"BRAVER THAN MOST AND CUNNING IN STRATEGY"

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON APACHE

AND OTHER NATIVE AMERICAN

WOMEN VJARRIORS

by

KIMBERLY BETH MOORE, B.A.

A THESIS

IN

HISTORY

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in

Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Approved

Vug-jst, 198 3

ACKNOV^LEDGEMENTS

Preparation of a thesis incurs the accumulation

of many personal debts of gratitude. I first must

gratefully acknowledge the director of my thesis, Dr.

John R. Wunder, for his attention, instruction and sup­

port throughout my college career. For helpful criticism

and guidance, Dr. Mary Lou Locke receives my gratitude.

My thanks must also go to Mrs. Eve Ball for so graciously

allowing me in her home and sharing with me her invaluable

oral history research. My most heartfelt and loving

gratitude is extended to my parents, Elvin R. and Rilda

Moore, and my brother, Charles Elvin Moore, for their un­

wavering confidence in ny abilities and their lifelong

inspiration.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter

I. INDE: THOSE WHO SURVIVE 5

II. THE STATUS OF APACHE WOMEN: RESPECT

AND PRESTIGE 21

III. AT WAR: ESPOUSED WARRIORS 36

IV. LOZEN: THE WOMAN WARRIOR 51

V. POWER: LOZEN AND OTHER APACHE MEDICINE WOMEN 63

VI. WOMEN WARRIORS: THE HIDDEN GLADIATORS. . . . 75

BIBLIOGRAPHY O 7

111

INTRODUCTION

The Apache are a people who have been explored by

many scholars in many different ways. Even though there

is a ready abundance of material dealing with the Apache

people there are still many voids and misconceptions that

persist in the field of Apache history. According to

James Haley, an historian of the Apache, " . . . scholars

generally feel that the body of popular literature on

Apaches is a confused tangle of m.ysteries and half-baked

hip shots."

One area in Apache history that has been neglected

is the study of the alternative roles of Apache women.

It is all too often that Native American women are viewed

as "squaws" and mere supporting characters in the history

of their peoples, but among many Native American tribes,

there were many women who defied these historical stereo­

types. The Apache considered it valiant for an Apache

wife to accompany her husband at war and several wives

took a very active role on raiding and warring expeditions

As scholars of Native American history are aware,

the paucity of written sources is an overriding problem.

As a result, much of the work done in Native American

1

history draws heavily on oral tradition, with my re­

search on Native American women warriors being no ex­

ception. My study strongly relies on the oral history

interviews done by Eve Ball with the Chiricahua, Warm

Springs, and Mescalero Apaches living on the Mescalero

Apache Reservation near Ruidoso, New Mexico. I con­

sulted with Mrs. Ball during the summer of 198 2, and

her cooperation and generosity were invaluable, as all

the Indian participants are now deceased. (My efforts

to obtain interviews with the Chiricahua and Warm Springs

Apaches now living on the Mescalero Apache Reservation

were nominally successful, and this is not surprising

when it is considered that Mrs. Ball needed approximately

forty years to break down the reserves that I attempted

to surpass in one summer of field work.) The drawbacks

of working with studies relying on oral tradition are

obvious, but I believe that Native Airierican oral his­

tory deserves the same respect as "traditional" written

history. The majority of Native American history sur­

vived by "word of mouth," rather than the written word.

Therefore, the oral recollections of A.sa Daklugie, James

Kawaykla, May Peso Second and all of Mrs. Ball's parti­

cipants are historically valid. In this study it has

been my goal to analyze and present the oral stcries of

Apache women warriors and affirm their historical authen­

ticity and significance.

This study directs special attention on Apache

wives and one exceptional Warm Springs Apache woman

known as Lozen: "The Woman Warrior." Lozen is said to

have been an unmarried sister of the noted Warm Spring's

chief Victorio, and she accompanied the men on warring

and raiding parties. After Victorio's death she joined

Geronimo's band and her prowess as a warrior, as well

as her unusual supernatural power that enabled her to

locate the enemy, earned for her a legendary status

among her people.

It has been only in the last decade the Lozen has

emerged in history written by non-Indians. The discovery

and revelation of Lozen is attributable to the oral his­

tory work done by Eve Ball. These interviews have been

published in In The Days of Victorio: Recollections of

a Warm Springs Apache narrated by James Kawaykla, and

Indeh; An Apache Odyssey. These works have been price­

less in my research efforts on Lozen and other Apache

women warriors. It has been through Ball's valuable

work that the stories of these extraordinary women have

been brought to public attention and made available for

study.

The main body of my research deals with the

Chiricahua and Warm Springs bands of the Apache nation.

The first chapter is a general overview of Apache his­

tory centering on the Chiricahua and Warm Springs bands.

Chapter Two explores the status of Apache women. Apache

wives who served as warriors is the subject of Chapter

Three. Chapters Four and Five examine Lozen, the Apache

Woman Warrior, in close detail. The concluding chapter

surveys the incidence and prevalence of women warriors in

various Native American societies and how their roles

affected the status of Native American women.

CHAPTER I

INDE: THOSE WHO SURVIVE

What is life if we are imprisoned like cattle in a corral? We have been a wild, free people, free to come and go as we wished. How can we be caged?

Victorio

The Apache people,or Inde as they refer to them­

selves, explain their origin in a creation legend. Their

belief does not account for the time or place of origin;

it is an abstract legend comparable to those found in

other societies. The Apache belief revolves around Yus'n

or Ussen, the Apache Creator of Life, and four "power

spirits" who molded the earth:

When it came time to form the earth, Yus'n told four power spirits to do it for him. They were Black Water, Black Metal, Black Wind, and Black Thunder. Together they fashioned the earth, but when they finished they saw that it was no good. It was cold and dead. To make it live, Black Water gave it blood by causing the rivers to flow. Black Metal gave it a skeleton of hills and mountains. This way it was strong. Black Wind breathed life into the earth by causing the wind to blow. The earth was there in the universe, but it was cold, so Black Thunder clothed the earth in trees and grass. This way it was made warm.^

The Apache are members of the Athapaskan language

group and there seems to be a general consensus that the

starting point for their migration into the Southwest was

5

6

the Canadian Northwest, in the forested valleys between

the Mackenzie and Yukon Rivers.^ Several reasons are

given for the southward migration of the Athapaskans from

their original homeland. The two most accepted theories

are that the people moved as a result of pressure from

other peoples or they followed migrating herds of bison

into the Plains area. It is believed that they began

their southward migration sometime after A.D. 1000 and

they traveled along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains,

although there is no absolute proof that all the southern

Athapaskans followed this route.

Historians, linguists, and other scholars have

placed the arrival of the Athapaskans in the southwest

sometime between 1400 and 1600. Spanish explorers docu­

mented the earliest sighting of Athapaskans in the Great 7

Plains area in 1541. Pedro de Castaneda, chronicler of

the 154 0-154 2 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado's expedition

onto the Plains, reported that the Pueblo Indians told of

a group of marauders called the "Teyas" that first appeared

in the region around 1524 . The Coronado expedition en­

countered the Teyas peoples and a group called the "Querechos"

and described both groups as being a ". . . highly mobile Q

dog-nomad bison-hunters who lived in sewed skin tents."

Castaneda described the Querechos as "respected warriors

9 and a kind and intelligent race of people." Coronado

w rote the following account describing the Querechos and

their lifestyle:

Their physiques are the best . . . of any I have seen. And they subsist entirely on cattle for they neither plant nor harvest maize . . .^^

From the descriptions of these Spanish explorers, scholars

believe that the Teyas and Querechos were Athapaskan

1 11 peoples.

The combined weight of historical documentation,

oral history, and linguistic evidence, along with the ab­

sence of any Apachean sites that can be reliably dated be­

fore 15 25, point toward an early sixteenth century arrival

12

date for the Athapaskans in the Southwest. The Athapas­

kans were latecomers to the Plains, but they quickly dis­

persed from northern Canada to northern Mexico. The Apachean

group of the southern Athapaskans eventually came to occupy

and claim an area dubbed the "Gran Apacheria" by the Span­

iards. This region included all of New Mexico and parts

of Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Arizona, and northern Mexico;

13 an area approximately 700 miles wide and 600 miles long.

Written documents do not verify the existence of Native

Americans in any substantial number in this specific area

until the 1600s. Reports from the expeditions of such

Spanish explorers as Cham.uscado, Espejo, Lujan, and Zarate

Salmeron all refer to a large num ber of nomadic people on

the southern Plains. The word Apache is first encountered

just prior to 1600 in the records of the Juan de Onate ex­

pedition into the northern provinces of New Spain in 1598. 14

8

Linguistically, the southern Athapaskans are

divided into an eastern and western group. These two

groups are divided further into separate nations according

to territorial, cultural, and linguistic differences. The

Jicarilla, Lipan, and Kiowa-Apache bands form the eastern

group, with the Navajo, Mescalero, Western, and Chiricahua

constituting the western branch. It has been suggested

that the Apacheans arrived in the southwest as a more or

less homogeneous group, but " . . . due to varying pressures,

16 the bands separated and drifted apart."

Each Apachean group dominated certain regions with

identifiable boundaries. The Mescaleros controlled an

area bounded by the Rio Grande on the west, the Pecos

River on the east, and a portion of northwestern Texas.

To the east and southeast of the Mescaleros lived the

Lipans, to the north and northeast were the Jicarilla,

with the Kiowa-Apache well to the east, and the Navajo

and Western Apache to the west. The last group are the

Chiricahua Apache. The Chiricahua lived east of the Mesca­

leros and were split into a central band, a southern band,

and an eastern banc.

The central band of the Chiricahuas inhabited the

Dragoon Mountains of Arizona. The southern band operated

out of the Sierra Madre Mountain region of Mexico, and the

eastern Chiricahua lived in the area from the Rio Grande

River to the present Arizona state boundary, and from the

Mexican border northward to beyond the Datil Mountain

18 Range in New Mexico. The eastern Chiricahua were

divided into smaller groups and the Warm Springs band, our

primary interest in this study, was one of several eastern

Chiricahua bands. The Warm Springs Apache were known by

many names, usually derived from geographical landmarks,

such as the Coppermine Apaches, Mimbres or Mimbrenos

19 Apaches, or O30 Caliente Apaches. This band nomadi-

cally occupied parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Northern

Mexico. Their leaders throughout history included Mangus

Colorado, Delgadito, Cochise and Victorio.

The Chiricahua bands were well-known foes of the

Spanish through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,

and this early Spanish contact was followed by an even more

hostile American-Chiricahua experience. Eastern Chiricahua

and American contact reached a peak during the Mexican-

American V7ar and was followed by a stormy century of

treaty-making and reservation shifting.

It is difficult to differentiate the Warm Springs

band from other Apache groups in the numerous Spanish

reports of frontier activities. They frequently were

lumped by the Spanish with the Gila Apaches, a non-Apache

people living betv/een the Colorado and Gila Rivers; the

San Carlos Apaches; and the other Chiricahua bands."

Occasionally reports specifically referred to the Warm

Springs band. Teodoro de Croix, Commander-General of tne

10

Interior Provinces of New Spain from 1776 to 178 3, re­

ported that the war with the Apaches generally began in

1748 in Nueva Vizcaya, and Rudo Ensayo, a Spanish ex­

plorer, wrote of the Apache threat in the province of

Sonora in 1763:

Indeed it is a mercy of God that they are themselves ignorant of their own strength, were they united against us, for there is not a place in the province which could be held against their entire force, and in less than a year they could ruin it completely. •l

The Apaches posed such a threat to the Spanish settlers

that it became common practice for the Spanish government

22 to sell Apaches as slaves.

The Apache situation reached such an extreme that

the Spanish created a special bureaucracy to deal with the

controversy. In 1776 Spanish officials established a mili­

tary institution known as the Commandancy General of the

23

Interior Provinces. This bureaucracy provided for pre­

sidios and troops to protect the provinces; but due to mis­

management this system failed and by 1835 most Spanish

settlers in northern Sonora had abandoned their homes because

of continued Apache raiding. Those who remained endorsed a previous governmental policy: a "war of extermination" with

24 the payment of bounties for Apache scalps. One nundred

pesos was paid for an adult male scalp, fifty for the

scalp of a woman and one-half that amount for a child's

scalp.^ On May 25, 184 9, the province of Chihuahua en­

acted the "Fifth Law" which provided for a rev/ard of two

11

hundred pesos for each warrior killed, two hundred and

fifty pesos for each taken prisoner and one hundred and

fifty for a female captive or Indian child with acceptable

proof of a slaying being a scalp. ° In 184 9 there were

17,896 pesos paid out for Apache scalps. After this year

the bloody game lost its popularity, but it left an in­

tense hatred in the heart of every Apache for the Span-, 27

laras.

