Monday, January 28, 2013

Exploration Three

"If you transplant me elsewhere I will not grow, I'll just die", This was said by Roberta Blackgoat when referring to what would happen should she be removed from the land of her ancestors. She is currently fighting the relocation of the Navajo sheepherders who found themselves on the wrong side of a border dispute. I am amazed that people are still trying to force them to leave now in this generation when the original dispute happened in the 1970's. Even after all this time they are still protesting and refusing to leave the land given to them in the first agreement and will continue to protest against moving however long it takes.




Roberta actually passed away in 2002, she lived her entire life near Big Mountain and her legacy has spurred others to stand up and refuse to leave. Her home has become a holy sight and is a symbol of hope for those who still refuse to leave. The overall theme of determination in the face of injustice is present as she inspired it in everyone she met. Any information on Roberta Blackgoat can be found in writings about her such as http://www.cloudwatcherstudio.com/Roberta_Blackgoat.htm. You can see that she lived her entire life in defiance and helped inspire others to do the same until her death at the age of 84. If any lesson can be taken away form this it is that you should never give up in the face of injustice or give up who you are even if things are at there worst. 
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6 comments:

  1. Nissa PowellJanuary 29, 2013 at 4:30 PM

    I'm really glad someone looked into her story. I was wondering if she would die on the land she'd tried so hard to protect. I really hope they keep that land protected for those still there.

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  2. UnknownJanuary 29, 2013 at 6:13 PM

    I was really interested in the outcome of this story. Awesome that you chose that for your research. I thought that this profile was quite inspirational and it was actually my second choice for our blog post.

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  3. UnknownJanuary 29, 2013 at 8:21 PM

    I chose the same story, and that's interesting how the rest of her life went.

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  4. UnknownJanuary 30, 2013 at 8:28 AM

    This was a great profile to read. It's hard to find people that are so dedicated to their beliefs that it literally comes down to life or death. I think that's whats wrong with our culture today.. people just give up way too easily.

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  5. UnknownJanuary 30, 2013 at 10:25 AM

    When I first read this profile it didn't really stand out to me until we talked about it in class. The quote that you chose makes a lot of sense and was true in the case of Native Americas that moved away from their homes. I feel as if taking them away from their home kills a part of who they are and almost causes as much pain as when someone they love dies.

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  6. UnknownJanuary 30, 2013 at 10:33 AM

    I really liked the quote you chose. It really shows the how important living there was to her. I also think its cool how you found out more about her. I was actually thinking about looking her up to see how long she was able to live where she wanted.

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