Navajo - The Long Walk, Part 9

Navajo children were frequently discouraged at school.  Most wanted to return to the life they knew.

Children's Navajo names were changed, and speaking Navajo was forbidden.  "We would be spanked in the classroom if we spoke one word of our own language." 

Over the years, however, the schools changed as children wanted to be closer to home. 

See, also:

The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo - Part 1

The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo - Part 2

The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo - Part 3

The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo - Part 4

The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo - Part 5

The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo - Part 6

The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo - Part 7

The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo - Part 8

The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo - Part 10

Credits

From "The Long Walk:  Tears of the Navajo" (2007) - a KUED documentary, produced by John Howe and narrated by Peter Coyote.  Clip online, courtesy PBS.