Barboncito
Yich'i-dah yilwo (* around 1820 - 16 March 1871 ), better known as Barboncito , was a spiritual leader of the Navajo or Diné. He grew up in Canyon de Chelly , Arizona , and became a noted war leader and singer of spiritual songs. He was Delgadito's brother .
Life
In 1846, when the war between the United States and Mexico began, he concluded a peace treaty with the Americans under Colonel Alexander William Doniphan . The aim of the treaty on the part of the USA was to pacify the newly won country. In the case of the Diné, however, the contract received little attention, especially since the then still young Barboncito could not speak for all Diné. The Barboncito group acted peacefully towards the United States in the 1850s. He was not a friend of the Euro-Americans, but he must have recognized their strengths and tried to stay out of hostilities. The situation changed around 1860, when the number of Euro-American settlers who claimed the fertile parts of the country for themselves grew.
Together with Manuelito , Barboncito tried unsuccessfully in 1860 to take Fort Defiance (Arizona) in Canyon Bonito in what is now Apache County (Arizona). 1000 warriors are said to have participated in the attack. In 1861, Barboncito signed a peace treaty with the United States at Fort Fauntleroy (later renamed Fort Wingate). The civil war, which broke out a little later, resulted in the withdrawal or reduction of many garrisons in the west, so that a number of Diné used the reduced military presence of the USA to attack Mexican citizens and old Indian enemies.
Together with his brother Delgadito, Barboncito went to Santa Fe (New Mexico) in the spring of 1863 to assure General Carleston of their peaceful convictions. In the meantime, however, it was decided to relocate all Diné to the Bosque Redondo Indian reservation. When Carleston asked Barboncito in April to present himself with his people for the purpose of relocation, the latter immediately declined.
Colonel Kit Carson was ordered to crack down on the Diné. Carson marched into Dinéland with strong units and destroyed all the herds and fields he could find. Although there were only minor skirmishes, the Diné's situation became critical within a few months. Barboncito and Delgadito offered in October 1863 to settle at Fort Wingate under Army control, but General Carleston's proposal was rejected. Delgadito then gave up the resistance, while Barboncito and his people held out for almost a year. In September 1864, for lack of food, he had to surrender as one of the last prominent diné guides in the Canyon de Chelly.
He and his people were relocated to Bosque Redondo, New Mexico , where conditions were indescribably poor, so that in June 1865 he fled with a few followers and returned to Dinéland, hundreds of kilometers to the west. It was not until November 1866 that he finally surrendered with the last 21 men at Fort Wingate and was brought back to Bosque Redondo.
Barboncito campaigned intensively for the return of the tribe to Dinéland in northeastern Arizona and was the first to sign the contract of June 1, 1868, which fixed the return. Barboncito was appointed first chief of the Navajo Nation Reservation by the Bureau of Indian Affairs . The return of the Diné to their homeland did not take place at the instigation of the Diné leaders, but because the tribe in the sterile reservation could not feed themselves.
Barboncito was never recognized as the chief of the highly fragmented Diné tribe, but because of his eloquence and persuasiveness, he was highly valued in the tribal council and had thus exerted a strong influence. Respected and loved by his people, he died on March 16, 1871 in his home in Canyon de Chelly.
literature
- Dee Brown : Bury my heart at the bend of the river. Knaur, Munich 1976
- Ruth Underhill: The Navajos. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 1956 (English)
Individual references / comments
- ↑ s. Short biography on the San Juan School District homepage
- ↑ s. D. Brown, p. 29
- ↑ s. Underhill pp. 160/161
Web links
This article is based on the article Barboncito ( Memento from July 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) from the free encyclopedia Indianer Wiki ( Memento from March 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) and is under Creative Commons by-sa 3.0 . A list of the authors was available in the Indian Wiki ( Memento from July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Barboncito |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Yich'i-dah yilwo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Chief of the Diné Indians |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1820 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Canyon de Chelly |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 16, 1871 |
| Place of death | Canyon de Chelly |