Navajo Treaty, August 20, 1868. [Signed June 1, 1868]
The United States government signed a total of eight treaties with the Navajo between 1846 and 1868. The U.S. Senate ratified only two--in 1849 and 1868. The Navajo Treaty of 1868, signed on June 1, represents a document of liberation but also a reminder of the many deaths that occurred during the "Long Walk" and brutal incarceration of Navajo (Diné) People at Hwéeldi or Fort Sumner, New Mexico (1846-1868). The Treaty (called Naaltsoos Sáni) allowed the Navajo people to return to ancestral lands and established the legal sovereignty of the Navajo Nation. Of 21 federally-recognized tribes in Arizona, only the Navajo have a treaty with the United States. The signers included 23 Navajo leaders (Barboncito, Manuelito, Ganado Mucho, Narbono), President Andrew Johnson, and Lt. General (Indian Peace Commissioner) W.T. Sherman. The NAU Cline Library was honored to serve as the exhibit venue for a display of the only extant copy of the Navajo Treaty of 1868 from June 1, 1998 to June 1, 1999. Dr. Evangeline Parsons-Yazzie (NAU Navajo Language Program) organized the Treaty display and project, with support from the Navajo Nation and National Archives and Records Administration.