Post by jeroen on Apr 7, 2010 2:45:40 GMT -5
Up to this point we have had some very interesting threads and discussions on the warriors and the leaders while the women have been given only slight attention. In Apache culture they were regarded as just as important. To underline this, Geronimo, Naiche and the others surrendered in order to be with their families. Chihuahua and his men did so too for the same reason.
In 2002 Diane Pearson and Fred Wesly published an article in Journal of the Southwest titled "Recalling the changing women, returning identity to Chiricahua Apache women and children. It tells about the group of women taken prisoner in the fall of 1885 and held at Fort Bowie and gives additional info on the series of photographs that include Chihuahua's family, Geronimo's wife etc...
The captive wives and children of the Apache leaders and warriors Chihuahua, Geronimo, Perico, Bische, and Mangus were photographed at Fort Bowie, Arizona Territory, in the first days of April 1886 (see figure 1). Posed at the base of Sentinel Hill, (1) these families were used by General Crook to lure the Chiricahua men to the peace councils to be held at Canyon de los Embudos at the end of March (Ball 1986, 178-80; Debo 1976, 252). Within hours of sitting for their photographs, the unsuspecting women and children were sent into twenty-seven years of captivity and exile.
In two separate military actions on June 23 and August 7, 1885, the U.S. military captured a total of thirty Chiricahua Apache women and children (Debo 1976, 244-46). After being gathered at Fort Bowie, they were taken to Fort Apache, Arizona, where they were held until late March of 1886. At that time, the women and children were returned to Fort Bowie to await the scheduled Chiricahua-Crook conferences at Canyon de los Embudos. Once the surrender of Chihuahua's band had been assured (Ball 1986, 183), the women and children were removed to the Bowie railway station. At the Bowie station, the families from Chihuahua's band were reunited with their husbands, while the families of the men who followed Naiche and Geronimo were sent from Fort Bowie into exile alone (Debo 1976, 268).
In June, all of Chihuahua's wives and children, plus other female members of his band had been captured. Among this group of captives were Chihuahua's third wife (1), Ilth-gazie, and her daughters, Osceola and Hardcase; Chihuahua's son, Eugene, his daughter Ramona, and their mothers. Ulzanna's (Josanie's) young son had also been captured. The group of captives taken in August included several of Geronimo's wives and five of his children. These women included Taz-ays-slath (2) and her son (3); Zi-yeh and baby Fenton; Sha-gha and her daughter; (2) Marionetta ("Early Morning"); two-year-old "Little Robe"; and Geronimo's adult daughter Dohn-say (4). Geronimo's granddaughter Nina Dahkeyah (5) was with her mother Dohn-say. Members of this group also included Huera (6), Mangus; Tascelona (7), wife of Bische; and Hah-dun-kay, wife of Perico. Counteza (8), a young woman visiting from Chihuahua's band, had been captured with the Geronimo group.
Neither capture was peaceful; Chihuahua's mother-in-law was killed and another woman died of her injuries after relocation to Fort Bowie. Ulzanna's son died of injuries while in transit to Fort Bowie, and Geronimo's child, "Little Robe," died and was buried at Fort Bowie. (3) Counteza was wounded in the right shoulder and Dohn-say was shot through the right arm (Wratten 1985, 165). In addition to injuries, the captive women heed issues of pregnancy, childbirth, and the physical stresses of capture. One young woman (9) must have been heavily pregnant when captured: she can be seen holding her small baby (10) still in its cradleboard in the far back right of figure 1. Two other women (11, 12) in the center front of this photograph are holding babies who must have been born not long before their capture. As Chihuahua told General Crook, it was concern for these families that drove him and the men of his band to surrender on March 29, 1886 (Ball 1988, 99).
Little was recorded of the women during their six months at Fort Apache. The Fort Bowie photographs, however, grant insight into that portion of their lives. Over the winter, the women had regained their health and reclothed themselves and their children. (4) Everyone photographed appears healthy, well dressed, and well groomed, though the photograph was taken at an especially poignant moment in their lives. The smiling women and children knew that they awaited immediate reunion with Chihuahua and the men of his band. The somber women of Geronimo's group remained together, knowing that there would be no reunions for them. (5) Mangus's wife Huera, seated between Taz-ays-slath and Dohn-say, fulfilled her supportive role as elder woman. Huera, Tascelona (Bische's wife), and an unidentified woman (13) all remained near younger women and their children, and every child was kept near to her or his mother.
