The Seastone Chair

The Long Walk

Prompt 1: You’ve been researching your family tree, and discovered that one of your ancestors is not what they seemed – for better or worse. Tell us the story of their secret. ~ Story

The commercials were clear, just log into ancestry.com, create an account and start following the leaves that pop up to help you trace your family’s lineage. Even though it was a little pricey, finding out our family’s history that price tag seemed reasonable. Besides, I could spend a month on the site researching all I needed to and then cancel.

I started out by calling my mother getting all the dates and names, I would need, and opened my computer, excitement dancing in my belly. Because of me, my children would have everything they needed to know right at their fingertips for I fully intended to print everything out and put it into book form to proudly display.

Hours turned into days as I scoured the internet, read documents, followed one leaf to another, adding more information that I hadn’t known before. And that’s when I found it, a hit that had me sitting in dismay. I’d heard about our faint Navajo history, but never knew much about it. Now as I sat here, I saw the link to my great-great-great-great grandmother and how she was one of the many Navajo’s who was forced out by the American government and army and endured the Long Walk from Arizona to New Mexico, not once, but twice.

I couldn’t move as read about this moment in history I hadn’t paid attention to in public school. Just the thought of my ancestors being forced from their land and homes, to walk three hundred miles, lasting two months in the dead of winter to new territory tugged at my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I’d always been a proud American, but learning this history left a nasty taste in my mouth, not to mention a severe sadness in my soul. I pulled up a map and looked at the distance they had to walk, just the thought makes my feet ache and then I did the worst thing and pulled up every article I could find about this history. The more I read, the iller I felt learning of the horrors my people faced, the poor conditions, braving the elements and starvation. Walking that great distance once seemed insane, but to do it a second time and reclaim their land amazed me.

I spent hours pouring over information, my mind struggling to digest the terrors that went along with such an uprooting. Because of the poor conditions, crop infestation and disease, the Navajo were dealt one blow after another. Hundreds died during this relocation, others escaped and hid out in canyons. It took several more years for the Government to recognize its mistake and attempt to make amends.

I read so much my eyes hurt and finally turned off the computer, my mind a non-stop swirl as information filtered through.

~~~

The next morning, I resigned myself to wrap up my search, and not let this affect my entire day. When I logged onto the computer, I was met with yet another hit. Taking a deep breath, I clicked on it and scanned the page before I gasped. I’d only paid attention to my mother’s side of my history, and now, looking at my father’s side, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There must have been some mistake, I rationalized, but once I began clicking links, it was right there in black and white.

It seemed that my father’s great-great-great grandfather served in the Army during that time of the Long Walk, and was stationed at Fort Sumner. My heart sank. It was like a double whammy, one side of my family suffering, while the other side contributed to it. The army showed no remorse or sympathy toward the Navajo, and one story told of a pregnant girl who couldn’t keep up any longer. The army convinced the girl's parents to keep walking and leave her behind. Not long afterward gunshots could be heard and it was speculated that the army killed the pregnant mother. Before I knew it I was shaking, tears running down my face and blotting the papers I’d printed to save in the book I wanted to create. I’d always been especially emotional learning about someone’s suffering.

I couldn’t take any more information in, my brain refused to process it and shut down so I closed the computer, my hands trembling. Hot tears came fast down my cheeks.

WC:731

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