Book Talk – Send a Runner: A Navajo Honors the Long Walk

Join us LIVE on Facebook, @galluplibrary on Friday, May 7th at 7:00 p.m. for a book talk featuring Edison Eskeets and Jim Kristofic.

The Navajo tribe, the Diné, is the largest tribe in the United States and lives across the American Southwest. Over a century ago, they were nearly wiped out by the Long Walk, forced removal of most of the Diné people to a military-controlled reservation in New Mexico.

The summer of 2018 marked the 150th anniversary of the Navajos’ return to their homelands. One Navajo family and their community decided to honor that return by organizing a ceremonial run from Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, to Santa Fé, New Mexico, in order to deliver a message and to honor the survivors of the Long Walk.

Eskeets ran 330 miles from Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, to Santa Fé, New Mexico, in sixteen days. His support team on the road includes Jim Kristofic, who observes the journey and records it in his notebook. Send a Runner: A Navajo Honors the Long Walk is a story of running for family, history, and the future of the Diné.

Email aprice@gallupnm.gov or call (505) 863-1291 for more information.