None of these women realized that they sat on the cusp of twenty-seven years of captivity, staggering numbers of premature deaths, and additional separations from their beloved men (Wratten 1985, 504, 505). Neither could they have known of subsequent removals to Alabama and Oklahoma and permanent alienation from their Arizona homelands. They did, however, realize their roles as the mothers of change.
Eight of the captive women allowed an unknown photographer to take their individual portraits. Using a portable tent studio and painted canvas backdrop, the anonymous photographer removed the children's hats and rearranged the women's hair. (6) The women were posed against some type of long-haired goat- or sheepskin, and grass or hay was spread on the tent floor. This was done to emphasize the supposedly wild nature of the Chiricahuas, a marketing device that increased the resale value of the photographs to a public avid for views of the "savage other." In the remainder of this article, we give brief biographies of these eight women.
TAZ-AYS-SLATH AND SON
Historians seem to have lost Taz-ays-slath (figure 2) in a confusion of misspellings and mispronunciations. (Debo 1976, 202-3,246). At Fort Bowie, however, Taz-ays-slath and her son awaited removal without Geronimo, her husband and the child's father. Seated near Huera and Dohn-say in the group photograph, Taz-ays-slath almost certainly remained with them throughout the nightmarish train ride to Florida.
Within months of his exile, Geronimo began to communicate with his wives through interpreter George Wratten. Dictated to Wratten, the following letter was published as "A Love Letter from Geronimo" in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 9, 1887:
My Dear Wives, and My Son and Daughter: Are you at Fort Marion? If so, how
do you like it there? Have you plenty to eat, and do you sleep and drink
well? ... I am very well satisfied here, but if I only had you with me
again would be more so.... It seems to me the Great Father and God are very
closely united. I do hope he will let us see one another soon. As sure as
the trees bud and bloom in the Spring, so sure is my hope of seeing you
again. Talking by paper is very good, but when you see one's lips move, and
hear their voice, it is much better.... I think of God, the President and
you in the same light. I like you so well. When I get your letter I will
think well over it. I hope you think the same of me as I do of you. I think
you have influence with the sun, moon and stars.... Do what is right, no
matter how you may suffer. Write to me soon a long letter. Your husband,
"Geronimo."
It is probable that Taz-ays-slath and her son were among the families reunited at Fort Pickens on April 27, 1887 (Skinner 1987, 164). It appears that neither the mother nor son survived captivity. (7)
HUERA ("FRANCESCA," "FRANCISCO")
Seated between Taz-ays-slath and Dohn-say, Mangus's wife Huera (figure 3) displayed the motherly role she maintained throughout captivity (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, July 31, 1886). Amicably divorced from Mangus at Fort Pickens, Huera seems to have developed a friendly, supportive relationship with the Geronimo women (Boyer and Gayton, 1992, 108).
Tiswin or tulapai maker, interpreter, medicine woman, and friend and eventual wife of Geronimo, (8) Huera was also known for her escape from slavery in Mexico. Geronimo told of Huera ("Francisco") being attacked and dragged by a mountain lion during her escape from Mexico. As her fellow escapees struggled to kill the lion, Huera fought the lion's grip on her throat with her hands. A month after the attack, with her scalp, forehead, and hands healing, Huera and the other women continued their thousand-mile walk home. (Stockel 1993, xxiv). Geronimo later spoke of Huera's bravery, her disfigured face, and her hands, of which she never regained full use (Barrett 1970, 98, 99). James Kaywaykla and Theodore Sediko told of the special songs and dances that belonged to, or honored, Huera (Ball 1986, 168-74; 1988, 4547, 149). Others spoke of the dirge-like songs that she and the other women sang when the children died at Fort Marion (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, July 31, 1886). Huera died in 1892 and was buried at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in a grave marked "Francisco, Apache Woman" (Barrett 1970, 99). She lies not far from the Geronimo family (Stockel 1993,22).