The Mexican-American War resulted in the United

States gaining control of an area that included the home­

lands of the Chiricahua Apache, and thus Chiricahua and

Amierican contact intensified after 1847. American troops

led by Brigadier-General Stephen Watts Kearny encountered

the Warm Springs band during the war. First Lieutinent

William Helmsley Emory recorded the encounter in his

journal:

A large number of Indians had collected about us, all differently dressed, and some in the most fantastical style. The Mexican dress and saddles predominated, showing where they had chiefly made up their ward­robe . . . Most were furnished with the Mexican car­tridge bos, which consists of a strap round the waist, with cylinders inserted for cartridges. The light and graceful manner in which they mounted and dis­mounted, always on the right side, was the admiration^ of all. The children are on horseback from infancy.^^

This initial encounter between the united States military

and the Warm Springs band did not foreshadow the violent

confrontations that would follow in the years to come.

The Chiricahua bands were skilled raiders and their resolve

12

to retain their nomadic life at any cost set the stage for

controversy and violence. In 18 52 John Russell Bartlett,

a member of the United States Boundary Commission, wrote

the following account of Chiricahua activity in Sonora

that should have warned the United States military of the

prowess of their Chiricahua opponents:

The Copper Mine [Warm Springs] have been among the boldest of these depredators and the names of their chiefs—Mangus Colorado, Del Gadito, Coleto, Amarillo, and Ponce have struck terror among the people of Sonora, Chihuahua, and those portions of Northern Mexico and Texas which border on the Rio Grande.29

Bartlett recognized that a confrontation of some sort was

inevitable and he suggested that the establishment of an

Indian agent for each Chiricahua band might remedy the

. . ^ . 30 situation.

The United States government decided to deal with

the Warm Springs Apaches just as they had initially dealt

with all other Native American tribes. The government

began to negotiate treaties with the different Apache

bands. One of the first treaties between the Warm Springs

and the United States was made in 18 5 2 and set the stan­

dard for "proper Indian behavior," in the newly acquired

southwestern United States territory. Provisions of the

treaty included the recognition of United States juris­

diction over the territory; establishment of am.iable

relations between the two parties; cessation of Apache

hostilities and incursions into Mexico; and the establishment

13

of United States military posts. The treaty also contained

a catch-all provision that required the Warm Springs to

accept " . . . such liberal and humane measures affecting

them that Washington may deem meet and proper." The

Warm Springs Apaches accepted the terms of the treaty and

diligently sought to keep their end of the bargain, but

Warm Springs-American relations did not stay on friendly

terms for any substantial amount of time.

As long as the Warm Springs people were allowed to

remain in their homeland they were relatively content.

This contentment was shattered when William Pelham^, General

Land Office Surveyor of New Mexico, proposed the rem.oval

of the Warm Springs band to the remote Gila River area in

32 Arizona. The impact of this order was astounding. The

Chiricahua bands were determined to remain in their home­

land and many felt that their only alternative was to re­

volt. There were numerous outbreaks resulting in skirmishes

During these confrontation years, Victorio and

Loco emerged as the principal chiefs of the Warm Springs

Apaches. These two leaders and their people remained away

from the agencies and reservations for eight years, and

33

then returned and settled at Canada Alamosa. Factions

were form.ing in the band with Loco leaning toward compro­

mise and pushing for his people to accept reservation life.

Victorio remained suspicious of the American government

and wished to retain the traditional lifestyle.

14

During the 187 0s the Warm Springs band was shuf­

fled from one reservation to another. An 187 6 census,

taken at the Ojo Caliente Reservation, revealed that the

Warm Springs band consisted of 916 men, women, and child-

34

ren. The Warm Springs Apaches were not happy with reser­

vation life, but they were content in their beloved homeland

of Ojo Caliente. Therefore, it is not surprising that the

news of relocation to the San Carlos Reservation in 187 6

was distressing to the Warm Springs people. Victorio's

people were assigned to the old Camp Goodwin on the San

Carlos Reservation, and Dan Thrapp, in Victorio and the

Mimbres Apaches, described why this location was "an

unfortunate choice":

Malarial, barren, unattractive, with no good hunting grounds nearby but plenty of enemies among their cousins, it was a rancheria for unhappiness . . .^^

Victorio and his people were terribly bitter at being placed

at Camp Goodwin and on September 2, 18 78, under the lead­

ership of Victorio and Loco, approximately 310 members of

the Warm Springs band fled from Cam.p Goodwin. On Septem­

ber 29 of the same year, Victorio, along with approximately

150 other Warm Springs Apaches, appeared at Wingate, Ari­

zona, to surrender. On October 30, General Philip H.

Sheridan decided that the 233 Warm Springs Apaches that

had come in would be returned to their Ojo Caliente hom.e-

land."* This reprieve proved to be temporary, and on

July 22, 18 79, General William Shermian ordered the Ojo

15

Caliente prisoners back to San Carlos Reservation and the

dreaded Camp Goodwin. Victorio's band violently reacted

to the news and many took a step that determined their

destiny. They vehemently rebelled against surrendering

to American subjugation and remained off the reservation,

roaming throughout southern New Mexico and Arizona, as

well as northern Mexico. It was in Mexico that the band

suffered its most shattering blow. Their courageous

leader, Victorio, lost his life in a battle with Mexican

37 troops at Tres Castillos m 1881.

After Victorio's death. Nana, an elderly man, but

a charismatic leader, assumed control of the small number

of Warm Springs Apaches who still refused to succumb to

a reservation existence. Nana led his party on a series

of raids to avenge the death of their deceased leader

Victorio. After these raids. Nana and his people drifted

into northern Mexico, and the band accidently wandered

onto another renegade Chiricahua band led by the famous

38

Nednhi Apache medicine man, Geronimo, The two bands

united and continued to resist subjugation attempts by

Mexican troops and the United States military. Nana

eventually left Geronimo's band, and with a smcall number

of warriors led a devastating blitz of raids across New 39

Mexico, for which he is still remembered.

Nana's small group refused to surrender and,

even today, remain a "lost" faction of the Chiricahua

16

and Warm Springs Apaches. Geronimo instead became the

primary concern of the United States military in the 1880s.

Some Apaches who had returned to the reservation, including

Loco, were concentrated on the Fort Apache Reservation

where the United States military leaders became convinced

that the Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apaches on the reser­

vation would " . . . attempt to join Geronimo at the

slightest provocation." As a safeguard, all the Chirica­

hua and Warm Springs Apaches on the reservation were detained

as prisoners of war until the solution of the "Geronimo

troubles. ""-

Geronimo and his band met with General Nelson A.

Miles in September, 188 6, and agreed to relocate with their

families to Florida for two years. They were sent to

Florida by train and were considered prisoners of war.

The men were left at Fort Pickens, Pensacola, Florida.

The women and children were removed to Fort Marion, St.

42 Augustine, Florida. The Chiricahua and Warm Springs

Apaches at Fort Apache were herded into nearby corrals

and barns and then sent to Florida to join their tribes-

people in accordance with the governmental aim of clearing

Arizona of all Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apaches. On

October 14, 188 6, Lieutinent C. P. Johnson of the Tenth

Cavalry, obtained the surrender of the so-called last

"hostile" band of Chiricahua Apaches and exiled the six

adults and seven children to Florida. At this timie the

17

44 total number of prisoners in Florida numbered 4 98.

General Nelson A. Miles finally felt it safe to proclaim

that the military had cleared the "territories of Arizona

45 and New Mexico of the whole hostile element."

During the initial years of their imprisonment the

Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apache people were severely

disoriented. They were far away from their homeland; their

families had been heartlessly separated; and the health

and sanitation conditions were atrocious. Many died while

prisoners of war, and for those who survived the ordeal,

it was not until 1913 that the Chiricahua and Warm Springs

Apaches were released from their status as prisoners of

46 war and allowed to return to New Mexico.

The Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apache were a re­

markable people. They were determined to remain free and

hold on to their traditional way of life. Men usually

retained leadership roles, but the women in these bands

were especially strong, and they vitally participated in

their people's struggle for survival. There were a com­

bination of factors that united to allow Apache women to

exercise particularly strategic functions that were not

usually considered in the female sphere of activities.

Apache women were allowed to participate in the traditionai

"male" activities of hunting, raiding, and warring that

v;ere normally forbidden to females in the more established,

stable and populous societies.

Notes

Eve Ball, In the Days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Springs Apache (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1970), 62.

2 James L. Haley, Apaches; A History and Culture

Portrait (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Co., 1981), 3. ^Ibid., 10. 4 James H. Gunnerson, "Southern Athapaskan Archaeo­

logy," in The Handbook of North American Indians, gen, ed. W. C. Sturtevant (VJashington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institu­tion, 1979), 163; Haley, Apaches, 10.

^Ibid.

Gunnerson, "Southern Athapaskan," 162; Haley, Apaches, 10.

7 Albert H. Schroeder, Apache Indians: A Study of

Apache Indians (N.Y.: Garland Press, Inc., 1974), 34.

^Ibid., 80. 9 ^Ibid.

John Upton Terrell, Apache Chronicle (N.Y.: World Publishing Co., 1972), 35.

Gunnerson, "Southern Athapaskans," 162.

-^Ibid.

• " Michael E. Melody, The Apaches: A Critical Bib­liography (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 197/), 3.

Haley, Apaches, 9.

"'" Greenville Goodwin, The Social Organization of the Western Apache (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942), 1.

"^^Gunnerson, "Southern Athapaskans," 162.

- " Goodwin, Social, 1; Morris E. Opler, Apache Odyssey: A Journey Between Two Worlds (N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart and W m -ston, 1969), 1-2; Dan L. Thrapp, The Conquest of Apacheria

18

19

(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1967), 3.

Ibid.

19 Thrapp, Conquest, 3-4.

^°Ibid., 16.

21 Schroeder, Apache Indians, 43.

22 Donald b. Worcester, The Apaches: Eagles of the

Southwest (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979), 10 23

Ibid., 21. ^^Ibid., 37-38.

25 Thrapp, Conquest, 19.

Ibia.

27 'ibid.

Ibid., 20.

29 ^Ibid., 24.

Ibid.

31 Ibid., 27.

32 Ibid., 45.

" - Ibid., 133.

34 Ibid., 182.

35 Ibid., 15.

36 , . ^ loia.

37_, . , ibiG.

3» Haley, Apaches, 332.

39 •^-^Ibid.

40 U.S. Congress, Report or the Secretary of War,

4 9th Cong., 2nd sess., 188 7, 71.

ibid.

20 4 2^ . . . Geronimo, Geronimo's Story of His Life, ed.

S. M. Barrett (N.Y.: Duffield and Co., 1915), 177. 43

U.S. Congress, Report of the Secretary of War, 50th Cong., 1st sess., 1889, 158.

44 Ibid. Ibia.

46 Opler, Odyssey, 3.

CHAPTER TWO

THE STATUS OF APACHE WOMEN

RESPECT AND PRESTIGE

Apache women are respected, protected and cherished. James Kawaykla^

In almost every known culture throughout history,

including Native American societies, gender has been a

major role determinant. Conditions varied greatly among

the many Native North American tribes, but Native American

women as individuals and groups often possessed a large

2 amount of power and authority over their own destinies.

The vast majority of Native American tribes were in some

way centered around females. Most tribes were either matri-

focal, where the mother role is considered culturally and

structurally central; matrilineal, where the line of des­

cent is traced through the mother; matrilocal, where the

husband lives with his wife's family after marriage; or a

combination of these social structures.

The Apaches were a matrilocal tribe, and, as a re­

sult, women held a high position in the social hierarchy of

the tribe. The predominancy of matrilocal residence and

the practice of tracing descent through the mother or father's

21

22

line extended power to Apache females, as well as imposing

4 rigid obligations on males. Each daughter m a family,

upon marriage, moved to a separate dwelling with her new

husband, and the new groom was bound and subordinated to

his wife's parents by strict cultural traditions and

practices. An Apache woman was protected from unwanted

male advances, and had powerful influence in such matters

as marriage, divorce, and residence. Among the VJestern

Apache women, there were "head women" who could acquire

prestige and could publicly speak at ceremonial functions.

Most Apache marriages were arranged in terms of an

economic agreement, although personal feelings were not

totally discounted. Young people realized the seriousness

of the commitment and did not hesitate in making their

7 preferences known. Apache girls tended to marry at a young

age, although not before their first menstruation, and

this is due to several factors. The girl's domestic

training was usually completed at an early age, in time

for her puberty ceremony, and since premarital sex was

a social taboo it was considered better for the girl to

marry at a young age. Economics also played a role in

marriages. Separate bands always needed additional strong g

young men and one way to obtain them was through marriage.

Thus, the economic importance of women in a matrilocal

society was borne out. Young Apache men did not marry at the same early

23

age as Apache girls, as they first had to prove their ability

to provide for and defend a wife and family by participating

9 m four raids. The young man's family was expected to

take the initiative in marriage proposals, but the girl's

family often made the first move. Marriage gifts from

the prospective groom were usually presented to the girl's

family. The usual gift was horses or hides, but the amount

or size of the gift only represented the wealth of the

groom, not the status of the young woman. The marriage

gift's ultimate function was to serve as evidence of the

groom's economic support, cooperation, and generosity

towards the wife's family. The Apache marriage rituals

reveal a society highly focused on upholding the sanctity

of the female. It was the groom who was required to make

the major adjustments and sacrifices upon marriage, while

the woman was a gracious recipient who was likely to remain

in her familiar setting.

