1 - The Apaches - Part 1 - Geronimo’s Story of His Life

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Episode Transcript

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Section one, Part one of theApaches, Chapter one, Origin of the
Apache Indians. In the beginning,the world was covered with darkness. There
was no sun, no day,the perpetual night had no moon or stars.
There were, however, all mannerof beasts and birds. Among the

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beasts were many hideous nameless monsters,as well as dragons, lions, tigers,
wolves, foxes, beavers, rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice,
and all manner of creeping things,such as lizards and serpents. Mankind could
not prosper under such conditions, forthe beasts and serpents destroyed all human offspring.

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All creatures had the power of speechand were gifted with reason. There
were two tribes of creatures, thebirds, or the feathered tribe, and
the beasts. The former were organizedunder their chief, the eagle. These
tribes often held councils, and thebirds wanted light. Admitted this, the

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beasts repeatedly refused to do. Finally, the birds made war against the beasts.
The beasts were armed with clubs,but the eagle had taught his tribe
to use bows and arrows. Theserpents were so wise that they could not
all be killed. One took refugein a perpendicular cliff of a mountain in
Arizona, and his eye changed intoa brilliant stone may be seen in that

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rock to this day. The bears, when killed, would each be changed
into several other bears, so thatthe more bears the feathered tribe killed,
the more there were. The dragoncould not be killed either, for he
was covered with four coats of hornyscales, and the arrows would not penetrate
these. One of the most hideousvile monsters, nameless was proof against arrows.

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So the eagle flew high up inthe air with a round white stone
and let it fall on this monster'shead, killing him instantly. This was
such a good service that the stonewas called sacred. A symbol of this
stone is used in the tribal gameof car. They fought for many days,

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but at last the birds won thevictory. After this war was over,
although some evil beasts remained, thebirds were able to control the councils,
and light was admitted. Then mankindcould live and prosper. The eagle
was chief in this good fight.Therefore his feathers were worn by man as

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emblems of wisdom, justice, andpower. Among the few human beings that
were yet alive. Was a womanwho had been blessed with many children,
but these had always been destroyed bythe beasts. If by any means she
succeeded in eluding the others, thedragon, who was very wise and very

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evil, would come himself and eather babes. After many years, a
son of the rainstorm was born toher, and she dug for him a
deep cave. The entrance to thiscave she closed, and over the spot
built a camp fire. This concealedthe babe's hiding place and kept him warm.

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Every day she would remove the fireand descend into the cave where the
child's bed was to nurse him.Then she would return and rebuild the campfire.
Frequently the dragon would come and questionher, but she would say,
I have no more children. Youhave eaten all of them. When the

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child was larger, he would notalways stay in the cave, for he
sometimes wanted to run and play.Once the dragon saw his tracks. Now
this perplexed and enraged the old dragon, for he could not find the hiding
place of the boy. But hesaid that he would destroy the mother if
she did not reveal the child's hidingplace. The poor mother was very much

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troubled. She could not give upher child, but she knew the power
and cunning of the dragon. Thereforeshe lived in constant fear. Soon after
this, the boy said he wishedto go hunting. The mother would not
give her consent. She told himof the dragon, the wolves, and
the serpents, But he said,tomorrow I go. At the boy's request,

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his uncle, who was the onlyman then living, made a little
bow and some arrows for him,and the two went hunting. The next
day, they trailed the deer farup the mountain, and finally the boy
killed a buck. His uncle showedhim how to dress the de and broil
the meat. They broiled two hindquarters, one for the child and one

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for his uncle. When the meatwas done, they placed it on some
bushes to cool. Just then thehuge form of the dragon appeared. The
child was not afraid, but hisuncle was so dumb with fright that he
did not speak or move. Thedragon took the boy's parcel of meat and

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went aside with it. He placedthe meat on another bush and seated himself
beside it. Then he said,this is the child I have been seeking.
Boy, you are nice and fat, so when I have eaten this
venison, I shall eat you.The boy said, no, you shall

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not eat meat, and you shallnot eat that meat. So he walked
over to where the dragon sat andtook the meat back to his own seat.
The dragon said, I like yourcourage, but you are foolish.
What do you think you could do? Well, said the boy, I

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can do enough to protect myself,as you may find out. Then the
dragon took the meat again, andthen the boy retook it four times in
all, the dragon took the meat, and after the fourth time, the
boy replaced the meat. He said, dragon, will you fight me?

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The dragon said yes, in whateverway you like. The boy said,
I will stand one hundred paces distantfrom you, and you may have four
shots at me with your bow andarrows, provided that you will then exchange
places with me and give me fourshots. Good, said the dragon.

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Stand up. Then the dragon tookhis bowl, which was made of a
large pine tree. He took fourarrows from his quiver. They were made
of young pine tree saplings, andeach arrow was twenty feet in length.
He took deliberate aim, but justas the arrow left the bowl, the

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boy made a peculiar sound and leapedinto the air. Immediately, the arrow
was shivered into eight thousand splinters,and the boy was seen standing on the
top of a bright rainbow over thespot where the dragon's aim had been directed.
Soon the rainbow was gone and theboy was standing on the ground again.