DOHN-SAY ("TONSE," "LULU") DAHKEYA
Geronimo's daughter Dohn-say (figure 4) kept her daughter, Nina, near her during the group photograph, but the child does not appear in Dohn-say's individual portrait. Historian Angie Debo, who believed that Dohn-say's daughter had been with her at Fort Bowie, would have been pleased to find them in this photograph and to sec the strong resemblance between mother and daughter. Dohn-say and Nina were among the captives sent into exile without their male relatives (Debo 1976, 47, 117, 118, 243, 244, 245,246). Dohn-say, who as a teenager had lost her own mother, had no children who survived beyond their eighteenth birthdays (Debo 1976, 157). She and her husband, Mike Dahkeya, died within a year of each other, in 1898 and 1899 respectively, as prisoners of war at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
For the Chiricahua Apaches, captivity was a hell of dying children and sick adults (Wratten 1985, 504-5). Twenty-three of the children had died by early June, when the Chiricahuas held a medicine dance at Fort Pickens. Spectators, hoping to sec a "war dance," did not understand that the Apaches danced and prayed for the lives of their children (Bourke 1891, 582-84; Boyer and Gayton 1992, 106; Pensacola Commercial, June 11, 1887). Medicine man Zah-mon (Ramon) conducted the dance (Bourke 1891, 382-85) as Geronimo, Naiche, and Mangus drummed. Dohn-say's brother, Chapo, was one of three male dancers. As the undulating cries of the women pierced the Florida night, Dohnsay danced with the women (Pensacola Commercial, June 11, 1887). Months later, it was probably the gentle Dohn-say who greeted Geronimo upon his arrival in Alabama (Debo 1976, 245).
COUNTEZA ("BUMMER")
Lt. Charles Gatewood identified Counteza (figure 5) as an injured member of Chihuahua's band who had been captured with Geronimo's group. In the group photograph, Counteza (8) smiles shyly and has no children with her. Her smile suggests that, as a member of Chihuahua's band, she is soon to be reunited with a beloved someone.
Counteza and Taz-ays-slath are wearing clothing similar in design and made of the same fabric. Since Apache families often used a single bolt of cloth to outfit themselves, their clothing suggests that the women may have been related. Note that Taz-ays-slath's dress has a contrasting hem, perhaps because the women ran out of fabric when making their dresses (Janelle Joseph, personal communication, August 17, 1999).
TASCELONA
Identified as "Tascelona, wife of Pische, Chiricahua captive" (figure 6) this woman is seated in the group photograph near two younger women (12, 14) and their children. She also wears a wrap made from the same material as that worn by the younger women, suggesting some type of close relationship. Tascelona had survived the turbulent years of resistance with the bands of Victorio, Nana, and Geronimo. Her portrait portrays an obviously concerned woman who knew that her husband, Bische, would not be joining her.
ILTH-GAZIE ("TWISTED"), OSCEOLA, AND HARDCASE
Ilth-gazie, Chihuahua's third wife (figure 7), is seated with other women of Chihuahua's band in the group photograph. As Chihuahua's third wife, it is highly probable that she is the younger sister of one of the women with whom she is sitting, and she very strongly resembles the woman seated to her left. Sororate marriages certainly allowed some measure of comfort and support during the difficult days of captivity (Boyer and Gayton 1992, 6-7). By the time the Chiricahua Apaches had been removed to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Ilth-gazie was Chihuahua's only surviving wife (Ball 1986, 436; Debo 1976, 375). Chihuahua died in 1901, and by 1909 all four of Ilth-gazie's children had passed away. On one beautiful spring day at Fort Bowie, however, Ilth-gazie and her daughters happily awaited reunion with Chihuahua.
NES-CHILA AND CHILDREN
Though Nes-chila and her children appear serious in their portrait (figure 8), the group photograph shows a smiling mother (15) and daughter (16) eagerly awaiting someone. Seated with women from Chihuahua's band, Nes-chila contrasts with the somber women from the Geronimo group. Whoever Nes-chila is waiting to see, it is with a glad heart and with her children safely by her side.
