The story begins with Yellow Woman at about age 14, hiding
her baby daughter in a tree while she fled on horseback to
lead the soldiers away from her family. When it was safe,
she returned to find her daughter safe in the tree where she
had placed her.
Despite her efforts to remain strong for
her family, the soldiers eventually caught up to Yellow
Woman. Even though she was pregnant, the soldiers shot her
and beat her, leaving her for dead.
She lost her baby, but Yellow Woman
lived. Eventually, she gave up her struggle and joined with
other members of the tribe for the infamous Long Walk of the
Navajos to Ft. Sumner.
Beginning in 1864, the Navajo people
walked 634 miles to Ft. Sumner. It took them two months to
reach the fort and about 3,000 Navajos died either on the
march or at the fort. Many Navajo elders and babies were
lost crossing the Rio Grande River.
The Navajos' confinement at Ft. Sumner
ended in 1868 when the U.S. government allowed them to
return home.
Camille screened her film for freshman
and sophomores at Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy
in Prescott on Sept. 25.
The film fit perfectly with what the
students are studying: The freshmen are learning about
displaced people and the sophomores are researching racism.
Sophomore Sidney Faughn said he had
learned about the Navajo Long Walk in the eighth grade. He
said Camille's film was "powerful. It brought the story to
life."
As much as possible, Camille filmed "on
locations where the events happened," she said. A trip to
the Rio Grande was out of the question, so Camille
substituted a river near Grand Falls in Northern Arizona.
Camille said she spent about a year
working on the film.
"You never really think about your
ancestors. Yellow Woman just wanted to protect her family
and land," Camille said. "The fact is, she was probably
about my age and the main caretaker of her family."
Camille recruited members of her family,
all descendents of Yellow Woman, to help her make costumes,
direct, film, act, sing and edit.
What started as a class project ended in
an incredible journey to learn the history of her family,
especially Yellow Woman.
Camilla began working with the Outta Your
Backpack Indigenous Youth media literacy collective when she
was 9 years old. She is currently its youngest youth mentor.