USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. VII > Part 2
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From the fact that the Apache language was practically the same as that of the Tartar Chi- nese, color is given to the theory advanced by Bancroft in his "Native Races," Volume 5, p. 33, et seq., that Western America was "origi- nally peopled by the Chinese, or, at least, that the greater part of the new world civilization may be attributed to these people."
In this connection it may be stated that the swastika, which is an oriental emblem, is found on the painted rocks in the range of mountains south of Phoenix, according to Herbert R. Pat- rick, and this sign is used by most of the Arizona Indians in their basketry.
COYOTEROS (Spanish : "wolfmen"; so called in consequence, it is said, of their subsisting partly on coyotes or prairie wolves [Gregg, Com. Prairies, 1, 290, 1844]; but it seems more prob- able that the name was applied on account of their roving habit, living on the natural products of the desert rather than by agriculture or hunt- ing). A division of the Apache, geographically
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
divided into the Pinal Coyoteros and the White Mountain Coyoteros, whose principal home was the western, or southwestern, part of the pres- ent White Mountain reservation, eastern Ari- zona, between San Carlos Creek and the Gila River, although they ranged almost throughout the limits of Arizona and western New Mexico. The name has evidently been indiscriminately applied to various Apache bands, especially to the Pinal Coyoteros, who are but a part of the Coyoteros.
PINAL COYOTEROS. A part of the Coyo- tero Apache, whose chief rendezvous was the Pinal Mountains and their vicinity, north of the Gila River in Arizona. They ranged, how- ever, about the sources of the Gila, over the Mogollon mesa, and from northern Arizona to the Gila, and even southward. They are now under the San Carlos and Fort Apache agencies, where they are officially classed as Coyoteros.
They are reputed by tradition to have been the first of the Apache to have penetrated below the Little Colorado among the pueblo peoples, with whom they intermarried. They possessed the country from the San Francisco Mountains to the Gila, until they were subdued by General Crook in 1873. Since then they have peaceably tilled their land at San Carlos. White, for sev- eral years a surgeon at Fort Apache, says that they have soft, musical voices, uttering each word in a sweet, pleasant tone. He noted also their light hearted, childish ways and timid man- ner, their pleasant expression of countenance, and the beauty of their women. Married women
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THE APACHE.
tattooed their chins in three blue vertical lines running from the lower lip.
PINALENOS (Spanish: "Pinery people"). A division of the Apache, evidently more closely related to the Chiricahua than to any other group. Their principal seat was formerly the Pinaleño Mountains, south of the Gila river in southeastern Arizona, but their raids extended far into Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. They are now under the San Carlos and Fort Apache agencies, Arizona, being officially known as Pinals, but their numbers are not separately reported. The Pinaleños and the Pinal Coyo- teros have often been confused.
TONTOS (Spanish: "fools," so called on ac- count of their supposed imbecility ; the designa- tion, however, is a misnomer). A name so indis- criminately applied as to be almost meaningless : (1) To a mixture of Yavapai, Yuma, and Mo- have, with some Pinaleño Apache, placed on the Rio Verde reservation in 1873, and transferred to the San Carlos reservation in 1875; best des- ignated as the Tulkepaia. (2) To a tribe of the Athapascan family well known as Covotero Apache. (3) To the Pinaleños of the same
family. (4) According to Corbusier, to a body of Indians descended from Yavapai men and Pinal Coyotero (Pinaleño) women who have intermarried. The term Tontos was therefore applied by writers of the 19th century to prac- tically all the Indians roaming between the White Mountains of Arizona and the Colorado river, comprising parts of two linguistic fami-
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
lies, but especially to the Yavapai, commonly known as Apache-Mohave.
SAN CARLOS APACHE. A part of the Apache dwelling at the San Carlos agency, Ari- zona. The name has little ethnic significance, having been applied officially to those Apache living on the Gila river in Arizona, and some- times referred to as Gileños, or Gila Apache.
