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Show 138 IX. HWEELDI DOO AHA'DEET'A This time they killed and captured many of his people. With few strong men left, Manuelito was forced to surrender to the United States Army on September 1, 1866. Farther north, other bands roamed through Monument Valley and between the San Juan and Colorado rivers. K'aa'yelii's group lived near Bear's Ears, and Haashkeneinii led the Navajos in Monument Valley. At first these groups faced worse conditions than Manuelito's. In the end, though, they resisted more successfully. They never did surrender. Haashkeneinii, K'aa'yelii's clan relative, was the most impressive leader of free Navajos through the Long Walk period. When he learned in 1863 that soldiers and Utes were nearing Monument Valley, he got his people ready to leave. Taking only a few things that lay near at hand, Haashkeneinii and his family moved north toward the river. They walked through Ute territory, moving at night and hiding during the day. They then turned west and made for Navajo Mountain, where they set up camp in the rugged region of the lower San Juan. Haashkeneinii demanded hard work from the little group of exiles. His strictness earned for him the name "Giving-Out-Anger." Although they reached Navajo Mountain with only twenty sheep and one old musket, with care the flock grew quickly. The Navajos lived well in the land between Navajo Mountain and Bear's Ears. They came back to Monument Valley in 1868. Many people, like Haashkeneinii, were thankful at having missed the hardships of the Long Walk and Hweeldi. Yet they shared the anger of the captive Navajos at being blamed for an unjust war they did not start. Like other Navajos, they would insist on keeping what was theirs. They would fight to keep their children out of the whiteman's schools and their land out of the whiteman's hands. |
