The Name
Known today as the Canoncito Band of Navajo Indians (CBN), the Band has been known by many names throughout history.
The earliest written record of the Canoncito Band was when the Spaniards first came into the Mt. Taylor region around 1580. The Canoncito band has been referred to variously as “Cebolleta Navajos”, “Mt. Taylor Navajos”, “Sandoval Band”, “Platero Band of Navajo Indians”, “Enemy Navajos”, and more recently as “Canoncito Band of Navajos”, and “Canoncito Band of Navajo Indians”. The names appear throughout history all identifying the same group, the current Canoncito Band of Navajo Indians.
All of the names are interchangeable and are to be distinguished from Dinétah, Navajo Nation and The Navajo Tribe.
Historically, the Dinétah came at odds with the Cebolleta Navajos and after raiding and wars, the Dinétah gave a new name to the Cebolleta Navajos, calling them the Diné Ana’í – enemy navajo. This creates the current day distinction between the Canoncito Band of Navajo Indians and the Navajo Nation.
The People
A study conducted by the United States government, Comprehensive Ethno-historical Report on the Canoncito and Alamo Navajo Bands (October 19, 1983), found that the US government at different times dealt with the Canoncito people on a government to government basis. In addition to dealing with the US government, the Canoncito Band has also interacted with previous governments.
Under the leadership of Don Carlos, Cebolleta Navajo leader, the first known treaty was concluded between the Spanish government and the Cebolleta Navajos in 1786. Don Carlos as leader of the Cebolleta Navajos attempted to get the other Navajos, the Dinétah Navajos (aka, the Navajo tribe, Navajo Nation), to agree also to the treaty. However, the Dinétah Navajos, did not enter into the treaty along side the Cebolleta Navajos; they were only informed of the treaty execution. Later, in 1805, the Cebolleta Navajos entered into another peace treaty with Spain that relinquished Navajo claim to Cebolleta.
In 1858, Sandoval, headman of the Cebolleta Navajos, concluded a treaty with the United States government that would allow the Cebolleta Navajos (now called the Canoncito Navajos) to be “part and parcel of the Navajo Nation” but that treaty was never ratified. To this day, the Canoncito Navajos and the Navajo Nation remain separate entities. For the rest of his life, Sandoval helped the Navajo Nation and federal government with peace treaty efforts. But he was so hated by the Navajo Nation members that he would not be allowed to sign any documents along with them.
The Canoncito Band has always been and still continues to act independently of the Navajo Nation.
The Land
The original label, Cebolleta Navajo, was a designation of their homeland in the present day Seboyeta, New Mexico, which is now occupied by the Laguna Pueblo. The Canoncito Navajos were absent for a brief period of time from their homeland when the government sent them to Ft. Sumner in Eastern New Mexico. They were held in captivity along with people who would later become known as the Navajo Nation. Upon their return from captivity, the Canoncito Navajos found that other groups of people such as the Laguna Pueblo, Acoma Pueblo and Mexican ranchers had taken control of their homeland. As a result the band moved further east from Mt. Taylor to the present day Canoncito, New Mexico.
While the Dinétah Navajos returned to their new treaty land after Ft. Sumner, the Canoncito Navajos returned to their land and settled on the newly established reservation.
In 1924, US Congress set aside the original land and placed in trust for the “use and benefit of the Canoncito people”. Later in 1949, the reservation would be expanded to its current size. These were the first steps to establishing the Canoncito Band as a federally recognized tribe, something that the elders of the community have been waiting for since that day.