The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl

The history of the way the American government treated the Native Americans is not a pretty story at all, and this novel shows one of the darkest of those times. This particular story covers the rounding up of the Navajo people and the forced march of them to areas not adequately prepared to handle that many people (much as the U.S. government did later to Japanese-American citizens during the opening months of World War II).

Sarah Nita relates the story of how she (really, her grandmother of the same name) and her sister were out away from their village when the white soldiers arrived, burning and destroying and capturing their relatives, including their parents. The two manage to find their way (passing through some major difficulties) to another group of relatives hiding in a canyon, but again the soldiers come and capture the Navajo.

They are all then placed onto a forced march in terrible conditions, with people near starvation forced at a pace which proves too much for the sick, elderly and pregnant who, at times, the soldiers shoot and kill to make sure the march goes according to plan.

Even arrival in the camp does not solve the problems, though, as the Navajo live in terrible conditions (no provided shelters), and with inadequate food and food that they are not used to and don't know how to properly use.

There are some Navajo who manage to escape during the march, although they could only go into hiding in the mountains.

As for the techniques used by the army, they used the "scorched earth" policy, one of the most famous examples historically being Sherman's "March to the Sea" in which a 60-mile wide area of the South was laid total waste by his army. Much the same was done out west where crops and homes were destroyed, helping to insure that the Navajo would be facing starvation.

The book, although upsetting, is written very well and covers and important and often-overlooked time of American history. Definitely something people should read about.

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