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Personal History Early Navajo History Long Walk to Fort Sumner 'Pr6gress

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Personal History Early Navajo History Long Walk to Fort Sumner 'Pr6gress Personal history Early Navajo, history Long Walk to Fort Sumner 'Pr6gress of Navajo people Tape #285 (side 1) Navajo Andrew Becenti Recorded by Tom Ration February, 1969 This is the story of Mr. Andrew Becenti tells about. His age is about 59 years of age. He talks about his I ife, and his people and also a little about the Long Walk to Fort Summer. '-. MR. BECENT I: My name is Andrew Becenti. I was born around the Tohatchi Mountain on thelf~-sj;r'side of the mountain where they used to plant corn many years ago wh i'ch they ca II the Ga rden Ground. was born in that area. Most people have ;Qe8:.~k-n-6:wti' that for ::ma!lY) yea rs . The growi ng a rea, the corn araa was be i ng known for many years to raise corn on. During that time my folks my father's father, my grand- father had this since they were there for many years. It is the place where a little spring runs q{f from the mountain, from Tohatchi Creek. The re a re many Navaj 0 peop Ie' ) ; used to I ive along side of that I ittle creek of water. It was known as a blessing creek, is what they call the creek that never dies, the creek that is cool to people :that'~_ the VjaLthe'Y~c"I[j:::ri:,'~ft,s~._b~~r1;running for year after year. It's a little spring that runs off from the mountain side where Tohatchi is today. And today the government put up a dam in the small canyon where the running water runs day and night, never fills up, maybe goes out somewhere else. Maybe he just drowns back into the 'earth. If they didn't put the dam up, the water would be rich yet, for the people which they used to use for the garden many years ago and most people know that this creek waS0a very rich creek. It:us'eCl,_/~' to, used to be over about 100, 200 Navajo people (i that used to ~Jant corn there and it was holding up for many years and all of a sudd~n the government filled it up to another dam which they made a big mistake doing that. r, a~little Itls canyon thatv they put a dam through. Today the dam never fills up. It stays this half of the canyon all years after years and they¢an't figure it out which oJ way is it going out. So, I don't know what they will ever do about it, maybe they will just through it back into the arroyo where it used to run many years ago. A lot of • 2 of the Navajo people are very sorry that the government done that. Well) the govern­ ment thought that they were doing good for the Navajo people to hold that water and then so it wouldn't waste tbrough the winter time when the water goes up it can go and irrigate with this water. This is what the government was thinking) but then all of a sudden it never filled up. Th.is is the way the Navajo has not pland nO,,-~orn yet anymore. For many years the Navajo has been without corn. The only place that they can plant corn is down around Shiprock area where the San Juan River runs. Most of the Navajo move out toward the area because of the water) the river. Mostly there is so much of this that there can be thrown ."off for a certain amount of month and so it is run by the public in the Navajo tribe so it is kind of hard to say that I think the Navajo will never get back to the place where he used to plant good corn. This is what I know in my life) I used to know) my people used to plant a lot of corn around the south of Tohatchi mountain. My mother and father did pass away in the place where we were at today. From there on I got crippled) I don't know some kind of a disease had paralyzed my I ife. One side of my arm don't move and one side of my leg don't move in the oppos i te way. SO":;, today I am a ve ry poo r man. My wife is the on Iy one that is taking care of me today. She has some cattle that she's had for many years. I 've got some boys of my own.and some girls of my own who are all marrled out and they just come back home once in a great while to help us but not very much to talk about it. So) we are the only two that are having a har,d time. My wife is the only one that been taking care of those things) cattle and sheep and horses. The only thing I do is stay home and sometimes I usually try my best to wash the dishes with one hand and sit around that •s a II I do. That is what am good for now so which I would say for myself) am good for nothing. So) this is how old I am today my friend) but I can talk) I can think for my people so f i na I Iy they made me a head leader in our community. Today I don't have to go carry water or haul wood or herd sheep. I can go and think about • 3 things how my people cou Id make a better 1i v i ng. Since the OEO started in 1966, was the first one to be known and I was being sent to Nastchiti board i ng schoo 1 • There I stayed there for 2 weeks. I had to learn a 1ittle about the OEO project and program so I think 1 1m s till a better man than they think I am and now I am one of the men that leads the people. do the frame work for my people which they like it whatever say it goes. Now 1 1 m one of the leader of my people which I have been doing it for many years, and I 1m not the point of what they want. Whenever people discuss things they do it in their own way, I don1t have to tell them to say or to do what want. They decide it themselves, they discuss it themselves. All what I do is if they don't get to the point, I always try to tell them or say that it looks 1 ike this would be the betterest way and then they get on to the point and see which one they decided to have. For many years this was been 1ike that among my people so I know I think the people has realized that what is in front of them, now. So, thatls why I say that, man has a brain to work with. Man has mind to think with so the Navajo people are not dumb. they can think things over in their way so I think it1s a good problem among my people that they, that they are getting to where they are not going to be cheated by the white people, so everytning is doing fine so far. For many years my people were so dumb that a lot of things, a lot of good things have been passed among my tribe, a lot of good things that the American got ahold of it. Today we think about it, or some- time we getitogether and talk about it. As long as a man can discuss things in the right way 1ike the Anglos, the white people, are doing today. We learn them, we learn the things of the white people. We watch them through their meetings, even we don't know nothing about whether to say but then I know, we know it1s right. We know they are doing the right thing to discuss problems so that's the way we Navajo people are today. There are a lot of things~that we have learned from our white friends in the past year which was good for us., Many years ago my people don't even have sense to think about all these things. Now, today, some of my own people are getting to the point in the white man's way, most of all Navajo bran~s and Navajo people are livin9-/--;-; \ ;,>'­ '-- -_/>~""'--/ 4 in a good way of life. Most of them are clean, they know how to take care of themselves, they know how to wash their face, they know to get dressed, they know how to tie their tie their shoes, they know how to clean their nose, they know how to wash before they eat, all these things that we learn in the good way today. So that't why I say our people are getting to realize what is on front of them. Many, many years they have ~b§in!about lost, of all the things that went bad they done a lot of wrong things wh~ch they shouldn1t have done. There are a lot of Navajo young generation went to school and~;" \ : have a good education. Today our children are teaching uS what is right and which is wrong. There are many things that we learn from the Bible.
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