GILA APACHE. The name Gila, or Xila, was apparently originally that of an Apache set- tlement west of Socorro, in southwestern New Mexico, and as early as 1630 was applied to those Apache residing for part of the time on the ex- treme headwaters of the Rio Gila in that terri- tory, evidently embracing those later known as Mimbrenos, Mogollons and Warm Springs (Chiricahua) Apaches, and later extended to in- clude the Apache living along the Gila river in Arizona. The latter were seemingly the Ara- vaipa and Chiricahua, or a part of them. There were about 4,000 Indians under this name in 1853, when some of their bands were gathered at Fort Webster, New Mexico, and induced by promises of supplies for a number of years to settle down and begin farming. They kept the peace and made some progress in industry, but were driven back to a life of pillage when the supplies were stopped, the treaty not having been confirmed. They are no longer recognized under this name. The term Gileños has also been em- ployed to designate the Pima residing on the Gila in Arizona.
MOGOLLON (from the mesa and mountains of the same name in New Mexico and Arizona,
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THE APACHE.
which, in turn, were named in honor of Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollon, governor of New Mexico in 1712-15). A subdivision of the Apache that formerly ranged over the Mogollon mesa and mountains in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona. They were associated with the Mimbrenos at the Southern Apache agency, New Mexico, in 1868, and at Hot Springs agency in 1875, and are now under the Fort Apache and San Carlos reservations in Arizona. They are no longer officially recognized as Mogollons.
MIMBRENOS (Spanish: "people of the wil- lows"). A branch of the Apache who took their popular name from the Mimbres mountains, southwestern New Mexico, but who roamed over the country from the east side of the Rio Grande in New Mexico to the San Francisco river in Arizona, a favorite haunt being near Lake Guz- man, west of El Paso, in Chihuahua. In habits they were similar to the other Apache, gaining a livelihood by raiding settlements in New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico. They made peace with the Mexicans from time to time, and before 1870 were supplied with rations by the military post at Janos, Chihuahua. They were some- times called Coppermine Apaches on account of their occupancy of the territory in which the Santa Rita mines in southwestern New Mexico are situated. In 1875 a part of them joined the Mescaleros and a part was under the Hot Springs (Chiricahua) agency, New Mexico. They are now divided between the Mescalero reservation, New Mexico, and Fort Apache agency, Arizona.
VII-2
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
The Indians of this tribe under Mangus Colo- rado, intermarried with the Chiricahuas, and upon the death of that chief joined with Cochise. Geronimo, Loco and Victorio, were among their noted chiefs.
WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE. For- merly the Sierra Blanca Apache, a part of the Coyoteros, so called on account of their moun- tain home. The name is now applied to all the Apache under Fort Apache agency, Arizona, consisting of Aravaipa, Tsiltaden or Chilion, Chiricahua, Coyotero, Mimbreno and Mogollon.
TSILTADEN ("mountain side"). A clan or band of the Chiricahua Apache, associated with and hence taken to be a part of the Pinaleños; correlated with the Tziltaden clan of the Pinal Coyoteros, the Tziseketzillan of the White Moun- tain Apache, and the Tsayiskithni of the Navaho. They are now under the San Carlos Agency, Ari- zona.
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THE APACHE.
CHAPTER II. THE APACHE (Continued).
LEGENDS-SCARCITY OF-BELIEF IN CREATION- WAR BETWEEN BIRDS AND BEASTS-KILLING OF THE DRAGON-RELIGION OF THE APACHE -FAITH IN PRAYER - ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICINE - MEDICINE MEN - HODDENTIN- APACHE DANCES-SPIRIT DANCE.
The Apaches have few legends. The only thing I have been able to find in reference to their belief in creation is the statement of Ger- onimo, given in his autobiography in the first chapter, which follows:
"In the beginning the world was covered with darkness. There was no sun, no day. The per- petual night had no moon or stars.
"There were, however, all manner of beasts and birds. Among the beasts were many hideous, nameless monsters, as well as dragons, lions, tigers, wolves, foxes, beavers, rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice, and all manner of creep- ing things such as lizards and serpents. Man- kind could not prosper under such conditions, for the beasts and serpents destroyed all human offspring.
"All creatures had the power of speech and were gifted with reason.