MARIONETTA ("EARLY MORNING")
Marionetta did not participate in the group photograph, but sat for an individual portrait in which she was identified as "Marionetta, (Early Morning), wife of Geronimo" (figure 9). Draped in a photographer's blanket and wearing a new retail dress, Marionetta retains her shawl, made of the same material as the shawls and clothing worn by Tazays-slath and Counteza. This photograph of Marionetta brings some measure of historical completion to the circle of Geronimo's acknowledged wives: (9) Alope, Chee-hash-kish, Marionetta, Taz-ays-slath, Sha-gha, Zi-yeh, Ih-tedda, Huera, and Azul. Alope was killed circa 1850 (Debo 1976, 34), Chee-hash-kish, (Dohn-say's mother) was kidnapped at Casas Grandes, Mexico (Debo 1976, 157), and Marionetta and Taz-ays-slath may have disappeared between Florida and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Sha-gha (Ha-ga) was buried at Fort Barancas, Florida (Debo 1976, 334). A pregnant Ih-tedda and her daughter Lenna were returned to Mescalero in 1890 (Ball 1988, 262), and only Zi-yeh survived at Fort Sill. Huera and Geronimo did not live together for long (Boyer and Gayton 1992, 192) and after Zi-yeh's death in 1904, Geronimo took Azul as the wife of his old age (Debo 1976, 391).
CONCLUSION
About to embark on the road of captivity and exile, the Chiricahua Apache women at Fort Bowie were changing women. They were the mothers, wives, daughters, widows, lovers, and friends of the Chiricahua men with whom General Crook met at Canyon de los Embudos. Some faced exile together with their beloved men, while many had only each other and their children for comfort. Battling nearly overwhelming obstacles, the women managed to care for themselves and their children until felled by a relentless tide of deadly diseases. These were the very real women of legend and lore, the grandmothers and great-grandmothers of living Chiricahua Apaches for whom the Chiricahua men fought.
NOTES
(1.) Our opinion--with which park rangers at Fort Bowie, Arizona, and Fort Lowell Military Museum Curator David Faust concur--is that figure 1 was taken between 11:30 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. near the base of Sentinel Hill at Fort Bowie. This judgment is based on the shadows in the photograph, the time of year, the convenience of the location to Fort Bowie, and the position of the well-worn path in the photograph,
(2.) Sha-gha was rescued by men from Geronimo's band before the peace talks and is not included in the Fort Bowie photographs under study.
(3.) "Little Robe" may have been a name attached to this child by someone at the fort, since it is not a typical Apache name. The child's grave marker still stands at the Fort Bowie cemetery, though his body has been removed to prevent grave robbing.
(4.) According to interpreter George Wratten, the Chiricahua women were skilled seamstresses whose work was "remarkable, fine and regular as that done by a sewing machine" (quoted in Skinner 1987, 228).
(5.) Before Chihuahua surrendered to General Crook, he sent Perico to ascertain that their families were well and waiting at Fort Bowie (Ball 1988, 99).
(6.) The identity of the photographer is in question. The photographs might have been taken by C. S. Fly or his assistant, if either person accompanied General Crook back to Fort Bowie after the photo sessions at Canyon de los Embudos. There were, however, a number of other newsmen and photographers in Willcox and nearby in anticipation of the Chiricahua surrenders. To date, no one has taken credit for the photographs.
(7.) A number of Apaches did manage to escape confinement, some of them migrating into the bayous of Louisiana and other areas. Perhaps this woman and her child were among those people (Boyer and Gayton 1992, 111).
(8.) According to James Kaywaykla, Geronimo wed a woman with whom he could not live, who was identified as Francesca (Huera) (Ball 1988, 46-47).
(9.) Some scholars believe that Geronimo had many more wives than the women mentioned here and that he was prone to desert them in times of distress (Ball 1986, 144).
REFERENCES
Ball, Eve. 1986. In the days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Spring Apache, James Kaywaykla. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
--. 1988. Indeh: An Apache Odyssey. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Barrett, S. M., ed. 1970. Geronimo: His Own Story. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co.
Bourke, John G. 1891. On the Border with Crook. Columbus, Ohio: Long's College Book Co.
Boyer, Ruth M., and Narcissus D. Gayton. 1992. Apache Mothers and Daughters. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Debo, Angie. 1976. Geronimo: The Man, His Time, His Place. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Skinner, Woodward B. 1987. The Apache Rock Crumbles: The Captivity of Geronimo's People. Pensacola, Fla.: Skinner Publications.
Stockel, Henrietta H. 1993. Survival of the Spirit. Reno: University of Nevada Press.
Wratten, George. 1985. Unpublished manuscript on file in the Arizona State Historical Society, Tucson, Ariz.
J. DIANE PEARSON teaches Native American studies in the ethnic studies department of the University of California, Berkeley.
FRED WESLEY, San Carlos Apache, serves on the Livestock Board of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona.