Being a mother and raising healthy children were

the ultimate goals for a woman in most North American Indian

13 societies. Pregnancy and the aelivery of infants fell

strictly within the female sphere of duties. It was women

who dominated all practical and ceremonial duties connected

14 with bearing children. Pregnant Apache women reframea

from strenuous activities and were treated with the con­

sideration and respect that reflected the Apachean love

for children. Both male and female children were equally

24

desirable, and there was not a definite preference for

the sex of the firstborn. In actuality, daughters were

more of an asset than males in a matrilocal society be­

cause they brought marriage gifts and sons-in-law into

the family. Women were valued for their role as child-

bearers also. When the time for delivery came, the

husband would leave the home, and the female relatives

would arrive to help with the birth. The services of a

woman with special knowledge and powers in delivering in-

16 fants were required. After the baby was delivered, he

or she immediately began to nurse. The child was nursed

until the flow of mother's m.ilk stopped, around the child's

third birthday; thus, Apache children were spaced approxi-

17 mately four years apart.

As a young Apache girl and boys matured, they ex­

perienced a distinct sexual division in industry and social

life. The young men became novitiates for raiding and

warring and the young women began perfecting domestic

duties. The girls were groomed to be wives and mothers.

The traditional tasks assigned to Apache women included

food gathering and preparation, tanning hides and fashioning

garments, building shelters, gathering wood and building

fires, carrying water, and rearing the children. Girls

were instructed in the medicinal value of plants, and, as

a result, the task of nursing minor ailments was considered

18 "women's work."

25

The gathering of food was the major responsibility

of Apache women. Food that was near the camp would be

gathered by an individual woman or a small group of fe­

males, while several women would travel to a distant

19

harvest area. Hunting was considered the man's respon­

sibility, but it was not uncommon for the women to take

an active role in this venture. James Kawaykla, a Warmt

Springs Apache, recalled the various duties given to the

women of his band:

Mother killed deer and the women tanned the hides and made moccasins. They cut meat into thin strips, not across, but with the grain, and dried it. They made dresses from a bolt of calico cached in the „ cave. And they used cooking pots left there . . ."

Apache wom.en' s lives clearly were stenuous and

not extremely colorful, but their duties were central to

Apache well-being and survival. It has been estimiated

that in some Native American societies the women accounted

for as much as eighty percent of the labor needed in

hunting and gathering the food supply. Thus, the one

area where women held a great deal of power was in the

home. She maintained an active and close relationship

with the family's food supply, and, ultimately, their

• ^ 22 existence.

An Apache girl's pre-supposed destiny as a wife

and mother were made clear to her while she was still a

child. She usually learned by observing the adult women

of her band:

26

The women . . . take the girls out and show them what plants to use for baskets, what clay for pots. While they are at work, they tell the students to watch closely so that when they reach womanhood nobody can say anything about their being lazy or ignorant.^3

Young girls would observe their mothers and other women

raising children, and, consequently, one of the first

duties of an Apache girl was that of caring for her own

younger brothers and sisters.

Even though domestic chores were stressed to

maturing Apache girls, they also were encouraged to develop

their physical strength. Young Apache girls received the

same basic training as boys, and all were taught to be

strong and vigorous. The girls were told to "rise early,

run often and shun no hard work." Swiftness and strength

were necessary attributes for girls, as well as boys, as

the children needed to be able to reach safety quickly in

case of an attack. Another fundamental skill that was

2 ft practiced each day by both boys and girls was horsemanship.

The children, regardless of sex, were taught to mount an

unsaddled horse without assistance. Boys and girls also

learned archery skills and often played in a realistic

manner by pretending to hunt and stalk imaginary game with

27 bows and arrows and spears. There are stories of girls

who rivaled the swiftest boys in foot races, and many of

the fastest girls were allowed to participate in rabbit

28 hunting. As Apache children grew older, joint play

wa s discouraged, and soon the boys and girls were divided

27

and relegated to separate social spheres. This sexual

division was due to the physical differences between the

29 sexes and thus was given a biological rationale.

The sexual division of labor did not serve to

lessen the respect held for Apache women. In most North

American tribes there was a high regard for females. This

respect generally surpassed the sentimental regard usually

given to the female in all cultures in deference of her

traditional roles as companion and child-bearer. The

Judeo-Christian concept of woman being made from man is

not found in Native American religions. Instead, a

universally accepted Indian legend teaches that woman and

man were created simultaneously. Neither sex was designa­

ted superior or inferior, but each was given particular

strengths and weaknesses. Man and woman's coexistence

was planned to be one of cooperation, and, more importantly,

mutual dependence.

The Apaches maintain that their society reflected

this sexual equality, and, in many cases, the wife was

the dominant figure in an encampment. However, this uni­

versal ideal of equality appears to have suffered some­

what in actual practice. Among the Western Apache, women

were normally excluded from participating in such things

as hunting, raiding, and warring because it was believed

that they lacked the necessary strength and endurance.

Women were believed to be particularly vulnerable to certain

28

powers because they were considered weaker than men. The

Western Apaches also described certain characteristics as

being inherently feminine and masculine. Woman was described

as " . . . a gentle, soft-spoken being," while man had

" . . . boldness, a certain violence, and outspokenness."

Men were careful not to be seen doing anything that might

be considered "woman's work" because it was considered de­

grading. However, it was not uncommon for a woman to chal­

lenge a man in a physical contest of skill or strength.

The womien who excelled in physical sports were not considered

strange:

In very rare instances women even went to war and helped fight and kill the enemy. Such women were not ridiculed for doing as men did, for they were not trying to be_-masculine but merely participating as a brave woman.

In few other non-VJestern societies were women able to digress

from traditional roles and participate in those male acti-

. . 34

vities that led to respect and prestige.

In Apache society there were very few cultural do­

mains closed to women. In many Indian societies women did

not have ample opportunity to hold positions of leadership

and prestige, but Apache women attended celebrations and

ceremonies with the men, and they were able to obtain super-35 natural power on the sam.e level as males. Many of the

supernatural beings that assumed important roles in Indian

religion and folklore were females. Almost all North Ameri­

can tribes had a feminine "m.other" deity. Feminine qualities

29

were given to the earth, and in Apache ceremonies the earth

was referred to as "Earth Mother."^^

In Apache religion the supreme deity is Ussen or

Life-Giver. Ussen is given no particular gender. Ussen's

counterpart is White Painted Woman. White Painted Woman is

the mother of Child of the Waters, who is the dominant

38 Apache culture hero. An Apache child's first religious

instruction began when he or she was old enough to under­

stand his or her parents. The child grew up learning of

Ussen, White Painted Woman, and Child of the Waters.^^ In

most versions of Apache beliefs that tell of the birth of

Child of the Waters, White Painted Woman is impreganted by

water, but in another rendition Lightning strikes at her

40 and she is impregnated. White Painted Woman is believed

to have existed from the beginning of time and some Apaches

believe that another important deity. Killer of Enemies,

41 was White Painted Woman's brother or even her husband.

Killer of Enemies and White Painted Woman shared the earth

with other humans while cannibalistic monsters threatened

42 the population.

White Painted V\?oman also plays an important role in

the most intricate, public and sustained Apache ceremony;

43 the puberty rite. This rite marked an Apache girl's

first menstruation. Menstruation was regarded as a

m»ysterious and fearful phenomenon in all Native American

cultures. In The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation

30

this prevailing fear is graphically portrayed:

Greater than his fear of death, dishonor, or dismem­berment has been primitive man's respect for menstrual blood. The measures he has taken to avoid this myster­ious substance have affected his mealtimes, his bed­times and his hunting season . . .' ^

To combat this fear, taboos were created. The taboos of

menstruation were practices that prompted the isolation,

whether physically, sexually, or psychologically, of the

menstruating female from the rest of her village. These

taboos were among the most inviolate in many societies.

The Apaches were a society that respected the

menstrual taboo, but they did not carry their isolation

of the women to the extreme that did many other Native

American societies. Numerous tribes advocated and required

the complete physical isolation of menstruating women; it

was considered extremely dangerous for anyone, especially

a man, to even look at a woman if she was experiencing

her menstrual flow. The menstrual period was not understood

in biological terms in most Native American societies, even

though it is a normal female function. An Apache girl was

counseled by her mother, grandmother, or some other female

relative in preparation for her first menstrual period. She

46 was told that " . . . menstrual blood is dangerous to men."

Apache boys were warned of contact with menstruating women

with the admonition that " . . . contact with menstrual

47 discharges would make his 30ints swell and ache." As a

result, men feared menstrual blood and abstained from

31

intercourse with menstruating women. Apache men did not

fear the menstruating female, but rather the menstrual

blood itself. This distinction allowed Apache women to

escape from the complete physical isolation and ostracism

that the majority of their feminine Native American counter­

parts withstood.

Menstruation was regarded in a positive manner in

Apache society also. The beginning of menstruation for a

young Apache maiden was celebrated as her entrance into

womanhood. After a girl's puberty ceremony, she was eligible

48 for marriage. The puberty rite was the focal point for

Apache ritual, society, and economy. The establishment of

the puberty ceremony is usually credited to White Painted

Woman, and during the ritual the pubescent girl is identified

with White Painted Woman. During the four days and nights

of the ceremony the girl is referred to as White Painted

Woman, and the girl's clothing duplicates the costume of

the female deity. Each girl is painted white to resemble

symbolically White Painted Woman. According to one Apache

informant, " . . . the young girl is the image of the real

4 9 one White Painted Woman." Every girl was expected to

go through the puberty rite, and preparations for the

ceremony began as soon as it became evident that the girl

was approaching womanhood. It was an economically taxing

ceremony, but its importance cannot be overstated. It was

believed that any girl who failed to go through the rite

32

would not be healthy and would not live long. The ceremony

unequivocally demonstrated the importance of women in

Apache society.

A thorough survey of the status of Native American

wom.en challenges the dominant misconception portraying

these females as drudging "squaws" that were completely

subservient to their warrior husbands. Many Native Ameri­

can women, especially Apache women, exercised a significant

degree of power and freedom both inside and outside of their

domestic sphere. Women had essential functions in religious

ideology, societal structure, tribal economics, ceremonial

practices, and even, in some cases, traditionally masculine

pursuits. They were recognized as being economically

valuable to the nomadic Apache society. This high regard

and respect for females in Apache culture is instrumental

in understanding why some women were able to pursue life­

styles that challenged the traditional female role and

ultimately allowed them to participate in the predominantly

male activities that garnered them respect and prestige.

Notes

As told to Eve Ball, by James Kawaykla In the Days of Victorio, narr. James Kawaykla (Tucson: Univer-sity of Arizona Press, 1970), 21.

2 Carolyn Niethammer, Daughters of the Earth: The

Lives and Legends of American Women (N.Y.: McMillan Pub-lishing Co., Inc., 1977), xii.

3 Ibid., xiii.

4 Greenville Goodwin, Social Organization of the

Western Apache (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942), 537, 540; Morris E. Opler, An Apache Life-Way (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941), 63, 162-163.

^Ibid., 63.

Goodwin, Social Organization, 537. 7 Opler, Life-Way, 156.

^Ibid., 154.

^Ibid., 156-157.

•^^Ibid., 157.

^•^Ibid., 161-162.

12 Morris E. Opler, Apache Odyssey; A Journey Between

Two Worlds (N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart and Wilson, 1969), 14. 13 Niethammer, Daughters, 1. Ibid.

"^Goodwin, Social Organization, 53 9.

1 6

Niethammer, Daughters, 6.

•^'Opler, Life-Way, 13.

Ibid., 76; Opler, Apache Odyssey, 15. "^^Thomas E. Mails, The People Called Apache. Engle-

wood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1974), 225.

33

34

20 As told to Ball by Kawaykla, Victorio, 66.

21 . Niethammer, Daughters, 107.

^^Ibid.

23 Opler, Life-Way, 28.

24 Ibid., 46, 75; Niethammer, Daughters, 25.

25 Ball, Victorio, 113; Opler, Life-Way, 75.

26-rK-^ Ibid.

27 Opler, Life-Way, 48.

28-rK' -IbiG.

Ibid.

Niethammer, Daughters, 13 2.

3"' John Upton Terrell and Donna K. Terrell, Indian

Women of the Western Morning: Their Life in Early America (N.Y.: Dial Press, 1974), 4.

32 Goodv/in, Social Organization, 535.

^^Ibid., 536.

34 Ibid., 537.

3 5 Katherine M. Weist, "Plains Indian Women: An

Assessment," in Anthropology on the Great Plains, ed. W. Raymond Wood and Margot Liberty (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980), 262.

3 6

Opler, Apache Odyssey, 15.

• Opler, Life-Way, 194.

^^Ibid., 281. 39

•^^Ibid., 7.

^^Ibid,, 84.

" • Ibid., 196.

"^^Ibid., 197. -> Ibid.

35

44 Ibid., 89.

45^ . .. -Janice DeLaney, Mary Jane Lupton and Emily Toth,

The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation (N.Y.: E. P . D u t t o n & C o . , I n c . , 1 9 7 6 ) , 5 .

46-rK- -I b i a .

"^Opler, L i fe -VJay , 8 0 .

^ ^ I b i d . , 8 1 .

49 I b i d . , 8 2 .

^° Ib id . , 90.