"There were two tribes of creatures : the birds, or the feathered tribe, and the beasts. The for- mer were organized under their chief, the eagle.
"These tribes often held councils, and the birds wanted light admitted. This the beasts
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
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. The serpents were so wise that they could not all be killed. One took refuge in a perpendicular cliff of a mountain in Arizona, and his eye (changed into a brilliant stone) may be seen in that rock to this day. The bears, when killed, would each be changed into several other bears, so that the more bears the feathered tribe killed, the more there were. The dragon could not be killed, either, for he was covered with four coats of horny scales, and the arrows would not penetrate these. One of the most hideous, vile monsters (nameless) was proof against arrows, so the eagle flew high up in the air with a round, white stone, and let it fall on this monster's head, killing him instantly. This was such a good service that the stone was called sacred. They fought for many days, but at last the birds won the victory.
"After this war was over, although some evil beasts remained, the birds were able to control the councils, and light was admitted. Then mankind could live and prosper. The eagle was chief in this good fight; therefore, his feathers were worn by man as emblems of wisdom, jus- tice and power.
"Among the few human beings that were yet alive was a woman who had been blessed with many children, but these had always been de- stroyed by the beasts. If by any means she suc- ceeded in eluding the others, the dragon, who
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THE APACHE.
was very wise and very evil, would come himself and eat her babes.
"After many years a son of the rainstorm was born to her and she dug for him a deep cave. The entrance to this cave she closed and over the spot built a camp fire. This concealed the babe's hiding place and kept him warm. Every day she would remove the fire and descend into the cave, where the child's bed was, to nurse him; then she would return and rebuild the camp fire.
"Frequently the dragon would come and ques- tion her, but she would say, 'I have no more chil- dren; you have eaten all of them.'
"When the child was larger he would not always 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 he said that he would destroy the mother if she did not reveal the child's hid- ing place. The poor mother was very much troubled ; she could not give up her child. but she knew the power and cunning of the dragon, therefore she lived in constant fear.
"Soon after this the boy said that he wished to go hunting. The mother would not give her consent. She told him of the dragon, the wolves, and the serpents; but he said, 'Tomorrow I go.'
"At the boy's request his uncle, (who was the only man then living), made a little bow and some arrows for him, and the two went hunt- ing the next day. They trailed the deer far up the mountain and finally the boy killed a buck. His uncle showed him how to dress the deer and
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
broil the meat. They broiled two hind quarters, one for the child and one for his uncle. When the meat was done they placed it on some bushes to cool. Just then the huge form of the dragon appeared. The child was not afraid, but his uncle was so dumb with fright that he did not speak or move.
"The dragon took the boy's parcel of meat and went aside with it. He placed the meat on another bush, and seated himself beside it. Then he said, "This is the child I have been seek- ing. Boy, you are nice and fat, so when I have eaten this venison I shall eat you.' The boy said, 'No, you shall not eat me, and you shall not eat that meat.' So he walked over to where the dragon sat and took the meat back to his own seat. The dragon said, 'I like your cour- age, but you are foolish; what do you think you could do?' 'Well,' said the boy, 'I can do enough to protect myself, as you may find out.' Then the dragon took the meat again, and then 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?' The dragon said, 'Yes, in whatever way you like.' The boy said, 'I will stand one hundred paces from you and you may have four shots at me with your bow and arrows, provided that you will then exchange places with me and give me four shots.' 'Good,' said the dragon. 'Stand up.'
"Then the dragon took his bow, which was made of a large pine tree. He took four arrows from his quiver; they were made of young pine tree saplings, and each arrow was twenty feet
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THE APACHE.
in length. He took deliberate aim, but just as the arrow left the bow the boy made a peculiar sound and leaped into the air. Immediately the arrow was shivered into a thousand splinters, and the boy was seen standing on the top of a bright rainbow over the spot where the dragon's aim had been directed. Soon the rainbow was gone and the boy was standing on the ground again. Four times this was repeated, then the boy said, 'Dragon, stand here; it is my time to shoot.' The dragon said, 'All right, your little arrows cannot pierce my first coat of horn, and I have three other coats-shoot away.' The boy shot an arrow, striking the dragon just over the heart, and one coat of the great horny scales fell to the ground. The next shot another coat fell, and then another, and the dragon's heart was ex- posed. Then the dragon trembled, but could not move. Before the fourth arrow was shot the boy said, 'Uncle, you are dumb with fear; you have not moved; come here or the dragon will fall on you.' His uncle ran toward him. Then he sped the fourth arrow with true aim, and it pierced the dragon's heart. With a tremendous roar the dragon rolled down the mountain side- down four precipices into a canyon below.
