Apache Way Of Life

Apache marriage and burial customs and the family of Geronimo

Geronimo explains Apache marriage and burial customs in his life history, as well as some of his family relationships.

Source: As told by GERONIMO, Public Domain Document

My grandfather, Maco, had been our chief. I never saw him, but my father often told me of the great size, strength, and sagacity of this old warrior.

The Apache's principal wars had been with the Mexicans. They had some wars with other tribes of Indians also, but were seldom at peace for any great length of time with the Mexican towns. Maco died when my father was but a young warrior, and Mangas-Colorado became chief of the Bedonkohe Apaches.

When I was but a small boy my father died, after having been sick for some time.

When he passed away, carefully the watchers closed his eyes, then they arrayed him in his best clothes, painted his face afresh, wrapped a rich blanket around him, saddled his favorite horse, bore his arms in front of him, and led his horse behind, repeating in wailing tones his deeds of valor as they carried his body to a cave in the mountain.

Then they slew his horses, and we gave away all of his other property, as was customary in our tribe, after which his body was deposited in the cave, his arms beside him.

His grave is hidden by piles of stone. Wrapped in splendor he lies in seclusion, and the winds in the pines sing a low requiem over the dead warrior.

After my father's death I assumed the care of my mother. She never married again, although according to the customs of our tribe she might have done so immediately after his death.

Usually, however, the widow who has children remains single after her husband's death for two or three years; but the widow without children marries again immediately.

After a warrior's death his widow returns to her people and may be given away or sold by her father or brothers. My mother chose to live with me, and she never desired to marry again. We lived near our old home and I supported her.

In 1846, being seventeen years of age, I was admitted to the council of the warriors. Then I was very happy, for I could go wherever I wanted and do whatever I liked.

I had not been under the control of any individual, but the customs of our tribe prohibited me from sharing the glories of the war path until the council admitted me.

When opportunity offered, after this, I could go on the war path with my tribe. This would be glorious.

I hoped soon to serve my people in battle. I had long desired to fight with our warriors. Perhaps the greatest joy to me was that now I could marry the fair Alope, daughter of No-po-so.

She was a slender, delicate girl, but we had been lovers for a long time. So, as soon as the council granted me these privileges I went to see her father concerning our marriage.

Perhaps our love was of no interest to him; perhaps he wanted to keep Alope with him, for she was a dutiful daughter; at any rate he asked many ponies for her.

I made no reply, but in a few days appeared before his wigwam with the herd of ponies and took with me Alope. This was all the marriage ceremony necessary in our tribe.

Not far from my mother's tepee I had made for us a new home. The tepee was made of buffalo hides and in it were many bear robes, lion hides, and other trophies of the chase, as well as my spears, bows, and arrows.

Alope had made many little decorations of beads and drawn work on buckskin, which she placed in our tepee. She also drew many pictures on the walls of our home.

She was a good wife, but she was never strong. We followed the traditions of our fathers and were happy. Three children came to us— children that played, loitered, and worked as I had done.

Apache childhood, farming practices and medicine men

Source: As told by Geronimo, Public Domain Document

I was born in No-doyohn Canon, Arizona, June, 1829.

In that country which lies around the head waters of the Gila River I was reared. This range was our fatherland; among these mountains our wigwams were hidden; the scattered valleys contained our fields; the boundless prairies, stretching away on every side, were our pastures; the rocky caverns were our burying places.

I was fourth in a family of eight children— four boys and four girls. Of that family, only myself, my brother, Porico, and my sister, Nah-da-ste, are yet alive. We are held as prisoners of war in this Military Reservation (Fort Sill).

As a babe, I rolled on the dirt floor of my father's tepee, hung in my tsoch (Apache name for cradle) at my mother's back, or suspended from the bough of a tree.

I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds, and sheltered by the trees as were other Indian babes.

When a child my mother taught me the legends of our people; taught me of the sun and sky, the moon and stars, the clouds and storms.

She also taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom, and protection. We never prayed against any person, but if we had aught against any individual we ourselves took vengeance.

We were taught that Usen does not care for the petty quarrels of men.

My father had often told me of the brave deeds of our warriors, of the pleasures of the chase, and the glories of the war path.

With my brothers and sisters I played about my father's home. Sometimes we played at hide-and-seek among the rocks and pines; sometimes we loitered in the shade of the cottonwood trees or sought the shudock (a kind of wild cherry) while our parents worked in the field.

Sometimes we played that we were warriors. We would practice stealing upon some object that represented an enemy, and in our childish imitation often perform the feats of war.

