The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, 1864

Mean Mouth shouts directions...

There are so many men in blue! They make loud cries, their horses stamp, and all the time the Nakai is shouting directions to us...."Make a line, all together! You can bring your animals."

Kaibah names him Mean Mouth for his tight, skinny lips, and I pull hard on her hand, reminding her that he understands our language and that we must be careful....

Mean Mouth tells us that we are going to the Place of the Soldiers, where we will be protected from our old enemies, the Utes. The white men will help us and feed us, for they can see that we are starving. Now is the time to stop raiding and stealing and become the kind of people that the Great White Father wants us to be.

I am so confused and afraid that the words stream over me like smoke. Where are they taking us? Will they kill us along the way?