"Immediately storm clouds swept the moun- tains, lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and the rain poured. When the rainstorm had passed, far down in the canyon below, they could see fragments of the huge body of the dragon lying among the rocks, and the bones of this dragon may still be found there.
"This boy's name was Apache. Usen taught him how to prepare herbs for medicine, how to
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
hunt, and how to fight. He was first chief of the Indians and wore eagle's feathers as the sign of justice, wisdom and power. To him, and to his people, as they were created, Usen gave homes in the land of the west."
Usen is the Apache word for God. It is used here because it implies the attributes of deity that are held in their primitive religion. ("Apache" means "Enemy.")
The Apaches believed that when God, or Usen, created the Apaches, he also created their homes in the west, and gave to them such game, fruits and grain as they needed for their sustenance. He gave them different herbs to restore their health when disease attacked them. He taught them where to find these herbs and how to pre- pare them for medicine, and gave them, above all, a climate, with all needed clothing and shel- ter at hand. This was in the beginning, and ac- counts, perhaps, for the intense love the Apache held for his home in the west, for he believed that these ranges were provided for him and his posterity by Usen himself.
Geronimo says that when a child, his mother taught him the religion of his people; taught him of the sun and sky, the moon and stars, the clouds and storms. She also taught him to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom, and protection. They never prayed against any person, but if they had aught against an indi- vidual, they, themselves, took vengeance. They were taught that Usen did not care for the petty quarrels of men.
In gathering herbs and administering medi- cine, says Geronimo, as much faith was held in
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THE APACHE.
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. Their life had a religious side. They had no churches, no religious organizations, or Sabbath day, or holidays, yet they worshipped. Sometimes the whole tribe would assemble to sing and pray. Sometimes a smaller number, perhaps two or three. The songs had a few words, but were not formal. The singer would occasionally put in such words as he wished instead of the usual tone sound. Sometimes they prayed in silence ; sometimes each one prayed aloud ; sometimes an aged person prayed for all. At other times one would rise and speak of their duties to one an- other and to Usen. Their services were short.
The Apaches recognized no duties to any man outside of their tribe. It was no sin to kill enemies or to rob them. However, if they ac- cepted any favor from a stranger, or allowed him to share their comforts in any way, he be- came (by adoption) related to the tribe, and they must recognize their duty to him.
This probably accounts for the influence which Captain Jeffords exercised over Cochise's band. He had entered Cochise's camp alone; enjoyed his hospitality, and thereafter became, accord- ing to Jeffords' own statement, his brother.
When disease or pestilence abounded, they were assembled and questioned by their leaders to ascertain the cause, and what harm had been donc, and how Usen could be satisfied. Some-
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
times sacrifice was necessary. Sometimes the offending one was punished. This was the case, undoubtedly, where the medicine man, having failed in his cure, denounced some old woman or old man as a witch, who was promptly sacri- ficed on the spot.
Mike Burns, in his writings about the Apaches, gives the following in reference to the medicine men, etc .:
"It was not every Indian who knew what plants and herbs were good for medicine, only the medicine men and the medicine women, who, it was believed, were influenced by a great spirit. It was also believed that some of the women were influenced by a great evil spirit, and those who have that power do not willingly attend any- one who is sick, unless forced to come and sing over the persons whom they have made sick. Usually a great medicine man claims that the interpretation revealed to him in a vision, points to a certain person as having brought the sick- ness to the patient, and she must come close or beside the patient and begin singing for the evil spirit to come out from the person's heart. They sing to the evil spirit to drive out the wormy things which are destroying the heart. Some men, too, are suspected of having an evil spirit influence them, and they will be strung up to a tree until they confess that they did the things complained of or of which they are sus- pected. When they confess they are asked if they are willing to go to the sick person and drive out the evil spirit, which they usually agree to do, and if the sick person has not gone too far, they generally recover. If, however,
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THE APACHE.