Sometimes we would hide away from our mother to see if she could find us, and often when thus concealed go to sleep and perhaps remain hidden for many hours.

When we were old enough to be of real service we went to the field with our parents: not to play, but to toil.

When the crops were to be planted we broke the ground with wooden hoes. We planted the corn in straight rows, the beans among the corn, and the melons and pumpkins in irregular order over the field.

We cultivated these crops as there was need.

Our field usually contained about two acres of ground. The fields were never fenced. It was common for many families to cultivate land in the same valley and share the burden of protecting the growing crops from destruction by the ponies of the tribe, or by deer and other wild animals.

Melons were gathered as they were consumed.

In 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 harvest was carried on the backs of ponies up to our homes.

Here the corn was shelled, and all the harvest stored away in caves or other secluded places to be used in winter.

We never fed corn to our ponies, but if we kept them up in the winter time we gave them fodder to eat. We had no cattle or other domestic animals except our dogs and ponies.

We did not cultivate tobacco, but found it growing wild. This we cut and cured in autumn, but if the supply ran out the leaves from 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 killed large game;wolves and bears.

Unmarried women were not prohibited from smoking, but were considered immodest if they did so. Nearly all matrons smoked.

Besides grinding the corn (by hand with stone mortars and pestles) for bread, we sometimes crushed it and soaked it, and after it had fermented made from this juice a tis-win, which had the power of intoxication, and was very highly prized by the Indians.

This work was done by the women and children. When berries or nuts were to be gathered the small children and the women would go in parties to hunt them, and sometimes stay all day.

When they went any great distance from camp they took ponies to carry the baskets.

I frequentLy went with these parties, and upon one of these excursions a woman named Cho-ko-le got lost from the party and was riding her pony through a thicket in search of her friends.

Her little dog was following as she slowly made her way through the thick underbrush and pine trees. All at once a grizzly bear rose in her path and attacked the pony.

She jumped off and her pony escaped, but the bear attacked her, so she fought him the best she could with her knife.

Her little dog, by snapping at the bear's heels and distracting his attention from the woman, enabled her for some time to keep pretty well out of his reach.

Finally the grizzly struck her over the head, tearing off almost her whole scalp. She fell, but did not lose consciousness, and while prostrate struck him four good licks with her knife, and he retreated.

After he had gone she replaced her torn scalp and bound it up as best she could, then she turned deathly sick and had to lie down.

That night her pony came into camp with his load of nuts and berries, but no 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 Usen in the beginning, and each succeeding generation had men who were skilled in the art of healing.

In gathering the herbs, in preparing them, and in administering the medicine, as much faith was held in prayer as in the actual effect of the medicine.

Usually about eight persons worked together in making medicine, and there were forms of prayer and incantations 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, arrow heads, and other missiles with which warriors were wounded. I myself have done much of this, using a common dirk or butcher knife.

Small children wore very little clothing in winter and none in the summer.

Women usually wore a primitive skirt, which consisted of a piece of cotton cloth fastened about the waist, and extending to the knees.

Men wore breach cloths and moccasins. In winter they had shirts and leggings in addition.

Frequently when the tribe was in camp a number of boys and girls, by agreement, would steal away and meet at a place 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.

Apache Houses

Hogans were made with a frame of logs and sticks and usually covered with mud.

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Hogans are the name of one of the styles of homes that the Apache people lived in. Hogans were made with a frame of logs and sticks and usually covered with mud. Hogans were one room dwellings that were unique in the fact that they were classified as male or female dwelling according to their shape. A male Hogan was cone shaped, while a female Hogan was a six or eight sided dwelling. The door of a Hogan always faced east. The floor of the Hogan represented Mother Earth and the roof, Father Sky.

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Kowa

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Another Apache dwelling consisted of a dome shaped frame of cottonwood or other poles, thatched with grass. The house itself was called a Kowa and the grass thatch, "Pi". Sometimes these thatch houses are incorrectly referred to as just pi houses.

In another variation, the thatched house was built into the side of a hill or a mound of dirt. This style house was later adopted by white settlers who homesteaded on the plains, until a more permanent house could be built. The settlers called them sod houses.

Apache Wickiup

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The wickiup was the most commonly used style for apache houses. The frame of the wickiup was made from thicker branches and covered in brush. Sometimes the brush was also covered with a buffalo hide. Wickiups were small dwellings, often the size of a modern camp tent, and an Apache woman could build a new wickiup in two hours if there was enough brush available.

Apache Tipi

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The Plains Apache and many of the Lipan Apache tribes adopted the buffalo hide tipi style house. Tipis were easier to keep warm than wickiups and usually had more room inside than a wickiup.

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