J. Diane Pearson "Recalling the changing women: returning identity to Chiricahua Apache women and children". Journal of the Southwest. FindArticles.com. 20 Feb, 2010. findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6474/is_3_44/ai_n28961741/
COPYRIGHT 2002 University of Arizona
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
In 2002 Diane Pearson and Fred Wesly published an article in Journal of the Southwest titled "Recalling the changing women, returning identity to Chiricahua Apache women and children. It tells about the group of women taken prisoner in the fall of 1885 and held at Fort Bowie and gives additional info on the series of photographs that include Chihuahua's family, Geronimo's wife etc...
The captive wives and children of the Apache leaders and warriors Chihuahua, Geronimo, Perico, Bische, and Mangus were photographed at Fort Bowie, Arizona Territory, in the first days of April 1886 (see figure 1). Posed at the base of Sentinel Hill, (1) these families were used by General Crook to lure the Chiricahua men to the peace councils to be held at Canyon de los Embudos at the end of March (Ball 1986, 178-80; Debo 1976, 252). Within hours of sitting for their photographs, the unsuspecting women and children were sent into twenty-seven years of captivity and exile.
In two separate military actions on June 23 and August 7, 1885, the U.S. military captured a total of thirty Chiricahua Apache women and children (Debo 1976, 244-46). After being gathered at Fort Bowie, they were taken to Fort Apache, Arizona, where they were held until late March of 1886. At that time, the women and children were returned to Fort Bowie to await the scheduled Chiricahua-Crook conferences at Canyon de los Embudos. Once the surrender of Chihuahua's band had been assured (Ball 1986, 183), the women and children were removed to the Bowie railway station. At the Bowie station, the families from Chihuahua's band were reunited with their husbands, while the families of the men who followed Naiche and Geronimo were sent from Fort Bowie into exile alone (Debo 1976, 268).
In June, all of Chihuahua's wives and children, plus other female members of his band had been captured. Among this group of captives were Chihuahua's third wife (1), Ilth-gazie, and her daughters, Osceola and Hardcase; Chihuahua's son, Eugene, his daughter Ramona, and their mothers. Ulzanna's (Josanie's) young son had also been captured. The group of captives taken in August included several of Geronimo's wives and five of his children. These women included Taz-ays-slath (2) and her son (3); Zi-yeh and baby Fenton; Sha-gha and her daughter; (2) Marionetta ("Early Morning"); two-year-old "Little Robe"; and Geronimo's adult daughter Dohn-say (4). Geronimo's granddaughter Nina Dahkeyah (5) was with her mother Dohn-say. Members of this group also included Huera (6), Mangus; Tascelona (7), wife of Bische; and Hah-dun-kay, wife of Perico. Counteza (8), a young woman visiting from Chihuahua's band, had been captured with the Geronimo group.
Neither capture was peaceful; Chihuahua's mother-in-law was killed and another woman died of her injuries after relocation to Fort Bowie. Ulzanna's son died of injuries while in transit to Fort Bowie, and Geronimo's child, "Little Robe," died and was buried at Fort Bowie. (3) Counteza was wounded in the right shoulder and Dohn-say was shot through the right arm (Wratten 1985, 165). In addition to injuries, the captive women heed issues of pregnancy, childbirth, and the physical stresses of capture. One young woman (9) must have been heavily pregnant when captured: she can be seen holding her small baby (10) still in its cradleboard in the far back right of figure 1. Two other women (11, 12) in the center front of this photograph are holding babies who must have been born not long before their capture. As Chihuahua told General Crook, it was concern for these families that drove him and the men of his band to surrender on March 29, 1886 (Ball 1988, 99).
Little was recorded of the women during their six months at Fort Apache. The Fort Bowie photographs, however, grant insight into that portion of their lives. Over the winter, the women had regained their health and reclothed themselves and their children. (4) Everyone photographed appears healthy, well dressed, and well groomed, though the photograph was taken at an especially poignant moment in their lives. The smiling women and children knew that they awaited immediate reunion with Chihuahua and the men of his band. The somber women of Geronimo's group remained together, knowing that there would be no reunions for them. (5) Mangus's wife Huera, seated between Taz-ays-slath and Dohn-say, fulfilled her supportive role as elder woman. Huera, Tascelona (Bische's wife), and an unidentified woman (13) all remained near younger women and their children, and every child was kept near to her or his mother.
