Indian rolling (or Injun rollin')
[Nieves, Evelyn. ]
In Navajo country, racism rides again.
' salon.com 2 September 2006.[Donaldson, Lisa Weber. ''"Indian rolling": White violence against Native Americans in Farmington, New Mexico.'' Dissertation (Publication 3220935). University of New Mexico, 2006.] is the assault, and in some cases murder, of often homeless
[Linthicum, Leslie.]
. ''Albuquerque Journal''. 19 July 2009. Accessed 2011-03-26. Navajo and
Apache individuals committed by non-Indians in the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...
, especially in the border towns surrounding the
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...
and
Jicarilla lands.
In her 2006 dissertation, Lisa Donaldson classifies ''Indian rolling'' as a "thrill-seeking hate crime" and traces its roots to the colonization of the Southwest which created a "power differential between groups that led to negative feelings toward minorities among law enforcement and local citizens".
The assaults, which often target comparatively defenseless alcoholic men, are variously described as "rites of passage",
"sport",
[Linthicum, Leslie. ]
Farmington Struggles With Civil Rights Issues.
' Albuquerque Journal. 1 May 2004. Accessed 2011-03-26. and a "recreational pastime"
to the perpetrators.
Survivors report the act involves being assaulted with rocks,
pellet guns, bottles, eggs, and baseball bats. Victims claim, furthermore, that law enforcement officials often refuse to intervene.
[Banish, Laura. ''Homeless: ‘Indian rolling’ still takes place today.'' The Daily Times. Farmington. 23 April 2004.]
The term first came to public notoriety in the spring of 1974 when three Navajos were beaten and murdered
by white teenagers in the city of
Farmington, New Mexico
Farmington (Navajo language, Navajo: Tóta') is a city in San Juan County, New Mexico, San Juan County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 46,624 people. Farmington (and ...
, and their mutilated bodies were subsequently found in a nearby canyon.
The perpetrators were not convicted of murder but were sent to a
reform school. Subsequent protests by tribal members turned into riots when permits to march peacefully were revoked or not granted.
[Research Report: Navajo Community and Farmington, New Mexico (2006).](_blank)
The Pluralism Project at Harvard University. Accessed 2011-03-26. The incident triggered a report by the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the
United States Commission on Civil Rights and inspired the
true crime
True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...
-novel ''The Broken Circle—A True Story of Murder and Magic in Indian Country'' by Rodney Barker.
[Barker, Rodney. ''The Broken Circle—A True Story of Murder and Magic in Indian Country.'' Simon & Schuster. New York: 1992.]
Concerns about the practice's revival emerged in the 1970s to 2000s after a resurgence of attacks against Native Americans in the area.
[Draper, Electa. ''Attacks recall racist history of N.M. town.'' Denver Post. 13 July 2006.] Assaults have allegedly taken place in the Arizona cities of
Flagstaff,
Phoenix, and
Page
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...
and in
Gallup, New Mexico.
See also
*
Hate crime
*
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...
*
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women are instances of violence against Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the First Nations in Canada and Native American communities, but also amongst other Indigenous peoples s ...
*
Police brutality against Native Americans
*
Saskatoon freezing deaths
*
Thrill killing
References
External links
The Farmington Report: A Conflict of Cultures.New Mexico Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. 1975.
{{Discrimination
American phraseology
Euphemisms
Hate crime in the United States
Anti-Indigenous racism in the United States
Anti-Indigenous racism in New Mexico
Navajo history
Native American topics
Alcohol and Native Americans
Southwestern United States
Racially motivated violence against Native Americans
Violence in New Mexico
Violence in Arizona
Violence against homeless people in the United States