the sick person should die, then the man or woman who is influenced by the evil spirit, and who is singing over the patient, is usually killed on the spot. This killing of those who are sus- pected of possessing an evil spirit, has been the cause of many of the separations which occur in the Apache tribes, for the killing of one person on this account sometimes brings on the killing of others, and then families separate. Some days they would have the ghost dance, fixing themselves up like skeletons, their heads being so painted that they appeared to have no hair, and very small eyes.
"At one time there were fifteen hundred In- dians sick at Camp Cottonwood, and it was be- lieved that Dr. Williams had put something in the beef to make the Indians sick. Then a man died, and a medicine man in his visions had fore- seen that a young woman in one of the camps was possessed of many evil spirits and had caused that man to die. So a brother of the dead man went to the woman and killed her. This woman had no mother, but had a father, and there was a young single man who lived with them. The father made no attempt to do any- thing after his daughter was killed, but the young man went over to the other camp and shot at the man who had killed the young woman. He missed his man, and killed another man, and then lit out for the hills. This left the old man alone in the camp, and the other par- ties came and killed him.
"In another camp a boy died; the father blamed the mother for the death of the bov, so he killed her. Shortly afterwards disease spread
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
all through the camps, and family after family died. General Crook's favorite chief, Chema- sella, died, and the whole camp turned out and killed eight women and four men. This created much confusion and the soldiers had to come in and stop the slaughtering of the inno- cents. The soldiers arrested some of the chiefs and the military interpreter for not informing them of the condition of affairs, and took them down to Camp Verde and put them in the guard house. Many of the Indians died of chills and fever, and other causes, and the medicine men blamed the evil spirited women, and many women and men were killed. From that day to this the singing by a medicine man or woman over a sick Apache has been stopped."
If, however, an Apache allowed his aged parents to suffer for food or shelter; if he had neglected or abused the sick ; if he had profaned their religion, or had been unfaithful, he might be banished from the tribe. The medicine man was, perhaps, the most influential person in every tribe. The chiefs led their bands in war, but the medicine man was the arbiter. He con- sulted the fates and every revelation came to him from Usen as to whether they should go upon any expedition; how they should be equipped, etc.
They had a firm belief in the merits of hod- dentin, a flour made from the pollen of the tule. This, according to Bourke, was carried by every warrior on every expedition as a protection. A small sack of it was given to every child born into the tribe. It was used in their incanta- tions to the sun, to the moon and to the stars.
AN ANCIENT WAR DANCE OF THE APACHES.
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THE APACHE.
It was believed that this hoddentin, scattered along the face of the heavens, formed the Milky Way. It was used to a very great extent in all their ceremonials.
Bourke, in the Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, of the Smithsonian Institute, for the years 1887-88, gives a very elaborate and succinct account of some of the Apache Dances, their customs, etc., but confesses that he has been unable to obtain anything much as to their religious beliefs. They never scalped their enemies, and they buried their dead in the crevices of the rocks, far away from human eye.
Captain Bourke's description of the dances follows :
"The spirit dance is called 'cha-ja-la.' I have seen this dance a number of times, but will confine my description to one seen at Fort Marion (St. Augustine, Fla.), in 1887, when the Chiricahua Apaches were confined there as pris- oners. A great many of the band had been suf- fering from sickness of one kind or another and twenty-three of the children had died; as a con- sequence, the medicine-men were having the Cha-ja-la, which is entered into only upon the most solemn occasions, such as the setting out of a war party, the appearance of an epidemic, or something else of like portent. On the ter- replein of the northwest bastion, Ramon, the old medicine-man, was violently beating upon a drum, which, as usual, had been improvised of a soaped rag drawn tightly over the mouth of an iron kettle, holding a little water.
"Although acting as master of ceremonies, Ramon was not painted or decorated in any way.
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