CHAPTER III

AT WAR: ESPOUSED WARRIORS

'Where's Mother?' I asked. 'She rides with your father and Nana on another raid.' ,

James Kawaykla

The Apaches relied on raiding as a primary means

of existence, and this unjustly earned for them an his­

torical steretype as "bloodthirsty savages." This fallacy

can be refuted when raiding is viewed as an economic neces­

sity and not simply a sadistic pasttime. Hunting game for

food and shelter was the most significant economic pursuit

in Apache society, but raiding was almost as important.

The primary objective of raiding was to obtain necessary

supplies such as horses, weapons, ammunition, food, and,

in some cases, captives." Glory and prestige were second­

ary rewards for participating warriors. The war party was

also an integral part of Apache society. Since raiding

and warring were such central features of Apache culture,

it is not surprising that women were allowed to partici­

pate .

There was no distinct linguistic differentiation

between raiding and warring in the Apachean language.

Both were referred to by a term meaning "they are scouting

36

37 3

about." Even though the same term was used for the two

expeditions there was a primary distinction. The sole

objective of a raid was to obtain horses, cattle, or other

enemy possessions. Raiding parties were not large in num­

ber and the party did not actively seek out conflict or

bloodshed. A war party was formed when a raiding expedi­

tion was attacked and lives were lost, thus necessitating

a retaliatory expedition:

Sometimes when the Chiricahua are on the raid, the enemy kills some of their principal men. The people whose relatives have been killed notify the leaders, warriors, and everybody--the entire encampment. Even though they are in sorrow they notify these friends to have a war dance. Following it they are going to go after the enemy, no matter where they have gone.

War parties were large in number and the emotion

involved was very intense and violent. Geronimio's war

parties usually contained about seventy-five persons;

Victorio's no more than sixty; and Nana's around twenty 5

or thirty people. All large war parties were undertaken

to avenge deaths of family members, and a life for a life

was not always considered a just revenge. At times for

every Apache killed, m.any lives were taken in retaliation.

Vengeance was demanded in most Native American cultures,

and the Apaches were no exception. Usually a relative of

the deceased asked the leader of the band to organize the

v/ar party. Warriors volunteered for the expedition and

relatives of the dead enlisted as many as possible of

their own families. It was not unknown for fem.aie

38

relatives to accompany the war parties to exact revenge

for deceased male relatives.

May Peso Second, daughter of Mescalero Apache

chief Peso, recpunted the exploits of an Apache woman

who courageously took it upon herself to avenge her

husband's death. The woman was referred to as Gouyen,

or Wise Woman, a name given to those females who were

virtuous, brave and intelligent. Gouyen's husband had

been killed by a Comanche chief. The Mescaleros had been

hunting along the Pecos River and were surprised by a

o

Comanche raiding party returning from Mexico. Gouyen

felt it was her duty to exact revenge because her family

had no strong men to bear the responsibility: Gouyen's heart burned like a coal of living fire, a fire that could be quenched only by avenging her hus­band's death. It had been little more than two days since she had seen the tall Comanche chief stoop over his prostrate body, wave his bloody scalp high and leap to the back of the black stallion.^

Gouyen decided that she must go after the Comanche

chief and make him pay for her husband's death. She knew

that her family would not allow her to go after the man

alone so she secretly left the camp after everyone was

asleep. She picked up the Comanche party's trail and fol­

lowed it for three nights, when she spotted the Comanche

camp by the fire and driimbeats of their victory dance. Be­

fore she approached the camp she changed into her beaded

ceremonial dress and ascertained the location of her intended

39

victim. Goyen then slipped into the circle of intoxicated

dancers and began to implement her vengeful plan:

She circled the drummer and singers to approach the chief. As she stood before him with arms outstretched he recognized the universal invitation and staggered to his feet . . . As they fell into the simple step of the social dance the scalp, swinging with the move­ment, steeled her to her purpose.-^^

Gouyen drew the chief away from the dancers and into the

darkness of the night. She attempted to steal his knife

for a weapon, but was unsuccessful. The Comanche chief

realized her intentions and Gouyen sensed that her own

life was in danger and she resolved to use the resources

at hand in the mortal situation:

She lifted her head and, as he bent over her, she sank her strong teeth into his neck and locked her arms above his elbows . . . How long she maintained her grip before the Comanche, staggering and fighting, fell, she did not know. His struggles became weaker, feebler, until they finally ceased.- -

vvhen Gouyen realized that she had killed the Comanche she

went on to exact an even more bloody revenge. She took

the man's knife and peeled off his scalp to take back with

her as a trophy. She mounted a horse she had stolen from

the Comanche camp £nd headed for her own camp with due

haste, knowing that when the Comanches discovered their

chief's death they would come in search of her. After

riding for two days and nights Gouyen lost consciousness

1 2 and was miraculously found by her family.

Gouyen's story is an unusual saga of initiative,

courage, and strength, and is probably not representative

40

of the behavior of most Apache wives. However, females

did actively participate in raiding and warring parties.

For a band to survive males and females had to be trained

in raiding and warring techniques.

Apache boys were trained as warriors at an early

age. When a boy reached puberty he became an apprentice

warrior. He had to accompany four raiding or warring ex­

peditions in his novitiate status before he became a full-

fledged warrior. There was no definite age at which a boy

had to volunteer for his first raiding party, and no one

was required to volunteer; but those who wished to enjoy

material benefits, as well as tribal respect, had no choice

13 m the matter. As an apprentice warrior the boy had to

help the womien who accompanied the parties. They stayed

in the temporary camp and prepared food, took care of the

livestock, and nursed the wounded. The young men were

identified with the cultural hero Child of the Waters and

14 had to follow many rituals and taboos. After the boy

had accompanied the four raids in his novitiate capacity

he was designated a warrior. Some exceptional young men

were awarded this distinction before finishing the required

apprenticeship. Geronimo, the famous Chiricahua Apache

medicine-man, recalled his admittance to the council of

15 warriors when he v/as seventeen years of age. When a

young man became a warrior it marked his manhood, and he

16 wa s eligible to choose a wife and marry.

41

Apache girls did not receive the same vigorous and

structured training for hunting and raiding that was re­

quired of the boys as novitiate warriors, but the girls

were taught how to hunt, fight, and ride, along with other

basic survival skills. Boys and girls always carried their

own emergency ration pouch of food in case of a surprise

attack. When women and children accompanied a raiding or

warring party, they traveled with the men. There was a

large advance guard of warriors that led the band with the

women and children occupying the middle position, followed

by another group of warriors. The children were tied to

their horses by a rope passed under the horses' stomach or

17 they rode behind and were tied to older youths or adults.

Single women were normally excluded from actively

pursuing the lifestyle of a warrior and were not allowed to

accomipany raiding and warring expeditions, but Apache wives

were frequent companions on such functions. It was the

custom of the Apache to respect the wishes of those wives

who desired to accompany their husbands on raiding and

warring parties. The wives and children of such famous

Apache leaders as Chihuahua, Naiche, Juh and Geronimo were

18 always allowed to accompany their husbands and fathers.

The primary duties of Apache wives on raids were to re­

main in the temporary camp and tend to the usual domestic

chores of cooking, cleaning, and nursing the wounded. If

novitiate warriors were alone, it was their responsibility

42

to help the women with these chores. The women were respon­

sible for moral and spiritual support also. When the war­

riors left for a raid the women would send them off with

applause and cheers. Some women prayed for their hus­

band's safety, but most women simply behaved with caution

so as not to bring bad luck to the warriors.^^ The wives

who accompanied the expeditions were discouraged from

sleeping or having sexual relations with their spouses as

it was believed that this would hinder the husband's

fighting ability by depriving him of much-needed energy

21 for the following day's raid.

If a raiding or warring party returned success­

fully it was the responsibility of the wives to prepare

a victory feast for the warriors. Asa Daklugie, the son

of Juh, Chief of the Nednhi Chiricahua A.paches, related

his mother's role in a victory feast after a successful

raid into Mexico:

Dressed in her gorgeous beaded buckskin robes, Ishton [Daklugie's mother] directed preparations for the feast. Cooking pots were placed around the big cen­tral fire of logs, and meat was laid to roast on small beds of coals. The women baked meal cakes made of sweet acorns and piled them on wooden slabs . . . After my father had blown smoke in the four directions, he raised his arm and the wom.en began serving the food.

After the feast the women listened to the exploits of

the victorious warriors, but the females were not allowed

to speak. A war dance followed the storytelling, and this

v\7as followed bv social dances in which the women could

43

participate.

Apache wives were not strictly relegated to their

domestic duties when accompanying raiding and warring

parties. Many times the women had to fight in a skirmish

and they knew how to handle weapons and were effective

warriors. Kawaykla recalled that his mother did not hesi­

tate to enter a battle with her husband and " . . . when

necessary [she] fought beside him as bravely as any man."^^

In one instance her fighting skills saved her husband's

life.

Keytennae leaped to the ground and dropped into an arroyo. Mother followed, with me behind her. Before we could overtake Kaytennae, she had her rifle in readiness. As we passed the mouth of a side arroyo I saw the shadow of a rifle move. Kaytennae was racing towards us, but it was Mother who got the first shot. There was no need for another. 2*

Kawaykla also remembered an instance in which his mother

expressed her desire to encompass the role of a warrior in

a more comprehensive manner. She was resentful of Lozen,

an exceptional single woman in the Warm Springs band who

had distinguished herself as a great warrior and was a

constant companion of the men:

In the skirmishes and ambushes that occurred, Lozen fought with the w-arriors. Both Kaytennae and grand­father praised her fighting qualities so highly that Mother was a bit resentful. [She said] 'I could do ^^^ the same if I had anyone with whom to leave Kawaykla.

Kawaykla's mother, and possibly many other Apache wives,

had the desire to take a miore active role in the defense

of their people, but could not neglect their children and

44

domestic duties.

As the Chiricahua Apache bands became smaller and

continued to remain off the reservation the women were

forced to assume duties that previously had been considered

improper or too dangerous for females. During the 187 0s

and 1880s when the VJarm Springs band and other Chiricahua

bands refused to stay on the San Carlos Reservation there

were numerous "break-outs," in which entire families,

including women and children, made up the war parties. In

such instances the women played very active roles.

Jason Betzinez, a Chiricahua Apache who fought with

Geronimo's band, related an incident when the women of the

band played a very dangerous and vital part. The band

was being attacked by Mexican troops and the women dug

trenches for the warriors:

They [the warriors] stood off the iMexicans while the few women with them dug a big hole in the dry creek bed. Here they made their stand in this rifle pit . . . The women also dug holes for other warriors in the bank of the little arroyo, around the center strong point.^^

These women were not doing the actual "fighting" in this

skirmish, but they were providing a valuable service that

certainly earned for them the titles of warriors.

There are several recorded instances of Apache

women serving as lookouts or sentries. When the Warm

Springs band, under the leadership of Victorio, fled from

the San Carlos Reservation the women of the band had to

assume sentinel duties. In one instance, Jam.es Kawaykla' s

45

grandmother took her place as a sentry to watch for United

States troops who might have been in pursuit of the fleeing

Apaches.

As usual, sentinels were posted in all directions. Grandmother took her place on the edge overlooking Nana's men.^'

Other women in the band kept a lookout for enemies and

made sure that the horses were ready for traveling:

Siki's mother, and Blanco's wife checked the horses, tied their equipment to the saddles, and hobbled their mounts. Mother was the first to spy the riders, tiny specks moving toward the canyon.^8

The women had to perform double-duty on raiding and warring

parties, or when fleeing from pursuers. Not only did they

have to assume many of the duties normally assigned to the

male warriors, but they also had to keep a close watch on

the children and elderly members of the band, nurse the

wounded, and tend to the usual domestic chores of tanning,

sewing, and cooking.

Some Apache women distinguished themselves as able

and valuable warriors and as such were "exempted from the

cooking and other chores usually done by the wives who 29

accompanied their husbands . . . " These women were

skilled in dressing wounds, while also being exceptionally

efficient fighters.

A rather grisly and violent chore that often fell

to the women of Chiricahua Apache bands was that of tor­

turing and killing captives. Several Apache informants

46

related such instances:

They say they used to tie Mexicans with their hands behind their backs. Then they turned the women loose with axes and knives to kill the Mexican prisoners .- ^

Another informant told of Mexican prisoners being brought

into the camp for women to kill for revenge:

When a brave warrior is killed, the men go out for about three Mexicans. They bring them back for the women to kill in revenge. The women ride at them on horseback, armed with spears. •-'-

This behavior is not unusual in Native American societies

that adhered to the laws of revenge, but it is unusual

that the women were the perpetrators of this violent action

An Apache women who held a less violent, but very

dangerous and important, position was Tah-des-te. She was

the wife of a Chiricahua Apache warrior, Anandiah, and she

accompanied him on raiding and warring parties. She was

admired by her contemporaries and fought beside the men in

ambushes and attacks. Tah-des-te traveled with Geronimo's

band and she served as a m.essenger for the group. She

usually was accompanied by Lozen, and the wom.en acted as

go-betweens for Geronimo and numerous United States mili­

tary officers. When Geronimo's band was being pursued

by Lieutinent Charles Gatewood and his troops, the two

women were sent to negotiate for the band. According to

the members of the band, Lozen and Tah-des-te were to

arrange a conference with Lieutinent Gatewood concerning

3 " the band's surrender in 183 6. ~ Military accounts verify

47

this information by stating that "two women or squaws" came

33 into camp to deliver messages from Geronimo. Military

reports also show that the women negotiated with Lieu­

tinent Britton Davis, Captain Emmett Crawford and General

34 Nelson A. Miles. It is likely that Lozen and Tah-des-te

were sent as messengers because women would be less

threatening to American military officers. The grave re­

sponsibilities associated with the task of delivering im -

portant messages signified the tremendous trust and respect

that Geronimo and his band held for Tah-des-te and Lozen.