None of these women realized that they sat on the cusp of twenty-seven years of captivity, staggering numbers of premature deaths, and additional separations from their beloved men (Wratten 1985, 504, 505). Neither could they have known of subsequent removals to Alabama and Oklahoma and permanent alienation from their Arizona homelands. They did, however, realize their roles as the mothers of change.
Eight of the captive women allowed an unknown photographer to take their individual portraits. Using a portable tent studio and painted canvas backdrop, the anonymous photographer removed the children's hats and rearranged the women's hair. (6) The women were posed against some type of long-haired goat- or sheepskin, and grass or hay was spread on the tent floor. This was done to emphasize the supposedly wild nature of the Chiricahuas, a marketing device that increased the resale value of the photographs to a public avid for views of the "savage other." In the remainder of this article, we give brief biographies of these eight women.
TAZ-AYS-SLATH AND SON
Historians seem to have lost Taz-ays-slath (figure 2) in a confusion of misspellings and mispronunciations. (Debo 1976, 202-3,246). At Fort Bowie, however, Taz-ays-slath and her son awaited removal without Geronimo, her husband and the child's father. Seated near Huera and Dohn-say in the group photograph, Taz-ays-slath almost certainly remained with them throughout the nightmarish train ride to Florida.
Within months of his exile, Geronimo began to communicate with his wives through interpreter George Wratten. Dictated to Wratten, the following letter was published as "A Love Letter from Geronimo" in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 9, 1887:
My Dear Wives, and My Son and Daughter: Are you at Fort Marion? If so, how
do you like it there? Have you plenty to eat, and do you sleep and drink
well? ... I am very well satisfied here, but if I only had you with me
again would be more so.... It seems to me the Great Father and God are very
closely united. I do hope he will let us see one another soon. As sure as
the trees bud and bloom in the Spring, so sure is my hope of seeing you
again. Talking by paper is very good, but when you see one's lips move, and
hear their voice, it is much better.... I think of God, the President and
you in the same light. I like you so well. When I get your letter I will
think well over it. I hope you think the same of me as I do of you. I think
you have influence with the sun, moon and stars.... Do what is right, no
matter how you may suffer. Write to me soon a long letter. Your husband,
"Geronimo."
It is probable that Taz-ays-slath and her son were among the families reunited at Fort Pickens on April 27, 1887 (Skinner 1987, 164). It appears that neither the mother nor son survived captivity. (7)
HUERA ("FRANCESCA," "FRANCISCO")
Seated between Taz-ays-slath and Dohn-say, Mangus's wife Huera (figure 3) displayed the motherly role she maintained throughout captivity (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, July 31, 1886). Amicably divorced from Mangus at Fort Pickens, Huera seems to have developed a friendly, supportive relationship with the Geronimo women (Boyer and Gayton, 1992, 108).
Tiswin or tulapai maker, interpreter, medicine woman, and friend and eventual wife of Geronimo, (8) Huera was also known for her escape from slavery in Mexico. Geronimo told of Huera ("Francisco") being attacked and dragged by a mountain lion during her escape from Mexico. As her fellow escapees struggled to kill the lion, Huera fought the lion's grip on her throat with her hands. A month after the attack, with her scalp, forehead, and hands healing, Huera and the other women continued their thousand-mile walk home. (Stockel 1993, xxiv). Geronimo later spoke of Huera's bravery, her disfigured face, and her hands, of which she never regained full use (Barrett 1970, 98, 99). James Kaywaykla and Theodore Sediko told of the special songs and dances that belonged to, or honored, Huera (Ball 1986, 168-74; 1988, 4547, 149). Others spoke of the dirge-like songs that she and the other women sang when the children died at Fort Marion (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, July 31, 1886). Huera died in 1892 and was buried at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in a grave marked "Francisco, Apache Woman" (Barrett 1970, 99). She lies not far from the Geronimo family (Stockel 1993,22).
