Navajo Resistance
There are many ways to define the word "resistance." One way that the Standard College Dictionary defines it as: To strive against; the act of resistance; act counter to for the purpose of stopping, preventing, defeating, etc. That's how the dictionary defines it. Personally, my definition of "resistance" is the act of being against someone's orders, rules, or demands. The reason why we resist some of these orders, rules, or demands is because our belief, morals, and religion come into play. The way that we were brought up plays a big role in our ability of making our own decisions. If we were brought up one way, and someone tries to force us to become someone else, or to mold us into something else, we would not feel right. Due to the fact that we grew attached to many ideas, beliefs and religion. The only natural thing to do is to refuse to give in to the idea of change. It's a basic and a natural instinct. That's exactly what the Navajos carried out. The Navajos rejected the idea of being force to become "civilized," even after being put into the Bosque Redondo Camp. The only thing to do now was to survive and by all means refuse to accept the idea of becoming "civilized."
There were several activities that the Navajos executed while they remained at the camps which showed there resistance against the ideas of General Carleton of forcing them to become "civilized." The last activity that the Navajos refuse to accept was the idea of getting medical attention. The refusal of "Anglo medical treatment." "...For similar reasons the Navajos refused medical treatment and the post hospitals. The Indians explained that they shunned the hospital because "all that have reported there have died"(160). When the Navajos noticed that many Indians were dying, the realized that the "white" people had to do something with it. Perhaps they believed that they were being slaughtered and killed. Not only that, but the Navajos didn't want to be exposed the "white" medicine. They had their own ways of curing their sickness. Very much like people nowadays. Many of them do not believe in modern medicine and have their own way of curing themselves. For the Navajos, the only way to cure themselves and to purify their body without any modern medicine was to perform a traditional dance called "Squaw Dance." They had their own views on how they believed they got sick. "According to this ceremony some sicknesses are the result of the ghosts of aliens, either those whom a Navajo warrior has killed or those who died from other causes and with whom the Navajo may have had contact, sexual or otherwise. Touching the corpse or stepping on the grave of an "outsider" may also cause alien ghosts to torment a Navajo with sickness" (160). Behind every culture, there are many reasons why they perform or do different things to get themselves better instead of using modern medicine. For example, "In the Navajos world view, illness is an example of disharmony in the cosmic order that the performance of a religious ceremony can correct. During the ceremony, the Navajo invoke their Holy People to rectify the disturbance or order. If the ritual is correctly carried out, the deities are obligated to grant the mortals requests, for a principle of reciprocity governs the exchange. In this regard, Navajo oral tradition emphasizes the importance of healing ritual at the Bosque (160). Nowadays, everyone grew up with an idea on how to get rid of an illness without the use of medicine. For instance, if someone has a nosebleed how do you stop it? Many people believe that lying down is one way, others to pour water over your head and pinch your nose with a wet towel and remain standing. There's not an exact way. Probably all of them work. It's just that most of us have been custom to one of these methods, and will not use any other one. It's just the way we were brought up. Likewise, the Navajos didn't want to try nothing new. Their beliefs and morals don't allow it. The only thing left to do is to pursue your values and principles. One of the activities that the Navajos resisted against was the idea of sending their children to school and get educated. To the Navajos it seemed like a good idea, but they had other things in mind.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2062
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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