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Four times this was repeated. Thenthe boy said, dragon, stand
here, it is my time toshoot. The dragon said, all right,
your little arrows cannot pierce my firstcoat of horn, and I have
three other coats. Shoot away.The boy shot an arrow, striking the

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dragon just over the heart, andone coat of the great horny scales fell
to the ground. The next shotanother coat, and then another, and
the dragon's heart was exposed. Thenthe dragon trembled but could not move.

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Before the fourth arrow was shot,the boy said, uncle, you are
dumb with fear. You have notmoved. Come here, or the dragon
will fall on you. His uncleran toward him. Then he sped the
fourth arrow with true aim, andit pierced the dragon's heart with a tremendous

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roar. The dragon rolled down themountain side down four precipices into a canyon
below. Immediately, storm clouds sweptthe mountains, Lightning flashed, thunder rolled,
and the rain poured. When therain storm had passed far down in

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the canyon below, they could seefragments of the huge body of the dragon
lying among the rocks, and thebones of this dragon may still be found
there. This boy's name was Apache. Usin taught him how to prepare herbs
for medicine, how to hunt,and how to fight. He was the

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first chief of the Indians and worethe eagle's feathers as the sign of justice,
wisdom, and power to him andto his people. As they were
created, Usen gave homes in theland of the West. Chapter two subdivisions

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of the Apache tribe. The ApacheIndians are divided into six subtribes. To
one of these, the badonkahee Ibelong. Our tribe inhabited that region of
mountainous country which lies west from theeast line of Arizona and south from the
head waters of the Hila River.East of us lived the chickenne Ojo Kaliente

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hot springs Apaches. Our tribe neverhad any difficulty with them. Victoria,
their chief, was always a friendto me. He always helped our tribe
when we asked him for help.He lost his life in the defense of
the rights of his people. Hewas a good man and a brave warrior.
His son, Charlie, now liveshere in this reservation with us.

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North of us lived the White MountainApaches. They were not always on the
best of terms with our tribe,yet we seldom had any war with them.
I knew their chief, Hashkayelah personally, and I considered him a good
warrior. Their range was next tothat of the Navajo Indians, who were
not of the same blood as theApaches. We held councils with all Pachee

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tribes, but never with the NavajoIndians. However, we traded with them
and sometimes visited them. To thewest of our country ranged the Chiehan Apaches.
They had two chiefs within my time, Cocito and Koda Joya. They
were friendly but not intimate with ourtribe. South of us lived the Chikonan

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Chirakawa Apaches, whose chief in theold days was Cochise and later his son
Nichi. This tribe was always onthe most friendly terms with us. We
were often in camp and on thetrail together. Nichi, who was my
companion in arms, is now mycompanion. In bondage. To the south

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and west of us lived the netNai Apaches. Their chief was who called
by the Mexicans Capitan, who theywere our firm friends. The land of
this tribe lies partly in Old Mexicoand partly in Arizona. Ho and I
often camped and fought side by sideas brothers. My enemies were his enemies,

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my friends, his friends. Heis dead now, but his son
Asa is interpreting this story for me. Still the four tribes, but don
kahe, Chikonen, Jehen, andleet Nai, who were fast friends in
the days of freedom, cling togetheras they decrease in number. Only the

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destruction of all our people would dissolveour bonds of friendship. We are vanishing
from the earth. Yet I cannotthink we are useless, or Yusen would
not have created us. He createdall tribes of men, and certainly had
a righteous purpose in creating each.For each tribe of men Yusun created,

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he also made a home in theland created for any particular tribe, He
placed whatever would be better for thewelfare of that tribe. When Yusen created
the Apaches, he also created theirhomes in the west. He gave to
them such grain, fruits, andgame as they needed to eat to restore

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their health. When disease attacked them, he made many different herbs to grow.
He taught them where to find theseherbs and how to prepare them for
medicine. He gave them a pleasantclimate, and all they needed for clothing
and shelter was at hand. Thusit was in the beginning the apaches and
their homes, each created for theother by Usen himself. When they are

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taken from these homes, they sickenand die. How long will it be
until it is said there are noApaches? Chapter three Early Life. I
was born in Nadoyan Canyon, Arizona, June eighteen twenty nine, in that
country which lies around the headwaters ofthe Hila River. I was reared.

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This range was our fatherland. Amongthese mountains, our wigwams were hidden.
The scattered valleys contained our fields.The boundless prairies stretching away on every side
were our pastures. The rocky cavernswere our burying places. I was fourth
in a family of eight children,four boys and four girls. Of that

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family, only myself, my brotherPorico white Horse, and my sister Nadazzi
are yet alive. We are heldas prisoners of war in this military reservation
Fort Sill. As a babe,I rolled on the dirt floor of my
father's teepee, hung in my soula patche name for cradle at my mother's

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back, or suspended from the boughof a tree. I was warmed by
the sun, rocked by the winds, and sheltered by the trees. As
other Indian babes. One child,my mother taught me the legends of our
people. Taught me of the sunand sky, the moon and stars,

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the clouds and storms. She alsotaught me to kneel and pray to usin
for strength, health, wisdom andprotection. We never prayed against any person,
but if we had aught against anyindividual, we ourselves took vengeance.
We were taught that Yusen does notcare for the petty quarrels of men.