DOHN-SAY ("TONSE," "LULU") DAHKEYA
Geronimo's daughter Dohn-say (figure 4) kept her daughter, Nina, near her during the group photograph, but the child does not appear in Dohn-say's individual portrait. Historian Angie Debo, who believed that Dohn-say's daughter had been with her at Fort Bowie, would have been pleased to find them in this photograph and to sec the strong resemblance between mother and daughter. Dohn-say and Nina were among the captives sent into exile without their male relatives (Debo 1976, 47, 117, 118, 243, 244, 245,246). Dohn-say, who as a teenager had lost her own mother, had no children who survived beyond their eighteenth birthdays (Debo 1976, 157). She and her husband, Mike Dahkeya, died within a year of each other, in 1898 and 1899 respectively, as prisoners of war at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
For the Chiricahua Apaches, captivity was a hell of dying children and sick adults (Wratten 1985, 504-5). Twenty-three of the children had died by early June, when the Chiricahuas held a medicine dance at Fort Pickens. Spectators, hoping to sec a "war dance," did not understand that the Apaches danced and prayed for the lives of their children (Bourke 1891, 582-84; Boyer and Gayton 1992, 106; Pensacola Commercial, June 11, 1887). Medicine man Zah-mon (Ramon) conducted the dance (Bourke 1891, 382-85) as Geronimo, Naiche, and Mangus drummed. Dohn-say's brother, Chapo, was one of three male dancers. As the undulating cries of the women pierced the Florida night, Dohnsay danced with the women (Pensacola Commercial, June 11, 1887). Months later, it was probably the gentle Dohn-say who greeted Geronimo upon his arrival in Alabama (Debo 1976, 245).
COUNTEZA ("BUMMER")
Lt. Charles Gatewood identified Counteza (figure 5) as an injured member of Chihuahua's band who had been captured with Geronimo's group. In the group photograph, Counteza (8) smiles shyly and has no children with her. Her smile suggests that, as a member of Chihuahua's band, she is soon to be reunited with a beloved someone.
Counteza and Taz-ays-slath are wearing clothing similar in design and made of the same fabric. Since Apache families often used a single bolt of cloth to outfit themselves, their clothing suggests that the women may have been related. Note that Taz-ays-slath's dress has a contrasting hem, perhaps because the women ran out of fabric when making their dresses (Janelle Joseph, personal communication, August 17, 1999).
TASCELONA
Identified as "Tascelona, wife of Pische, Chiricahua captive" (figure 6) this woman is seated in the group photograph near two younger women (12, 14) and their children. She also wears a wrap made from the same material as that worn by the younger women, suggesting some type of close relationship. Tascelona had survived the turbulent years of resistance with the bands of Victorio, Nana, and Geronimo. Her portrait portrays an obviously concerned woman who knew that her husband, Bische, would not be joining her.
ILTH-GAZIE ("TWISTED"), OSCEOLA, AND HARDCASE
Ilth-gazie, Chihuahua's third wife (figure 7), is seated with other women of Chihuahua's band in the group photograph. As Chihuahua's third wife, it is highly probable that she is the younger sister of one of the women with whom she is sitting, and she very strongly resembles the woman seated to her left. Sororate marriages certainly allowed some measure of comfort and support during the difficult days of captivity (Boyer and Gayton 1992, 6-7). By the time the Chiricahua Apaches had been removed to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Ilth-gazie was Chihuahua's only surviving wife (Ball 1986, 436; Debo 1976, 375). Chihuahua died in 1901, and by 1909 all four of Ilth-gazie's children had passed away. On one beautiful spring day at Fort Bowie, however, Ilth-gazie and her daughters happily awaited reunion with Chihuahua.
NES-CHILA AND CHILDREN
Though Nes-chila and her children appear serious in their portrait (figure 8), the group photograph shows a smiling mother (15) and daughter (16) eagerly awaiting someone. Seated with women from Chihuahua's band, Nes-chila contrasts with the somber women from the Geronimo group. Whoever Nes-chila is waiting to see, it is with a glad heart and with her children safely by her side.
MARIONETTA ("EARLY MORNING")
Marionetta did not participate in the group photograph, but sat for an individual portrait in which she was identified as "Marionetta, (Early Morning), wife of Geronimo" (figure 9). Draped in a photographer's blanket and wearing a new retail dress, Marionetta retains her shawl, made of the same material as the shawls and clothing worn by Tazays-slath and Counteza. This photograph of Marionetta brings some measure of historical completion to the circle of Geronimo's acknowledged wives: (9) Alope, Chee-hash-kish, Marionetta, Taz-ays-slath, Sha-gha, Zi-yeh, Ih-tedda, Huera, and Azul. Alope was killed circa 1850 (Debo 1976, 34), Chee-hash-kish, (Dohn-say's mother) was kidnapped at Casas Grandes, Mexico (Debo 1976, 157), and Marionetta and Taz-ays-slath may have disappeared between Florida and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Sha-gha (Ha-ga) was buried at Fort Barancas, Florida (Debo 1976, 334). A pregnant Ih-tedda and her daughter Lenna were returned to Mescalero in 1890 (Ball 1988, 262), and only Zi-yeh survived at Fort Sill. Huera and Geronimo did not live together for long (Boyer and Gayton 1992, 192) and after Zi-yeh's death in 1904, Geronimo took Azul as the wife of his old age (Debo 1976, 391).
