough, but final government control must be decided. But when councils with Navajo headmen were held, one thing was very clear: the People wanted to go home. At the Bosque, Navajo leaders held a ceremony called "Put Bead in Coyote's Mouth." The People formed a large circle on the plain and then slowly closed in, making a human fence in which a coyote was trapped. They carefully placed a whiteshell bead in the coyote's mouth. Then they released the animal. As it walked off toward the west and the Navajo homeland, the People knew that they would soon be set free. Blessed with the power of Coyote, Navajo leaders had a new certainty when they spoke with whites. After the ceremony, the People knew that their return to their homes was only a matter of time. |