Tah-des-te was with Geronimo when the band sur-

35 rendered to General George Crook in the spring of 188 6.

The Apache prisoners of war were sent to Florida for in-

3 6 carceration. The men were left at Fort Pickens in

Pensacola, while the women and children were sent to

Fort Marion in St. Augustine. In April, 1887, Tah-des-te,

along with the other prisoners, was moved to Mount Vernon

Barracks, Alabama.^ While at Mount Vernon, Anandia left

Tah-des-te and returned to a previous wife. Tah-des-te

then married Coonie or Kuni, who had been an Apache

scout at Fort Apache. His wife had died and left him

with three children. Tah-des-te was his last wife, and,

in addition to Coonie's own children, she raised three of

his nephews. She lived on the Mescalero Apache Reserva­

tion until her death. "^ Tah-des-te's dangerous role as

emissary for the Apaches earned for her a high degree of

48

respect among her people, and she is remembered as a

brave woman warrior.

Tah-des-te, Gouyen, Ishton, and many other

Chiricahua Apache wives justly earned the title of "warrior"

by their courage, daring, and skill in areas that were

traditionally considered to be exclusively male domains.

Apache wives were extremely valuable members of hunting,

raiding, and warring parties, whether in their domestic

or fighting capacities. It is obvious that all Chiri­

cahua Apache women did not choose to fight beside their

husbands, but they were not reluctant to assume these

duties if the circumstances warranted such action. Apache

wives were indispensable in their roles as "warriors."

Women with mien valiantly fought as one force, as band

members struggling against extinction. Many wives were

forced to assume their "warrior" roles to insure their

survival, while for other women it was a matter of choice.

Notes

As told to Eve Ball by James Kawaykla, In the Days of Victorio, narr. James Kawaykla (Tucson: Univer­sity of Arizona Press, 1970), 9.

Morris Opler, An Apache Life-Way (Chicago: Uni­versity of Chicago Press, 1941), 334.

^Ibid., 333.

^Ibid., 335.

5 James Betzinez with Wilbur Sturtevant Nye, I Fought with Geronimo (Harrisburg, Pa.: The Stackpole Co., 1959), 6

Thomas Mails, The People Called Apache (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1974), 252.

As told to Eve Ball by May Peso Second, Indeh: An Apache Odyssey (Prove: Brigham Young University Press, 1980), 204-210.

^Ibid., 205.

^Ibid., 204.

•^°Ibid., 208.

11

12

^Ibid., 209.

Ibid., 208-210.

13. Mails, Apache, 260.

14 Opler, Life-Vv'ay, 137. v-/

"^^Geronimo, Geronimo's Story of His Life, ed. S. M Barrett (N.Y.: Duffield and Co., 1915), 37.

•^^Opler , L i f e - W a y , 1 3 9 .

1 7 xMails , A p a c h e , 2 5 9 .

•^^As t o l d t o B a l l by C h a r l i e S m i t h , I n d e h , 1 0 3 .

• ' •^Opler, L i f e - W a y , 3 4 2 .

^ ° I b i d . , 3 4 3 .

49

50 21 As told to Ball by Charlie Smith, Indeh, 104;

Interview with Eve Ball, Ruidoso, N.M., 10 June 1982. 22 As told to Ball by Asa Daklugie, Indeh, 8.

23 As told to Ball by James Kawaykla, Victorio, 110. Ibid.

^^Ibid., 120.

26 Betzinez, Geronimo, 73.

27 As told to Ball by James Kawaykla, Victorio, 12.

28 Ibid., 108.

29 ^Ibid.

Opler, Life-Way, 351.

Ibid.

^Ball, Victorio, 182. 33 Brigadier General James Parker, "The Geronimo Cam­

paign" in The Papers of the Order of Indian VJars (Fort Col­lins, Colorado: The Old Army Press, 1975), 100; Lieutinent Charles B. Gatewood, "The Surrender of Geronimo" in The Papers of the Order of Indian Wars, 107.

34 Nelson A. Miles, Personal Recollections and Ob­

servations of General Nelson A. Miles (N.Y. and Chicago: 1896; reprint ed., N.Y.: Da Capo Press, 1969), 456, 464, 511.

35 Gillett Griswold, comp. "The Fort Sill Apaches:

Their Vital Statistics, Tribal Origins, Antecedents" (an unpublished biography at U.S. Army Field Artillery anc Fort Sill Museum, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 1958-1962), 130; Woodward B. Skinner, letter to author, 7 February 198 3.

Ball, Indeh, 136; Eve Ball and Lynda Sanches, "Legendary Apache Women, " Frontier Tim.es (October-November, 1930): 11; Griswold, "Fort Sill Apaches, 130; Skinner, letter of author, 7 February 1983.

37^. . , Ipid.

• Eaii and Sanchez, "Women," 12; Griswold, "Fort Sill Apaches," 13 0.

j . ^

CHAPTER IV

LOZEN: THE V70MAN WARRIOR

Lozen is as my right hand, strong as a man, braver than most, and cunning in strategy. Lozen is as a shield to her people.

Victorio

Lozen was an extraordinary woman in the history

of the Apaches because she was the only known unmarried

woman to be allowed to accompany warring and raiding

parties. The Apaches relied on warring and raiding as

their primary means of existence and, consequently, women

were not excluded from participating in these activities.

Apache wives usually accompanied the parties in the

traditional domestic capacities of cooks and nurses, but

if the need arose, it was not unusual for them to help

fight and kill the enem y. However, Apache wives were

only able to accompany the men because they were married

to warriors, and thus, they did not fully encompass the

role of a warrior as did Lozen. The Apaches contend

that they have not previously spoken publicly of Lozen

to non-Indians because they feared she would be ridiculed

o r misunderstood for her choice to remtain single and pur-

2 sue an alternate lifestyle. Lozen was a courageous

51

52

and magnificent warrior, and her contemporaries never

ridiculed or ostracized her for her choice of this

unusual role for an Apache woman. She was deeply respected

and revered among her people, and her unique role earned

for her a legendary status among her people as "The Woman

Warrior."

Lozen is said to have been the younger sister of

Warm Springs chief Victorio, but it is possible that she

was a cousin to Victorio, as there was no separate term

for "sibling" or "silah" in the Apache language, and

cousins were often referred to as brothers and sisters.

Morris Opler, a foremost anthropologist of the Apaches,

explained the am.biguity of the terms referring to sib­

lings in the Apache language:

Sikis literally signifies 'sibling or cousin of the same sex from myself,' and silah carries the force of 'sibling or cousin of the opposite sex from my­self.' Thus, when a woman says sikis, she is re­ferring to a sister or female cousin; when a rc.an uses the same term, he has in mind a brother or a male cousin. Conversely, when a man says silah, he-is referring to a sister or a fem.ale cousin . . .

The silah relationship was a very precarious social mat­

ter. As soon as Apache children were old enough to

understand social overtones and attitudes they learned

that a "certain decorum" had to be observed in the pre­

sence of a silah. Opler stated that, "Brothers and sis­

ters feel so uncomfortable in each other's company that

they do not ccurt situations iv'hich v.ill throw themi tc-

aether"; and one Apache informant told Opler that, "the

53

avoidance of cousins of the opposite sex starts when they

are old enough to understand such things, when they have

grown to maturity, and lasts all their lives. ""

The traditional silah avoidance practice seemingly

poses a problem to the open acceptance of Lozen's familial

relationship as the sister or cousin to Victorio, and her

concurrent role as his companion on raiding and warring

expeditions. However, when the extreme pressures con­

fronting the Warm Springs band in the time period that

Lozen and Victorio raided together, roughly from 1869-1881,

are considered, the possibility of their close relation­

ship, which defined traditional silah decorum, can be

explained. The Warm Springs band was faced with two equally

distressing alternatives in the 1870s; captivity or flight.

Victorio and his people chose to remain off ther reservation

and retain their freedom. As a result of the decision they

spent their lives in constant threat of attack and anni­

hilation from both Mexican and American troops, but they

considered this a sm.all price to pay for the retention of

their nomadic life. The choice of freedom also served to

autom.atically negate many of the traditional societal ta­

boos, such as the silah avoidance practice. The people who

chose to flee with Victorio automatically chose an existence

in which they were faced with violent death each and every

day. The band's survival depended entirely upon inter-

comjnunication and close contact am.ong the members of the

54

band; and thus, strict adherence to the traditional

silah avoidance practice was not only infeasible, but

life-threatening to the relatively small number of

people in Victorio's band. Also, Lozen's valuable

fighting and supernatural abilities miade her presence

with Victorio on strategic raiding and warring parties

an indispensable service to her people. Thus, the ex­

treme circumstances threatening the Warm Springs band,

coupled with Lozen's extraordinary abilities, forced

non-compliance with the silah avoidance practice, and

Lozen was able to accompany Victorio on raids despite

their kinship.

Lozen chose to digress from the traditional

Apache social norms when she decided to pursue the life of

a warrior. The ultimate goal for the overwhelming majority

of Apache women was to become a wife and mother. Thus,

Lozen was an unusual Apache woman, not only because of her

prowess as a warrior, but also because of her single mari­

tal status. According to mem±)ers of Lozen's band, the

final determination to pursue an alternative lifestyle

camie when Lozen was still a young girl. The Apaches tell

of a story involving Lozen's unrequited love for a hand­

some stranger. According to the story, when Lozen was

aporoximately sixteen years old, the band was camped near

Canada Alam.osa in New Mexico and they provided refuge for

a fleeing stranger. The stranger was a chief of the Seneca

55

tribe from New York and was reportedly seeking a home in

the south for his people.^ Lozen fell in love with the

man, whom the Apaches call "Gray Ghost," but her feelings

were not returned by the man and he continued on his

journey. After this experience, Lozen refused all suitors

and her wishes to remain single were respected. It was

at this time that Lozen chose to depart from the traditional

female role of wife and mother.

This legend is not historically verifiable, and it

is conceivable that the story was used by the Apaches as

a means to protect Lozen's warrior status from criticism;

however, there is also the strong possibility that a mem­

ber of the Seneca tribe was in New Mexico during this

time period. Fromi the memories of James Kawaykla, a

member of the Warm. Springs band, it is possible to place

Lozen's birthdate in "the 184 0s." According to the

"Gray Ghost" legend, Lozen fell in love with the m.an be­

fore going through her puberty ceremony (which usually

takes place around a girl's sixteenth birthday). This

would chronologically place Gray Ghost's presence in

New Mexico between 1850 and 1860. During this time

period the Seneca people were m a state of upheaval in

their New York homeland. The federal government was

attempting to force tliem to live on reservation lands in

Kansas. Some Seneca were moved to r^ansas, but others

stayed in New York or went in search of new land. So,

56

conceivably, a member of the Seneca tribe could have been

in New Mexico looking for a southv/estern haven for his

people.

Since the positive authenticity of the Gray

Ghost story is unsubstantiated it has been suggested

that the Apaches told the story to refute questions of

Lozen's sexual preference or abstinence. In response

to those who might misunderstand Lozen's warrior status,

it is necessary to include anthropological data on sexual

deviance among the Apaches. Morris Opler quoted Apache

informants as saying that in An Apache Life-Way, "there

were a number of women who excelled in activities com­

monly considered the interests of men, but these women

were not considered transvestites." He continued, "All

girls were urged to be strong and fast. It is simply

accepted that these particular individuals have carried g

the requirements further than is strictly necessary."

Lesbianism was considered "shameful" and v/as ridiculed G

in Apache society." Therefore, it is improbable that

Lozen's masculine lifestyle of a warrior inherently

labeled her as a transvestite, morphodite, or lesbian.

Lozen was allowed to accompany raiding parties

for several reasons, but one important reason was her

equestrian skill. Her abilities with horses were re­

nowned, not only am.ong her own people, but with non-

Indians as well. John C. Creir.ony, a southwestern

57

cavalry officer, kept extensive records of his encounters

with the Apahces, and he wrote of an Apache wom.an that he

identified as "Dextrous Horse Thief." Cremonv recorded

that the Apache woman was "renowned as one of the most

dextrous horse thieves and horse breakers in the tribe,

and seldom permitted an expedition to go on a raid without

her presence." Kawaykla stated that no man or woman

was more skillful at stampeding and stealing horses than

Lozen. She was also an expert roper, and, subsequently,

an invaluable m.ember of raiding parties to steal mounts

from the United States and Mexican cavalries. Her prowess

as a horse thief is apparent in this excerpt from In the

Days of Victorio:

When the guard left the horses and started toward the fire she [Lozen] selected a powerful steed, one of the most restless. When the guard had passed the fire she would tie her leather rope around its lower jaw, cut the hobbles and ride. She crept softly to the animal, and quickly tied the rope. She leaped to its back and turned it towards the river. Bullets whizzed past her head as the horse slid down the bank and plunged into the water. It was scrambling up the opposite bank before the men could follow. A few bullets were fired across the river, but she was soon out of range.- -

Thus, even though John Cremony does not positively identify

"Dextrous Horse Thief" as Lozen, it is evident that the

title was a fitting one, and it is highly probable that

she v;as indeed the specific Apache wom.an Cremony described

m his writings.

