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Navajo Nation Marks 150th Anniversary of Return to Homeland

Navajo-Hopi Observer/Courtesy

It was 150 years ago that Navajo leaders and the U.S. government signed a treaty allowing tribal members to return to their homeland in the American Southwest.

Officials on Tuesday will be announcing a series of commemorative events and plan to address what they call a "legacy of misrepresentation" that stemmed from that era.

Navajo President Russell Begaye says it's myth that the Navajo people were conquered. He says the tribe wants to tell its story of survival and get the textbooks corrected.

The chiefs of the Navajo Nation's three branches of government signed a proclamation earlier this year declaring 2018 as the year of the treaty.

Officials say the commemoration includes the return of the original treaty. It will be on display at the Navajo Nation Museum in June.

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