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My father had often told me ofthe brave deeds of our warriors, of
the pleasures of the chase and theglories of the war path. With my
brothers and sisters, I played aboutmy father's home. Sometimes we played at
hide and seek among the rocks andpines. Sometimes we loitered in the shade
of the cottonwood trees, or soughtthe shattuck, a kind of wild cherry,

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while our parents worked in the field. Sometimes we played that we were
warriors. We would practice stealing uponsome object that represented an enemy, and
in our childish imitation, often performedthe feats of war. Sometimes we would
hide away from our mother to seeif she could find us, and often,

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when thus concealed, go to sleepand perhaps remain hidden for many hours.
When we were old enough to beof real service, we went to
the field with our parents, notto play, but to toil. When
the crops were to be planted,we broke the ground with wooden hose.
We planted the corn in straight rows, the beans among the corn, and

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the melons and pumpkins in irregular orderover the field. We cultivated these crops
as there was need. Our fieldusually contained about two acres of ground.
The fields were never fenced. Itwas common for many families to cultivate land
in the same valley and share theburden of protecting the growing crops from the

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destruction by the ponies of the tribeor by deer and other wild animals.
Melons were gathered as they were consumedIn the autumn. Pumpkins and beans were
gathered and placed in bags or baskets. Ears of corn were tied together by
the husks, and then the harvestwas carried on the backs of ponies up

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to our homes. Here the cornwas shelled, and all the harvests stored
away in caves or other secluded placesto be used in winter. We never
fed corn to our ponies, butif we kept them up in the winter
time, we gave them fodder toeat. We had no cattle or other
domestic animals except our dogs and ponies. We did not cultivate tobacco, but

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found it growing wild. This wecut and cured in autumn, but if
the supply ran out, the leavesfrom the stalks left standing served our purpose.
All Indians smoked, men and women. No boy was allowed to smoke
until he had hunted alone and killedlarge game, wolves and bears. Unmarried

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women were not prohibited from smoking,but were considered immodest if they did so.
Nearly all matrons smoked. Besides grindingthe corn by hand with stone mortars
and pestles for bread, we sometimescrushed it and soaked it and after it
had fermented, made from this juicea tiswind, which had the power of

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intoxication and was very highly prized bythe Indians. This work was done by
the squaws and children. When berriesor nuts were to be gathered, the
small children and the squaws would goin parties to hunt them, and sometimes
stay all day. When they wentany great distance from camp, they took
ponies to carry the baskets. Ifrequently went with these parties, and upon

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one of these excursions, a womannamed Chicoli got lost from the part and
was riding her pony through a thicketin search of her friends. Her little
dog was following as she slowly madeher way through the thick underbrush and pine
trees. All at once a grizzlybear rose in her path and attacked the
pony. She jumped off and herpony escaped, but the bear attacked her,

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so she fought him the best shecould with her knife. Her little
dog, by snapping at the bear'sheels and detracting his attention from the woman,
enabled her for some time to keeppretty well out of his reach.
Finally, the grizzly struck her overthe head, tearing off almost her whole
scalp. She fell, but didnot lose consciousness, and while prostrate,

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struck him four good licks with herknife, and he retreated. After he
had gone, she replaced her tornscalp and bounded up as best she could.
Then she turned deathly sick and hadto lie down. That night,
her pony came into camp with hisload of nuts and berries, but no

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rider. The Indians hunted for her, but did not find her until the
second day. They carried her home, and under the treatment of their medicine
men, all her wounds were healed. The Indians knew what herbs to use
for medicine, how to prepare them, and how to give the medicine.
This they had been taught by Yusonin the beginning, and each succeeding generation

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had men who were skilled in theart of healing, in gathering the herbs,
in preparing them, and in administeringthe medicine. As much faith was
held in prayer as in the actualeffect of the medicine. Usually about eight
persons worked together in making medicine,and there were forms of prayer and incantations

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to attend each stage of the process. Four attended to the incantations, and
four to the preparation of the herbs. Some of the Indians were skilled in
cutting out bullets, arrowheads, andother missiles with which warriors were wounded.
I myself have done much of thisusing a common dirk or butcher knife.

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Small children wore very little clothing inwinter and none in the summer. Women
usually wore a primitive skirt, whichconsisted of a piece of cotton cloth fastened
about the waist and extending to theknees. Men wore breech cloths and moccasins.
In winter, they had shirts andleggings in addition. Frequently, when

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the tribe was in camp, anumber of boys and girls, by agreement,
would steal away and meet at aplace several miles distant where they could
play all day, free from tasks. They were never punished for these frolics,
but if their hiding places were discovered, they were ridiculed and of part

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one of the apaches