Lozen was respected for her bravery and skill, as

58

well as her talent with horses, and she was quick to see

where her services were needed and equally quick to re­

spond. When the band fled from the San Carlos Reservation

in Arizona in 1880, she led the women and children to

safety. James Kawaykla, who was only a young boy at the

time of the escape, remembered Lozen's valuable leadership.

The women and children's escape was temporarily halted by

a river, and Lozen courageously took charge of the situation

She led her steed into the water and the others followed.

After everyone safely reached the other side she gave the

troupe specific orders and left to find the men. Lozen

fought bravely beside her people and always carried a

rifle, cartridge belt, and knife. She was an excellent

shot and, according to Kawaykla, in at least one instance,

she performed a feat that "few men would undertake;" she

"single-handedly killed a longhorn steer with only a

knife. "" ^

Perhaps, the most outstanding of Lozen's abilities

was her "Power." Supernatural power is a dominating theme

in Apache culture. Women were not excluded from posses­

sing power and there were several Apache medicine women.

Lozen had powers that enabled her to heal wounds and lo­

cate the enemy. It was her power to locate the enemy

that allowed her presence on Victorio's raiding and war­

ring parties.

Lozen was not with the main Warm Springs group in

Mexico when Victorio was killed. She had temporarily

left the band to help a young pregnant Mescalero Apache

woman back to the Mescalero Reservation in New Mexico.

After Lozen had safely delivered her ward to New Mexico,

she trailed her people to Mexico and learned of the

massacre of the band and their chief. " She remained

with the surviving members of Victorio's band, now under

the leadership of Nana, and rode with Nana and the male

warriors on their many raids to avenge the lives lost

at the Tres Castillos massacre.

After raiding with Nana and his warriors for a

time, Lozen joined a band that operated from the Sierra

Madre Mountain Range and consisted of a num.ber of Warm

Springs, Coyotero, and White Mountain Apaches led by

Geronimo, the renowned Chiricahua Apache leader and

medicine m.an. The band defied repeated subjugation

attem.pts of the Mexican and American troops and con­

stantly raided throughout Northern Mexico, Arizona,

and New Mexico. The band accepted Lozen as an asset be­

cause of her supernatural power, and also because of her

prowess as a warrior. She was named "The VJoman Warrior"

while with Geronimo's banc.

Jasper Kanseah, a young warrior in the band,

remembered one of Lozen's feats of bravery. In a skir-

m ish with the Mexican cavalry she crawled into the line

of enemy fire to rescue a badly-needed pouch of amm.unition

60

that had been dropped. She successfully rescued the bul­

lets and retreated to safety. Jason Betzinez, another

member of Geronimo's band, inadvertently verified this

episode, although he did not positively identify the

woman as Lozen. He described an Apache woman who suc­

cessfully rescued a sack of 500 cartridges which had been

dropped by a runner "right in the thick of the fighting"

in a battle with Mexican troops.

Lozen was with Geronimo's band when they "surren­

dered" to General George Crook in the spring of 188 6.

According to varying estimates in military reports the

number of the band ranged from seventeen men and nine

women in one account; twenty-four men and fourteen women

and children in another; to eighty men, women and children

in still another report. The band boarded a train in

Bowie, Arizona, in September, 183 6, and the mem.bers were

sent to Florida. The men were left at Fort Pickens in

Pensacola, while the women and children were sent to

Fort Marion in San Augustine. In April, 188 7, Lozen,

along with the other prisoners of war, was moved to

Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama. Although official re­

cords cannot be located, as the census from Mount Vernon

Barracks only lists the prisoners by number, Eugene

Chihuahua, a fellow prisoner of war with Lozen, rexe.T.bered

the details of Lozen's death:

At that time, because of the sputurri we thought that the patient had worms in the lungs and that caused

61

the illness [tuberculosis] . . . I think that the Army doctor too, tried to cure Chapo. But as died many others, he died. Lozen, sister of Victorio, died of the same sickness. She also died at Mt. Vernon.^'

Lozen died of tuberculosis in the confinement of a "white

man's" prison far from her beloved homeland. She was

denied the honorable death of a warrior in battle, and

according to Apache custom she was secretly buried.

The Apache people's decision to remain silent about

this extraordinary women kept her contributions hidden

from the non-Indian population for almiost a century. Now

it is possible to study this woman's life and reveal her

exploits. She successfully infiltrated and ultimately,

conquered a predominantly male domain. She was an honored

and resoected Apache female. Lozen was "The Woman Warrior."

Notes

Eve Ball, In the Days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Springs Apache (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1970), 15.

2 Eve Ball, Indeh: An Apache Odyssey (Prove: Brig-

ham Young University Press, 1980), 104.

Morris E. Opler, An Apache Life-Way (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941), 58.

^Ibid., 59-62.

Eve Ball and Lynda Sanchez, "Legendary Apache Women," Frontier Times, (October-November, 1980): 11.

^Ball, Indeh, 115.

^Opler, Life-Way, 415.

"^Ibid., 416.

9 ^Ibid.

" John C. Cremony, Life Among the Apaches (Glorieta, N.M.: The Rio Grande Press, Inc.; 1st ed., 18 68), 243.

''•"'"Ball, Victorio, 117.

-•- Ibid., 116.

^^Ibid., 119-120.

- " Eve Ball and Lynda Sanchez, "Legendary Apache Women," Frontier Times, (October-November, 1980): 11-

^^James Betzinez, I Fought With Geronimo (Harris­burg, Pennsylvania: The Stackpole Co., 1939), 74.

-'• Britton Davis, The Truth About Geronimo (New Faven: Yale University Press, 1929), 218; Charles B. ^ Gatewood, "The Surrender of Geronimo," in The Papers o^ ^hg_Qrder of Indian Wars (Fort Collins, Coloraao: The Old Army Press, 1975) , 2"G1.

^'Ball, Indeh, 15.

CHAPTER V

POWER: LOZEN AND OTHER APACHE MEDICINE WOMEN

With outstretched hands Lozen would slowly turn as she said a prayer:

Upon this earth on which we live Ussen has Power. This Power is mine For locating the Enemy. I search for that Enemy Which only Ussen the Great Can show to me. ,

James Kawaykla

Perhaps the most outstanding of Lozen's abilities

was her power. Supernatural power was a dominating theme

in Apache culture, and according to Morris Opler, long­

time anthropologist of the Apaches, power was " . . . in

the largest sense, the animating principle of the universe,

2

the life force" of Apache society. Women were not ex­

cluded from, possessing power, and there have been many

Native American medicine-women. Lozen's powers were high­

ly respected among the Apache, and considered extremely

potent. Initially this respect for her power was what

3 enabled her to accompany the men on raiamg parties.

Those Apaches who possessed power were referred

to as shamans or medicine-men or women. There were numerous

shamans among the Apache and supernatural power was

63

64

attainable by everyone. An Apache child's first reli­

gious instruction taught of the principal supernatural

beings and the mystery surrounding supernatural power.

According to one of Opler's Apache informants, power was

essential in understanding life:

If w e aren't shamans or have no supernatural power, we have no basis to stand on in saying how far from us the clouds are or how far away the sun is. A person like myself will tell you that rain comes from the clouds, because I have no vision about it, but others will say their power causes it."*

Supernatural was an elusive, but omnipotent force in

Apache culture. Young children were raised learning

about Child of the Waters and his victorious encounters

with monsters. Child of the Waters killed the four

great m.onsters in Apache legend; Owl-man Giant, Buffalo

Monster, the Eagle Monster family, and Antelope Monster.

Child of the VJaters possessed great power and used this

in his fight against his foes. When he had defeated all

the monsters, the stories say, " . . . all the people-

killing m.onsters were dead, and the world was safe for

people to increase.""^ Through these stories, Apache

children learned about power and began to await anxiously

the day that power might come into their own lives.

Almost every imaginable occasion required the

services of a shaman, especially the birth of a new-

baby. No men were allowed to be present during birth,

but the services of a woman who had special ceremonial

65

and practical knowledge and experience were required. The

woman prayed, sang, and performed the essential ceremonies

that insured the good health of the newborn infant and

the mother. It was not absolutely necessary to have a

medicine-woman present at a childbirth, but since success

in life depended so heavily on ritual preparation in

Apache society, a shaman's services were sought in the

majority of Apache births. Many medicine-women acquired

a high degree of prestige, and even wealth, as they were

well paid for their services, with a horse often being

their reward for services successfully performed.

The attainment of power was not an exclusive

privilege, and as one of Opler's Apache informants stated,

even " . . . one thing, like the power to make someone

run fast" was enough to distinguish a person as a shaman.

However, it was the shamans whose cures were consistently

successful and whose prophecies were constantly reliable

who often achieved high status among the band. Power was

to be used for the benefit of the entire tribe and those

who used their power for evil fell into disfavor with

their people, and were considered witches or sorcerers.

These people were deeply feared and usually banned from

the rest of the group. There were recorded instances 9

of witches or sorcerers being publicly executed.^

Some Apaches diligently sought the presence of

Dower, while others were surprised when it appeared to

66

them. xMany went to older shamans and studied their pro­

cedures in an effort to gain power. Serious obligations

accompanied the acquisition of power and it was not a

responsibility to be taken lightly. Power was believed

to possess a force of its own that was capable of vio­

lence or vengeance.^° A person could refuse to accept

power, but this was unusual. Power usually would make

its initial presence known by a spoken word or a sign.

Later it might take on a human or animal form and di­

rectly communicate with the intended recipient. "'"•'• These

encounters could occur at any time in an individual's

life, but it was rare for an Apache to receive power be­

fore reaching puberty, and most sham ans received their

12 power when adolescents.

The people who wished to acquire power in the

Warm Springs band had to travel to the Sacred Mountain--

Salinas Peak, the highest peak in the San Andreas

13 Mountain Range. The Sacred Mountain was regarded v/ith

great respect and forboding. Those wishing to acquire

power approached the peak in fear; " . . . for it was

there that the Mountain Spirits dv;elt, they who were the

14 link betv/een Ussen and the Earth People.""^ The Mountain

Spirits were supernatural beings that inhabited the in­

teriors of the Sacred Mountain, and the masked dancers

in the Apache p-oberty rite impersonate these Spirits.

The Mountain Spirits are described in the lagencs as

67

"sources of supernatural power and as protectors of the

tribal territory."

Before the journey to the Sacred Mountain to re­

ceive power, amulets, protective caps, and jackets were

obtained by the person seeking power, and older shamans

were consulted for advice. ° Upon reaching the Sacred

Mountain the person had to fast for four days and nights

while the Mountain Spirits tested his or her worthiness.

Those who traveled to Salinas Peak went alone to acquire

their power, and they had to prove their courage by en­

during hunger, fear, and other feats of stamina. It was

forbidden for the person who underwent the ritual to

speak of his or her vigil on the Sacred Mountain, but it

is known that the person seeking power had to convince

the Mountain Spirits that he or she could endure long

fasts, interpret omens, and possess an adequate am.ount

17 of spiritual intensity. After proving one's worthiness,

the applicant would then receive a healing art or the

ability to perform prophetical ceremonies or other extra-

18 ordinary powers. There were those who did not receive

their power after visiting the Sacred Mountain, but m.ost

of those who endured the vigil were usually given their

power on the last night of the experience.

The Apache put great faith in the abilities of

their sham.ans. Lieutinent James S. Pettit reported in

his 1886 journal that the Apache scouts serving with his

68

cavalry unit depended on their medicine-mien for healing,

rather than consulting the military physicians:

The Apache scouts seem to prefer their own medicine­men when seriously ill, and believe the weird singing and praying around the couch is more effective than the medicine dealt out by our camp ' sawbones.'"^^

The Apache not only respected power for its medicinal

and healing abilities, but also for its leadership value.

Asa Daklugie, son of the Chiricahua chief Juh, explained

the significance of power to Apache leaders and their

followers:

. . . unless they [the Apache people] believe that their leader has power he's out of luck. Of all the chiefs I knew, Naiche, when young, was the only one who had no power.^^

All leaders of the Apache had the power of knowing how

to use their authority in the best way possible, but many

had even more unusual powers. Geronim^o could predict

the future, and was protected from injuries. Juh could

also foretell the future, as well as successfully lead his

people. Chief Chihuahua had power over horses, and Nana

possessed power over ammunition trains and rattlesnakes.

Thus, in Apache society leadership and prestige went

hand-in-hand with the acquisition of power.

