69

The Talking Circle

Later, as Will sat with Hasbaá, Dezba, and Barboncito in the talking circle near the medicine lodge, he asked Hasbaá to explain.

“When you left to go to Santa Fe, you said we should make them think you were dead. I knew it had to appear you died in the fire.

“Changing Woman told me where to find the bones of a dead man. I did not want to do this, because I would never want to disturb a ghost, but I knew I had to. So I went out and brought the bones back and carefully placed them in the ashes.

“I hated doing that, touching the remains of a dead body. A Diné would never do such a thing. I prayed constantly to Changing Woman for protection. I told the ghost that he had died because he endangered the Diné and that this was a chance to make it up. The ghost obviously forgave me, and went to his rest. Otherwise the ghost would have stopped you from reaching Fort Sumner, and we would have been hanged.

“In the morning, the Hairy Faces came to investigate. General Carleton ordered the hogan buried, bones and all. He said the dead man was obviously you. ”

“But whose bones were they?” Will asked.

When Dezba told him, Will burst out laughing. How absolutely perfect!

“But you were going to let yourselves be hanged?”

“We will all die, Nephew,” Dezba replied. “It is the young who are important. So many have died. We believed your efforts would bring the young ones back to Diné Bikéyah, so the Diné way of life can continue in the future. That was all that mattered.”

It took Will a while to calm down. This was all so amazing to him. After a bit, he explained that Gen. Carleton had been called to Santa Fe to answer accusations of wrong-doing, mismanagement, and embezzlement. Lieutenant—now Captain—Bauer had been put in temporary charge of the Fort. Investigators would come from the War Department and from the Office of Indian Affairs. Will said he was sure the Diné could make a strong case for why they should be allowed to leave this god-forsaken reservation.