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Show XI. DINE DOO WAASHINDOON: THE NAVAJO AS A NATION A Time of Growth The tribe was growing quickly as this century began. By 1899 the People numbered more than twenty thousand. Since the return from Hweeldi, the tribe had doubled. Once again Navajo flocks were as large as they had been in the days before the Long Walk. By 1911 Navajoland included more than twelve million acres, and efforts were being made to increase the tribal land. The fact that the Navajo reservation expanded in this period was an unusual victory. During this time, many groups tried to take away American Indians' tribal lands. Some whites complained that tribes like the Navajos had more than 1,000 acres per person. No Indian needed this much land, the whites argued. So they planned to set aside or "allot" 160 acres for each Navajo. Then the remaining tribal land would be opened to white settlement. But the critics' numbers were wrong. If 12,000,000 acres had been divided among more than 20,000 Navajos, no Indian would have owned more than 600 acres. And most Navajo land was of no use to farmers or ranchers. The land that could be used was simply full. One man figured out that each sheep-unit had only 7.6 acres. The white ranchers, who wanted to open Navajo lands, had as much as 8.4 acres for each sheep-unit. Stock Reduction The People's greatest crisis in the new century came as a result of the size of the Navajo herds. The 1899 Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs said that the tribe owned 1,000,000 sheep, 250,000 goats, and more than 100,000 horses. Fragile, dry range land could not support such large flocks and herds for long. Signs of overgrazing had been seen before the turn of the century. Soon the loss of grassland became serious. If any good land was to be saved, officials decided, there was only one thing to do: reduce the size of the herds. 159 |