Most Native American womien, including Apacha

women, were able to acquire power and did so when the

opportunity presented itself. The only ceremonial

privileges that were denied Apache wom.en were the use

of sweat lodges and the im.personation of the Mountain

69

Spirits during ceremonial dances. Most women possessed

healing power, but there were those who had more specta­

cular powers.

Captain John G. Bourke, aide to General George C.

Crook during the Apache campaigns of 1370-75 and 1884-86

in Arizona and New Mexico, recalled two Apache medicine-

23 women. One woman he identified as "Captain Jack."

Bourke did not describe "Captain Jack's" specific powers,

but he simply stated that she " . . . was an Apache

medicine-woman." Another m.edicine-woman described by

Bourke was Tze-go-juni or "Pretty Mouth." She was a

Chiricahua Apache. Tze-go-juni was regarded as a shaman

because she had narrowly escaped death on two separate

occasions. In one harrowing incident she survived an

attacking mountain lion, while in another incident she

was struck by lightning and lived to tell the story. She

. . 24

was believed to have tne power of escaping injury.

Bourke stated that these two women were considered

powerful, but they were generally relegated to performing 25

obstetric m^atters.

James Kawaykla remembered the special powers of

his m.other, grandmother, and female cousin. Gouyen, the

m.other of Kawaykla and the second wife of Kaytennae, had

the power of avoiding injuries. Kawaykla stated that

•• . , . in all the skirmishes in which she fought . . .

she never got a scratch.""^ Siki, Kawaykla' s cousin,

70

possessed a similar power and also could escape from her

27 enemies without harm. Kawaykla's grandmother, a sister

of Nana, had the power of healing wounds. Since women

were more familiar with plants and their medicinal

qualities, it is not surprising that the m.ost common

power of medicine-women was that of diagnosing or treating

28 illnesses or injuries.

Lozen had powers that enabled her to heal wounds,

and, more significantly, to locate the enemy. Kawaykla

stated that his people " . . . knew her wisdom and her

ability as a warrior, but most of all they respected

29 her Power." After deciding to pursue the life of a

warrior, Lozen frequently was seen visiting with the

band's shamans and she learned many things from them.

To receive her power Lozen traveled to the Sacred Mountain

of the Warm Springs and underwent the solitary four day

fast before she was awarded her exceptional powers.

Lozen's ability to locate the enemy was unusual and very

important, especially for her people. During her life­

time it was this power that first gained her prestige.

Morris Opler was told of the power of locating

the enemy and he described the power in An Apache Life-

Way. He stated that the ceremonial procedure of this

kind was generally referred to as "it moves the arms

31 about." It was this ceremony that Jam.es Kawaykla saw

Lozen perform on several occasions and he remembered

71

that she would search out the direction and distance of

the enemy as she stood with her face turned toward the

sky and her arms outstretched. She then would sing to

Ussen, the Apache creator, this song:

Upon this Earth On which we live Ussen has Power, This Power he grants me For locating the Enemy. I search for that enemy Which only Ussen the Great Can show to me.^

As Lozen sang, according to Kawaykla, she would slowly

circle until a tingling sensation in her palms would sig­

nal the enemy's location. Kawaykla also recalled that

her palms v/ould become almiost purple when she located

33

the pursuers. The Apache strongly believed in Lozen's

power, and many of the Warm Springs band fervently held

that Victorio would never have been massacred at Tres n Castillos had Lozen been there to warn him of the enemy's

1 4. • 34 location.

Since raiding and warring were the prim.ary

interests in Apache society, it was not unusual that Lozen

was allov/ed to accompany the warriors as a shaman. One

or more shamans almost always accomipanied any large war

party, and if their power was reputable they were highly

35

respected by the warriors and leaders. Some of the

valuable services that sham.ans could provide for warring

and raiding parties were halting the enem.y, v/eakening the

72

enemy, providing protection from attack, and controlling

the weather and the length of day or night.^^ The shaman

was consulted by the leader in most major decisions, and

usually brought up the rear of the party so that he or

she could perform their ceremonies ." ^

Power was instrumental in all military action

from inception to conclusion, and it was considered bad

luck for anyone to assume a power that expressly belonged

to someone else. Kawaykla remembered one episode in which

Lozen was thought to have been killed, and he wanted his

grandmother to use Lozen's power to locate the enemy. She

refused, because the power to locate the enemy was " . . .

the power given to Lozen when we made her feast . . . nobody

38 else can wield it." Kawaykla's grandmother went on to say that, "She [Siki] cannot do what Victorio's sister

39 can—no one else can." This single statement revealed

how important and respected Lozen's powers were to her

people.

Supernatural power then was a pervading theme in

Apache culture, and there were many women who were im­

portant shamans. Lozen was an exceptionally important

sham.an with her valuable ability to locate the enemy, but

there are documcented accounts of notable women shamans in

many of the North American tribes who possessed important

powers. Power was a means for Native American women, and

for Lozen, to gain prestige, status, and leadership.

Notes

Eve Ball, In the Days of Victorio; Recollections of a Warm Springs Apache, narr. James Kawaykla (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1970), 87.

2 Morris Opler, An Apache Life-Way (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1941), 204-205. 3 Eve Ball and Lynda Sanchez, "Legendary Apache

Women," Frontier Times, (October-November, 1980): 11. 4 Opler, Life-Way, 36. James L. Haley, Apaches: A History and Culture

Portrait (N.Y.: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1981), 22.

^Opler, 200.

7 Ibid., 6.

^Ibid., 200.

"Ball, Victorio, 16; Opler, Life-Way, 252-255.

•^^Opler, Life-Way, 203, 255.

•"•• Ibid., 204.

12 . -• I bid.

1 3 Ball, Victorio, 16.

"^^Opler, Life-VJay, 35.

^^Ibid., 342.

•^^Ibid., 452.

•^^Ball, Victorio, 16.

• John G. Bourke, The Medicine Man of the Apache (Glorieta, N.M.: Rio Grande Press, 1970), 473. First oublished in 1892 as a paper from the Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution for the Years 1887-18 88^ ~~

- " 3

74 20 As told to Eve Ball by Asa Daklugie, Indeh:

An Apache Odyssey (Prove: Brigham Young University Press, 1980), 61.

Ibid.

22 Opler, Life-Way, 201.

23 Bourke, Medicine Men, 4 56. Ibid.

25 ^Ibid., 457.

26 As told to Ball by James Kawaykla, Victorio, 16.

27 Ibid., 87. Ibid., 16.

29 Ibid., 87.

Ball and Sanchez, "Women," 10-11.

" •'"Opler, Life-Way, 214.

32 Ball, Victorio, 87.

33 Eve Ball, "The Fight for Ojo Caliente," Frontier

Times, 36 (Spring, 1962): 40. 34

Ball, Indeh, 62; Ball and Sanchez, "Women," 10; Dan L. Thrapp, Victorio and the Mimtbres Apaches (Norm.an: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974), 3-4.

^^Opler, Life-Way, 342.

^^Ibid., 213-216.

^^Ibid., 344-345. 38 As told to Ball by James Kawaykla, Victorio, 87.

39 Ibid.

CHAPTER VI

WOMEN VJARRIORS: THE HIDDEN GLADIATORS

In few other non-Western societies were some women able to participate so readily in those male activities that led to high prestige.

Katherine VJeist

Hunting, raiding, and warring were significant

pursuits in virtually every Native American society. It

is the popular belief that these activities were solely

the responsibilities of males, but a careful review of

the historical and anthropological literature shows that

not only Apache women, but many other Native American

women were active participants in martial activities.

Their roles encompassed a diverse range of experiences.

Some wives were camip followers who rem ained in the tem­

porary camp while their husbands did the actual raiding

and fighting. They performied the essential functions

of cooking meals, nursing the wounded, and preparing a

victory feast for a successful returning expedition.

Female shamans or medicine-v/om.en were highly respected

for their supernatural powers, and often they were

valuable participants of warring and raiding expedi­

tions. Other Native American wom.en performed the vital

75

76

and dangerous duties of delivering messages and serving

as sentries. Those females who were especially individ­

ualistic and strong became warriors in their own right

by riding with the men and proving themselves skillful

in raiding and warring expeditions.

Many Sioux women, openly and secretly, accompanied

men on war parties. Most of these women participated in only

one skirmish and then returned to their domiestic duties.

Revenge was the most common m.otive for a Sioux woman to

join a war party. She v/ould ride with the men to avenge

the death of a husband, brother, or another close rela-

2

tive. Individual exploits of these women have not sur­

vived through the years, but this does not detract from

the contributions of those Sioux women who chose to

accompany war parties.

The Kootenay people tell of a woman who gave up

the traditional female role to hunt and fight with the

men. This woman was unlike the other women warriors we

have examined in that she completely absorbed her male

role and ultimately took another woman for a wife. "Water-

sitting Grizzly" or "Bowdash," as she was known, was men­

tioned in several books and journals of early traders and

travelers.^ Claude Schaeffer described her in his un­

published field notes:

She was to become not only the most publicized per­sonage of early Kutenai history, but, next to Saca-jawea perhaps the best-known Plateau Indian woman

77

of the period. VJater-sitting Grizzly, married Thomp­son's servant, Boisverd, in 13 08. He took her to a fur post, probably Kootenay House to live. There her conduct became so loose, contrary to Kutenai standards, that Thompson was compelled to send her home. Madame Boisverd explained to her people that the white man had changed her sex, by virtue of which she had ac­quired _ spiritual power. Thereafter she assumed a masculine name, donned men's clothing and weapons, adopted manly pursuits, and took a woman as wife.^

An 1837 excerpt from the journal of W. H. Gray, a Pro­

testant missionary, reported that a "Kutenai transvestite"

who he called "Bowdash" was a member of a party of Flat­

head Indians who were surrounded by attacking Blackfeet.

Bowdash served as a mediator to the Blackfeet while her

people made their escape, and when the Blackfeet discovered

5 her scheme she was killed.

The Blackfeet people also had a renowned woman

warrior by the name of Running Eagle. She has become the

miost extolled woman in the history of the Blackfoot nation

due to her exploits on the war trail. She became so

respected during her lifetime that miany Blackfeet men

referred to her as a chief. She was a single woman, and

as such was regarded as a holy wom.an who put up Sun

Dances.^ Running Eagle's unusual life is recounted in

The Ways of My Grandmothers:

The popular story is that Running Eagle began life as an ordinary Blackfoot girl named Brown Weasel Woman. She had two brothers and two sisters, and her father V7as a well-known warrior. When she became of the age that boys begin to practice hunting, she asked her father to make a set of bow and arrows with which she could practice. It was during one of the buffalo hunts V7ith her father that this unusual girl is said to have

78

first shown her warrior's courage. Brown Weasel Woman's father had his horse shot out from under him during an enemy attack. One of the bravest deeds per­formed by warriors in the old days was to brave the enemy fire while riding back to rescue a companion who was left on foot. This is what the daughter did for her father . . . "7

Running Eagle's father was killed on the war trail, and

soon afterward her mother died. It was at this time that

the young woman decided to follow the life of a warrior.

Her first experience as a warrior came soon after her

parents' deaths. She accompanied a war party to avenge

the theft of some Blackfeet horses. The men did not want

her to accompany them, but a cousin of the young woman

accepted responsibility for her. The raid on a Crow

camp was successful and it was said that Brown Weasel

Woman and her cousin were responsible for capturing eleven

valuable horses. After the skirmish she was stationed

as a sentry when the group camped overnight on their re­

turn trip. She spotted two enemy riders, and dealt with

them in such a way that won the respect of even the most

dubious male:

Then, as the enemies closed in on her, expecting no trouble from a wom.an, she shot the one who carried a rifle and forced the other one to turn and try an escape. Instead of reloading her own rifle, she ran and grabbed the one from the fallen enemy, and shot after the one getting away. She missed him, but others of the party went after him and shortly brought him down as well,^

Running Eagle, like Lozen—the Apache Warrior, possessed

supernatural power that increased her value as a warrior.

After Running Eagle had ridden on her first war expedition

79

she sought a vision and was rewarded with the power that

"men consider necessary for leading a successful warrior's

life." She also was allowed to speak at the medicine

lodge ceremony, a privilege usually reserved for male

warriors and occasionally, the wives of warriors. It was

at this ceremony that the head chief of the tribe gave

her the name Running Eagle, which was an ancient and

honored name of several famous warriors of the Blackfeet

nation. The Braves Society of young warriors then in­

vited and accepted her as a member; a totally unprece­

dented action. After these honors she became a leader

of many Blackfeet war parties, and it is in this role that

she is remembered today by her people.

