Tekst 32: Forholdene for de amerikanske indianere, 1867

I denne tekst beskriver en Navajo-indianer, kaldet Herrero, hvordan forholdene er for hans stamme i det sydøstlige New Mexico i 1867. Stammen er på dette tidspunkt blevet indespærret af den amerikanske stat ved et militæranlæg og bliver bevogtet af amerikanske soldater. Først året efter, i 1868, indgår stammen en fredsaftale med den amerikanske stat, som lader stammen vende tilbage til et reservat i Arizona. Inden når ca. en fjerdedel af medlemmerne at omkomme.

Fra Peter Nabokov: Native American Testimony. Penguin Books, 1999, s. 196-198.

If we had the wool we could make all the clothes for the tribe. All of us know how to cultivate by irrigation. There is plenty of land but somehow the crops do not come out well. Last year the worms destroyed the crops. There is plenty of land and when the ditches are all cut out there will be land enough. There is plenty of water. There is plenty of pasture for all our stock. Some have 25, 30, or 40 [sheep], but more have none. None have a hundred.

We try and keep our sheep for their milk, and only kill them when necessary, when the rations are short or smell bad. We depend on the milk of the sheep to live and to give to our little children. We are honest and do not kill each other’s sheep. We own our animals ourselves, and not in common…

Some officers at Fort Canby told us when we got here the government would give us herds of horses, sheep and cattle, and other things we needed, but we have not received them. We had to lose a good deal of our property on account of the war, and the Utahs stole the rest from us. We have been at war With the Utahs nine years, and about the same number of years with the Mexicans. Before the war with the Utahs and Mexicans we had everything we wanted, but now have lost everything…

Some of the soldiers do not treat us well. When at work, if we stop a little they kick us or do something else, but generally they treat us well. We do not mind if an officer punishes us, but do not like to be treated badly by the soldiers. Our women sometimes come to the tents outside the fort and make contracts with the soldiers to stay with them for a night, and give them five dollars or something else. But in the morning they take away what they gave them and kick them off. This happens most every day. In the night they leave the fort and go to the Indian camps. The women are not forced, but consent willingly. A good many of the women have venereal disease.

We would rather prefer to be in our own country, although we have lost everything we want here. We are all of this opinion and would like to have you send us back. And if you have any presents to give us we will distribute them among us. If we are sent back we promise never to commit an act of hostility

HERRERO, Navajo

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