"What's in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet . . . " - Wm. Shakespeare
Any good Navajo might disagree with that thought.To Navajos, names mean quite a lot. A good example is Washington Pass in the Chuska Mountains of western New Mexico, inside the sprawling Navajo Reservation.
The Indians have been outraged ever since white men slapped the name of Lt. Col. John M. Washington on the pass nearly 150 years ago.
It was an insult to Navajos, since Washington commanded U.S. Army troops who killed and scalped Narbona, an 80-year-old Navajo patriarch, at a parley in 1849.
The naming stuck a burr under the Navajo saddle that they've been unable to remove.
Finally, a group of students at Navajo Community College in Shiprock has appeared before the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to urge the name be changed. The board met recently in Santa Fe during the Western States Geographic Names Conference.
The board has the last word on deciding the names appearing on federal maps. It is willing to consider changing non-Indian names on tribal lands, if local people approve.
The Navajos want the name changed to either Narbona Pass or to Copper Pass. The latter is the English translation of the Indian name for the area.
Why shouldn't the name be changed to something the Indians prefer? For one thing, it's on their reservation. Besides, it's an unpleasant reminder of a racist chapter of American history.
Col. Washington led a force of 348 men into the Navajo Country in August, 1849, in the second major attempt to make peace with the tribe. In Tuntsa Wash., about a mile southwest of the future site of Two Grey Hills Trading Post, the force met a large group of Indians led by Narbona and Jose Largo.
There, a parley was held, and the two Navajo leaders agreed to treaty terms and signed papers that authorized two younger tribesmen to represent them at another meeting later in Canyon de Chelly for the final signing.
While the 200 to 300 Indians heard a Navajo translation of terms, a New Mexico militiaman in Washington's force spotted a horse he claimed had been stolen from him.
The colonel, accepting the claim as true without investigation, immediately demanded the animal's return. The Indian on the horse fled. The colonel said if the animal wasn't returned at once, he'd order his troops to fire on the Navajos.
Sensing trouble, the Indians began fleeing and Washington gave the order. Narbona and five or six others were killed.
Word of Narbona's death and scalping spread swiftly among the Navajos. Washington, in blissful ignorance, marched on to the canyon where he burned hogans and signed a treaty with a pair of Navajos of no power. Instead of peace, he got war that raged for many years.
Herbert Benally is the director of the Center for Dineh Studies at the Navajo community college. "Dineh" means "The People," which is what Navajos call themselves. He points to other names that are offensive to his tribespeople.
During the Indian Wars, the Army established a Fort Defiance in the Navajo country. The fort was abandoned long ago but the name persists in one of the reservation's largest settlements. Benally says some are offended by "arrogance."
Navajos call the area 'Tse Hootsooi,' which means "meadow in the canyon."
Which also sounds like a much more appropriate name than Fort Defiance.