Chief Earth Woman, an Ojibwa woman warrior, was a

significant figure in Ojibwa history, and her story has

many parallels to Lozen's and Running Eagle's lives. It

too was not unusual for Ojibwa women to accompany v/ar

parties, and there are several traditions of Ojibwa fe­

males who were known as warriors. Some of the young

wom.en went on campaigns with their fathers and served as

rewards for the male warriors who perform.ed valiantly in

battle.-^^ More desperate situations prompted other fe-

m.ales to seek an active role in military operations. Chie

Earth Woman chose such an active part, and she is rem.em-

bered as an outstanding warrior:

80

Chief Earth Woman's first military enterprise was in­spired by her love for a young warrior, who unfor­tunately was already married . . . But Chief Earth Woman still flirted with the handsome young brave, and when he and other men made plans to attack the Sioux, she decided to go along. The spunky maiden was able to convince the leader of the war party to allow her to continue by confiding to him that she had a dream that gave her special supernatural powers. Indeed she was able to predict the movements of the Sioux and so aided her party to better overtake the enemy. When the Ojibwa's surprised the Sioux, Chief Earth Woman's lover was the first to kill one of the enemy, and she ran up to the victim as soon as he fell and took his scalp off. When the war party returned to their camp. Chief Earth Woman joined the other new warrior's in singing, 'So that's how the Sioux heads look,' and she was given the traditional honors just like her male companions.-^-^

It was not a comjnon practice for Cheyenne women

to accompany war parties, but the tribe did recognize

num.erous women as warriors in their own right. Several

accounts exist of wives who risked their lives in order

to rescue their husbands who were caught in dire straights

14 in battle. These Cheyenne women gained individual

recognition in their warrior roles, and one of these

women was Buffalo Claf Road Woman or Muts i mi u na,

the sister of Chief Comes in Sight. Buffalo Calf Road

Woman saved her brother in a battle with the Sioux.

Chief Comes in Sight's horse had been killed during the

fighting and Buffalo Calf Wom.an rode into the group and

rescued her brother from danger. The womian gained much

recognition from her brave deed, and the Cheyenne refer

to this battle by the name "Where the girl saved her

.,15 brother.

81

The most famous Cheyenne woman warrior was

Ehyophsta or Yellow-Haired Woman. Ehyophsta is m.ost

remembered for her role in 18 68 battle between the

Cheyenne and Shoshoni. During the battle she killed one

Shoshoni and counted coup on another. After the battle

one young Shoshoni warrior who had survived the fighting

was discovered and "Ehyophsta spoke up and, asking the

others to step aside, indicated that she would do the

questioning. She stepped forward, lifted up the young

man's arm, and thrust her knife into his armpit. Then

she scalped him." These exploits enabled Ehyophsta

to join the small society of Cheyenne women who had

17 fought in war. The Cheyenne and Cherokee are the only

Native American tribes that had such organizations for

their women warriors, which shows their high regard for

these females.

The Cherokee were very respectful of their women

warriors, and they manifested this respect by creating a

special office for the women. Cherokee women warriors

were able to hold the office of Ghi-ga-u, a v/ord trans­

lated as "Beloved Woman," "Pretty vvoman, " or most comi-

18 mionly "War Woman." Traditionally the war women attended

every war council and offered advice on military strategy

and other war matters. These women became eligible for

their office by their valor in war times and many were

the mothers of warriors. Even the most conservative

82

records of the functions of the war women attribute them

with the authority to determine the fate of condemned

19 captives. These women held immense power among their

people and this was probably an impetus for many Cherokee

fempales to seek an active role in war parties. One Chero­

kee woman is remembered as inspiring her people in a

battle. The band's chief had been killed by an attacking

war party, and his wife, Cuhtahlatah or Wild Hemp, reacting

from her intense grief rallied her people. She led her

people into battle by "brandishing her weapon [her fallen

husband's tomahawk] and shouting, "Kill, kill . . ."^^

The Cherokee people fought with such fervor that they de­

feated their enemy. Another story tells of a Cherokee

woman who fought with her people against English colonies

in 177 6. The colonists had lost nineteen men to the

Cherokee warriors before the main body of Cherokee re­

treated. At this time the colonists noticed a straggling

warrior and killed the person. They were astonished when

they discovered that the warrior w as a woman and had been

unable to escape with her comrades due to a wound in her

thigh.

Clearly wom.en warriors were present and active

in many Native American societies. The oral traditions

of these wom.en that have survived through the years show

striking similarities. Many sagas recount the exploits

of wives, sisters, or cousins who ignored danger to their

83

own lives, and unselfishly rescued their male relatives

from battles. The Native American women who are regarded

as the most respected women warriors were usually young,

unmarried, and possessed supernatural powers that helped

to insure the success of war parties. Lozen, Running

Eagle, and Chief Earth Woman were all legendary women

warriors among their own people and they each shared

these similar characteristics. Naturally, these women

warriors came from those tribes that were well-known for

their raiding and warring prowess. The Apache, Cheyenne,

Cherokee, Blackfeet, Sioux, Ojibwa, and Kutenay societies

relied on hunting and raiding as their mainstay. The

Apache, Cheyenne, Blackfeet and Sioux were all semi-

nomadic peoples in that they followed the available game

in order to survive. This environment more readily lent

itself to flexible sex roles and a more open acceptance

of those females who chose to step into the traditionally

male role of a warrior.

Status has been traditionally defined as "the

degree to which a person possesses characteristics

22

valued in a particular society." Fem.ale status in­

creases when "conditions favor significant participation

by females in either sphere for an extended period of

time," and fempales can "develop a power base when they

significantly participate in substinence or wartime

23 . , , activities." If status can indeed be aeterr.imec oy

84

these variables, then the women warriors among the above

tribes enjoyed a very high status and held a firm power

base. Women warriors gained respect and status because

their respective societies gave them the opportunity to

strive for traditionally miale roles, a phenomenon that

cannot be attributed to most other eighteenth and nine­

teenth century non-Indian North American cultures. Women

warriors were a relatively small, but not miniscule,

faction of Native Americans, but they exercised tremen­

dous courage, individuality and power. The accomplishments

of Ishton, Gouyen, Tah-des-teh, Running Eagle, Chief Earth

Woman, Lozen and other women warriors demand a revision

of the popular belief that stereotypes Native Am.erican

women as strictly secondary characters and "squaws" in

American history.

Notes

Katherine M. Weist, "Plains Indian VJom.en: An Assessment, Anthropology on the Great Plains, ed. W. Raymona Wood and Margot Liberty (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980) 262.

2^ Carolyn Niethammer, Daughters of the Earth: The

Lives and Legends of American Indian Women (N.Y71 McMill< Publishmg Co., Inc., 1977), 167.

3 Beverly Hungry Wolf, The Ways of My Grandmothers

William Morrow and Co. Inc., 1980), 69-70. (N.Y.

^Ibid., 69.

^Ibid., 70-71.

Ibid., 63.

"^Ibid., 63-64.

Ibid., 65. 9

Ibid., 66.

Ibia.

Ibid., 67. 12 Niethammer, Daughters, 169.

•^^Ibid., 169-170.

14 George Bird Grinnell, The Cheyenne Inaians: Their

History and Ways of Life, Vol. 2 (New Haven: Yale Univer-sity Press, 1923), 44-45.

Ibid.; George Bird Grinnell, The Fighting Cheyennes (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956), 336.

Niethammier, Daughters, 168; Grinnell, Cheyenne Indians, 44-45.

IbiG.

18 John Phillip Reid, A Law of Blood: The Primitive

Law of the Cherokee Nation (N.Y.: New York University 35

86

Press, 1970), 137; Grace Steele Woodward, The Cherokees (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963), 48.

•^^Reid, Law, 187.

Niethammer, Daughters, 17 0-171.

^•^Ibid., 171.

22 Peggy R. Sanday, "Toward a Theory of the Status

of Women," American Anthropologist, 75 (October 1973): 1682.

^^Ibid., 1683.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

Recollections and Published Papers

Ball, Eve. Indeh: An Apache Odyssey. Prove: Brigham Young University Press, 1980.

Ball, Eve, and Kawaykla, James. In the Days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Springs Apache. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1970.

Betzinez, James with Wilbur Sturtevant Nye. I Fought With Geronimo. Harrisburg, Penn.: The Stackpole Co., 1959.

Bourke, John G. "The Medicine Men of the Apache." Glorieta, New Mexico, 1970. (First published in 18 9 2 as a paper from the Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution for the Years 1887-1888).

On the Border with Crook. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1891.

Cremony, John C. Life Among the Apaches. Glorieta, New-Mexico: The Rio Grande Press, Inc., 18 68; re­print edition, 1969.

Crook, George. General George Crook: Kis Autobiography, ed. Martin F. Schmitt. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 194 6.

Davis, Britton. The Truth About Geronimo. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929.

Gatewood, Charles B. "The Surrender of Geronimo," in The Papers of the Order of Indian Wars. Fort Collins, Colorado: The Old Army Press, 1975.

Geronimo. Geronimo's Story of His Life, ed S. M. Barrett New York: Duffield and Company, 1915.

87

88

Griswold, Gillett, comp. "The Fort Sill Apaches: Their Vital Statistics, Tribal Origins, Antecedents." Unpublished biographies at U.S. Army Field Ar­tillery and Ft. Sill Museum, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, 1958-1962.

Parker, James. "The Geronimo Campaign," in The Papers of the Order of Indian Wars. Ft. Collins, Colorado: The Old Army Press, 197 5.

Personal Recollections and Observations of General Nelson A. Miles. Intro, by Robert Utley. New York and Chicago, 1896; reprint edition. New York: DeCapo Press, 1969.

Documents

U.S. Congress. Executive Documents, Report of the Secre­tary of War. 4 9th Cong., 2nd sess., 188 7. Wash­ington, D.C. : Governm.ent Printing Office.

U.S. Congress. Executive Documents, Report of the Secre­tary of War. 50th Cong., 1st. sess., 1889. Wash­ington, D.C: Government Printing Office, 1889.

Correspondence and Interviews

Ball, Eve. Ruidoso, New Mexico. Interview, 10 June 1982.

Ruidoso, New Mexico. Interview, 24 June 1982.

Skinner, Woodward B. Letter to Author, 7 February 1983.

Secondary Sources

Books

Abrams, George H. J. The Seneca People. Phoenix: Indian Tribal Series, 1976.

Basso, Keith, ed. Western Apache Raiding and Warfare. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1971.

89

Clum, Woodworth._ Apache Agent: The Story of John P. Clum. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1936.

Debo, Angle. Geronimo: The Man, His Time, His Place. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976.

Delaney, Janice; Lupton, Mary Jane; and Toth, Emily. The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1976.

Goodwin, Greenville. Social Organization of the Western Apache. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942.

Grinnell, George Bird. The Cheyenne Indians: Their His­tory and Ways of Life, Volume 2. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1923.

• The Fighting Cheyennes. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956.

Haley, James L. Apaches: A History and Culture Portrait. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Co. Inc., 1981.

Hungry Wolf, Beverly. The Ways of My Grandmothers. New York: William Morrow and Co. Inc., 198 0.

Jeffrey, Julie Roy. Frontier Women; The Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-1880. New York: Hill and Wang, 197 9.

Jones, David E. Sanapia: Comanche Medicine Woman. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968.

Linderm.an, Frank B. Pretty Shield: Medicine Woman of the Crows. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1972.

Mails, Thomas E. The People Called Apache. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Kail, 1974.

Melody, Michael E. The Apaches: A Critical Bibliography. Bloomington: Indiana University Pres, 197"" .

Niethammer, Carolyn. Daughters of the Earth: The Lives and Legends of American Indian Women. New York: Collier Books, 1977.

Opler, Morris E. An Apache Life-Way. Chicago: university of Chicago Press, 1941.

90

• Apache Odyssey; A Journey Between Two Worlds. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969.

Reid, John Phillip. A Law of Blood: The Primitive Law of the Cherokee Nation. New York: New York Uni­versity Press, 1970.

Schroeder, Albert H. Apache Indians: A Study of the Apache Indians, Parts I_, 11 , and III. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1974.

Sonnichsen, C. L. The Mescalero Apaches. Norman: Uni­versity of Oklahoma Press, 1958

Terrell, John Upton. Apache Chronicle. New York: World Publishing Co., 197 2.

Terrell, John Upton, and Terrell, Donna H. Indian Women of the VJestern Morning: Their Life in Early America" New York: Dial Press, 1974.

Thrapp, Dan L. The Conquest of Apacheria. Norman: Uni­versity of Oklahoma Press, 1967.

. Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974.

Woodv/ard, Grace Steele. The Cherokees. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963.

Worcester, Donald. The Apaches: Eagles of the Southwest. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 197 9.

Articles

Ball, Eve. "The Fight for Ojo Caliente." Frontier Times, 36 (Spring 1962): 40-46.

Ball, Eve, and Sanchez, Lynda. "Legendary Apache VJomen." Frontier Times, (October-November, 198 0): 8-12.

Flannery, Regina. "The Position of VJomen Among the Mes­calero Apaches." Primitive Man, 55 (1932): 26-32.

Gunnerson, James H. "Southern Athapas]<an Archaeology," Handbook of North American Indians, gen. ed. W. C. Sturtevant, Vol. 9. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1979: 162-169.

Opler, Morris E. "A Chiricahua Apache's Account of the Geronimo Campaign of 1886." New Mexico Historical Review, 13 (October, 1938): 360-80.

91

. "The Concept of Supernatural Power Among the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apaches." American An­thropologist, 37 (1935): 65-70.

Sanday, Peggy R. "Toward a Theory of the Status of Women American Anthropologist, 75 (October 1973) : 1682-1699.

Weist, Katherine M. "Plains Indian Women: An Assessment Anthropology on the Great Plains, ed. W. Raymond Wood and Margot Liberty, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,1980: 260-265.