“I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes. I was living peaceably when people began to speak bad of me. Now I can eat well, sleep well and be glad. I can go everywhere with a good feeling.
The soldiers never explained to the government when an Indian was wronged, but reported the misdeeds of the Indians. We took an oath not to do any wrong to each other or to scheme against each other.
I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say.
When a child, my mother taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom and protection. Sometimes we prayed in silence, sometimes each one prayed aloud; sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us… and to Usen.
I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures.”
Goyathlay
There was a time when we were all born free, when there were no enclosures, when the sun, moon, and stars shown equally upon us all-and the great truth Geronimo spoke of then-that we are not useless, remains to this day.
The Apache who in their language refer to themselves as Nide or Inde, meaning simply the people, are divided into several sub tribes.
The Apache were about as tough,tenacious, and formidable a people as the westward expansion faced-and it is the direct result of that and the opinions it led to that formed policy directed at them.
Long vilified by the media and Hollywood to now be glamorized in America’s current fascination with the “Indians” while the reality is the truth lies somewhere in between. A transition from a blue eyed Chuck Connors to Wes Studi.
There is a stone known as Apache Tear, and the Apache people have had ample reason to shed them as do all the nations-but the story associated with, and the stone itself, has become highly commercialized and favored by the crystal waving crowd so I leave it to the reader to search for the story and images.
The story of the Apache trail of tears cannot be told without referencing the slaughter of Camp Grant on April 30, 1871, where a total of 144 Apaches were ruthlessly killed, mutilated, and scalped-all but eight of the victims were women and children, as the attack coincided with the men being off on a hunt.
29 children were captured and sold into slavery in Mexico-long an enemy of the Apache.
Most are aware of the “Apache Wars” as designated during the time span of 1849-1886, and the name of warriors associated with them.
Names like Cochise,Geronimo,Mangus Colorado, and Victorio- they know of the deportation to Florida, Alabama, and Oklahoma where countless numbers died. Few may know the names of Lozen and Tah-des-te, women who were warriors in their own right.
Fewer still may know of the The Long Walk to Fort Sumner where both the Dine and Mescalero Apache were rounded up and herded onto the rez.
“Geronimo’s final surrender in 1886 was the last significant Indian guerrilla action in the United States. At the end, his group consisted of only 16 warriors, 12 women, and 6 children. Upon their surrender, Geronimo and over 300 of his fellow Chiricahuas were shipped to Fort Marion, Florida. One year later many of them were relocated to the Mt. Vernon barracks in Alabama, where about one quarter died from tuberculosis and other diseases. Geronimo died on Feb. 17, 1909, a prisoner of war, unable to return to his homeland.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Grant_massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo
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Thank you for mentioning “Lozen and Tah-des-te” most do not, very good as always.
Credit where it is due auntiej5-both deserving of it-truth is there have been
several such as Lozen and Tah-des-te among the nations, many whose
names lack familiarity and who will be addressed in future blogs.
we are happy to see the names of these ones Lozen and Tah-des-te to
and we know the story of this Apache Tear and have the few of these.
Great article and good to see credit given to those women. The Chiricahua surrendered in 1886 on the basis of agreeing to 3 years imprisonment in another state, then being able to return to Arizona. They were tricked, the US Gov had not agreed to any such terms as put to them by the officers securing their surrender. They were imprisoned for 27 years not 3, and never returned to Arizona. A very tragic history and as written in the article, many people don’t know the reality of their history. Really good to read this piece.
And I should have said, General George Crook who was one of those officers who secured the surrender by Geronimo and Naiche, campaigned to the end of his life – unsuccessfully- to try to get the Government to allow to return to Arizona.
Thanks for the response and info Isobel-being “tricked” seems to have been
the norm reflecting the government policy of promising one thing and delivering
another.
Something they across the board engage in to his day.
I am 1/2 APACHE NATIVE.My Great Grandfather told me about the Trail of Tears,and how the White man and Pony SOLDIERS TREATED them he was a young boy and up until the day he passed never Trusted or RESPECTED the. WHITE MAN.HE told ME never let the White in me overpower me.And until this day I will never FORGET THAT.
Your grandfather sounds like he was a wise man.