A new independent documentary film titled "Sun Kissed" appearing in film festivals links a rare and horrific disease known as XP with The Long Walk of 1864 in which the U.S. Army forced marched the Navajo tribe from its homeland to stockades at Bosque Redondo, New Mexico.
XP causes extreme sensitivity to sunlight and occurs primarily in children. It leads to the early onset of skin cancer and even blindness. Children who contract the disease experience fatal neurological degeneration and rarely live past 20 years of age. They are unable to care for themselves even minimally.
In the general population, XP is a one is a million disorder. On the Navajo Reservation it is appearing in one in every 30,000 Navajo children.
The documentary links the affliction to the The Long Walk of 1864, which reduced the Navajo population from an estimated 25,000 to about 5,000 before they were allowed to return to their homeland. Some geneticists contend that the numerical reduction of the Navajo people coupled with genetic isolation fostered susceptibility to increased genetic disorders, such as XP.
The Long Walk ... 1864
Timeline
Kit Carson: The Life of an American Border Man
History and American West Titles
Artwork: Long Walk of the Navajos by Olaf Wieghorst
In the general population, XP is a one is a million disorder. On the Navajo Reservation it is appearing in one in every 30,000 Navajo children.
The documentary links the affliction to the The Long Walk of 1864, which reduced the Navajo population from an estimated 25,000 to about 5,000 before they were allowed to return to their homeland. Some geneticists contend that the numerical reduction of the Navajo people coupled with genetic isolation fostered susceptibility to increased genetic disorders, such as XP.
The Long Walk ... 1864
Timeline
Kit Carson: The Life of an American Border Man
History and American West Titles
Artwork: Long Walk of the Navajos by Olaf Wieghorst
No comments:
Post a Comment