CONCLUSION
About to embark on the road of captivity and exile, the Chiricahua Apache women at Fort Bowie were changing women. They were the mothers, wives, daughters, widows, lovers, and friends of the Chiricahua men with whom General Crook met at Canyon de los Embudos. Some faced exile together with their beloved men, while many had only each other and their children for comfort. Battling nearly overwhelming obstacles, the women managed to care for themselves and their children until felled by a relentless tide of deadly diseases. These were the very real women of legend and lore, the grandmothers and great-grandmothers of living Chiricahua Apaches for whom the Chiricahua men fought.
NOTES
(1.) Our opinion--with which park rangers at Fort Bowie, Arizona, and Fort Lowell Military Museum Curator David Faust concur--is that figure 1 was taken between 11:30 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. near the base of Sentinel Hill at Fort Bowie. This judgment is based on the shadows in the photograph, the time of year, the convenience of the location to Fort Bowie, and the position of the well-worn path in the photograph,
(2.) Sha-gha was rescued by men from Geronimo's band before the peace talks and is not included in the Fort Bowie photographs under study.
(3.) "Little Robe" may have been a name attached to this child by someone at the fort, since it is not a typical Apache name. The child's grave marker still stands at the Fort Bowie cemetery, though his body has been removed to prevent grave robbing.
(4.) According to interpreter George Wratten, the Chiricahua women were skilled seamstresses whose work was "remarkable, fine and regular as that done by a sewing machine" (quoted in Skinner 1987, 228).
(5.) Before Chihuahua surrendered to General Crook, he sent Perico to ascertain that their families were well and waiting at Fort Bowie (Ball 1988, 99).
(6.) The identity of the photographer is in question. The photographs might have been taken by C. S. Fly or his assistant, if either person accompanied General Crook back to Fort Bowie after the photo sessions at Canyon de los Embudos. There were, however, a number of other newsmen and photographers in Willcox and nearby in anticipation of the Chiricahua surrenders. To date, no one has taken credit for the photographs.
(7.) A number of Apaches did manage to escape confinement, some of them migrating into the bayous of Louisiana and other areas. Perhaps this woman and her child were among those people (Boyer and Gayton 1992, 111).
(8.) According to James Kaywaykla, Geronimo wed a woman with whom he could not live, who was identified as Francesca (Huera) (Ball 1988, 46-47).
(9.) Some scholars believe that Geronimo had many more wives than the women mentioned here and that he was prone to desert them in times of distress (Ball 1986, 144).
REFERENCES
Ball, Eve. 1986. In the days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Spring Apache, James Kaywaykla. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
--. 1988. Indeh: An Apache Odyssey. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Barrett, S. M., ed. 1970. Geronimo: His Own Story. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co.
Bourke, John G. 1891. On the Border with Crook. Columbus, Ohio: Long's College Book Co.
Boyer, Ruth M., and Narcissus D. Gayton. 1992. Apache Mothers and Daughters. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Debo, Angie. 1976. Geronimo: The Man, His Time, His Place. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Skinner, Woodward B. 1987. The Apache Rock Crumbles: The Captivity of Geronimo's People. Pensacola, Fla.: Skinner Publications.
Stockel, Henrietta H. 1993. Survival of the Spirit. Reno: University of Nevada Press.
Wratten, George. 1985. Unpublished manuscript on file in the Arizona State Historical Society, Tucson, Ariz.
J. DIANE PEARSON teaches Native American studies in the ethnic studies department of the University of California, Berkeley.
FRED WESLEY, San Carlos Apache, serves on the Livestock Board of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona.
J. Diane Pearson "Recalling the changing women: returning identity to Chiricahua Apache women and children". Journal of the Southwest. FindArticles.com. 20 Feb, 2010. findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6474/is_3_44/ai_n28961741/
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