L ozen: Apache Medicine Woman & Warrior THE Chiricahua Apaches were among the last Native Americans...
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Transcript of L ozen: Apache Medicine Woman & Warrior THE Chiricahua Apaches were among the last Native Americans...
LLozen: ozen: Apache Medicine Apache Medicine Woman Woman & Warrior& WarriorTHE Chiricahua
Apaches were among the last Native Americans to engage
in armed resistance to defend their homelands. Under
leaders such as Cochise and Victorio they fought efforts by
the U.S. government to confine them to reservations and
force themto abandon their traditional
lifestyle.
Geronimo was the last
Apache leader to surrender.
Among those who fought
with him at the end was one
of the most remarkable
women in Native American
history.
Her name was Lozen, or
“Little Sister,” and she is
remembered by Apaches to
this day as one of the most
courageous warriors and
most powerful medicine
people in their tribe’s
history.
Lozen appears in this photograph of Geronimo’s
band taken shortly after their surrender in 1886.
Lozen appears in this photograph of Geronimo’s
band taken shortly after their surrender in 1886.
Apache prisoners in route to Florida, Arizona Historical Society, Tucson.
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Lozen was born around the time the United States took control of the Southwest
from Mexico in 1848. Her brother, Victorio, or Bi-duyé, was a chief of the
Chihennes or Warm Springs Band of Chiricahua Apaches. The mountains of
southwestern New Mexico were their homelands.
Lozen preferred male roles from an early age. By the time she was a young
woman, her skills in horse riding and fighting were legendary. Victorio’s daughter
recalled:
to have made a vow at this time never to
marry, which her brother respected.
The Apaches called her “Dextrous Horse
Thief,” “Warrior Woman,” and “Medicine
Woman.” As a fighter she was considered as
fearsome as Victorio himself. James Kaywaykla,
her nephew, remembered being told “she is
respected above all living women.”
““She was magnificent on a horse. She could handle her She was magnificent on a horse. She could handle her
rifle as well as any man, most of whom she could outrun rifle as well as any man, most of whom she could outrun
on foot. She wielded her knife with utmost skill.” on foot. She wielded her knife with utmost skill.”
A Gift from UssenA Gift from Ussen
Lozen was also a powerful medicine person, the result of a vision quest she
under-took as part of her coming of age ceremony. Ussen, the Apache creator god,
gave her the ability to locate enemies at great distances and to heal wounds. She is
also reported“The Sun’s horse is a yellow stallion;
His nose, the place above his nose is of haze;His ears, of the small lightning, are moving back and
forth, He has come to us“.
Apache shaman’s song
““In this world Ussen has Power;In this world Ussen has Power;
This Power He has granted me This Power He has granted me
For the good of my people. For the good of my people.
This I see as one from a height This I see as one from a height
Sees in every direction; Sees in every direction;
This I feel as though I This I feel as though I
Held in my palms something that Held in my palms something that
tingles.tingles.
This Power is mine to use, This Power is mine to use,
But only for the good of my People.” But only for the good of my People.”
Lozen’s powers made her invaluable on war parties
and raids. Facing the sky, she would hold her arms
above her head with her hands cupped and pray:
She moved in a circle until she felt a tingling sensation in her hands and her
palms turned purple. This indicated the direction of the enemy and his distance.
With each successful prediction Lozen’s stature grew.
She joined war parties and raids, and was invited to
attend war dances and councils, even as she continued
to do women’s chores in camp. To add to her powers,
she visited older shamans and traveled into the
mountains alone to fast and pray.
Victorio himself
said:““LOZEN is as my right LOZEN is as my right
hand. hand.
Strong as a MAN, braver Strong as a MAN, braver
than most, than most,
and CUNNING in strategy, and CUNNING in strategy,
Lozen is a SHIELD to her Lozen is a SHIELD to her
people.”people.”
IN 1869, the government urged Cochise, Victorio,
and others to settle at Ojo Caliente (Warm Springs),
New Mexico. This area had long been favored by the
Chiricahuas, and so, after consulting with Lozen,
Victorio agreed.
But two years later the government forced the
Warm Springs Apaches to relocate to Fort Tularosa,
where theyWarm Springs, but then in
1877 the government
changed policies once
again, and decided to
concentrate all Apaches
onto a single reservation in
Arizona. Victorio’s people
were forced to move again.
That September, Victorio
led a mass exodus from
the San Carlos reservation.
The Apache Wars had
begun.
Warm Warm SpringsSprings
SanSanCarlosCarlos
FortFortTularosaTularosa
Broken PromisesBroken Promises
““Take stones and ashes and thorns, Take stones and ashes and thorns,
with some scorpions and rattlesnakes with some scorpions and rattlesnakes
thrown in, dump the outfit on stones, thrown in, dump the outfit on stones,
heat the stones red hot, set the United heat the stones red hot, set the United
States Army after the Apaches, and you States Army after the Apaches, and you
have San Carlos.”have San Carlos.”
— Owen Wister
suffered through harsh winters and famine. In 1874 they were allowed to return to
Victorio’s RevoltVictorio’s Revolt
““THERE was a commotion and the long line THERE was a commotion and the long line
parted to let a rider through. I saw a parted to let a rider through. I saw a
MAGNIFICIENT WOMAN on a beautiful black MAGNIFICIENT WOMAN on a beautiful black
horse . . . LOZEN, the WOMAN WARRIOR! High horse . . . LOZEN, the WOMAN WARRIOR! High
above her head she held her RIFLE. There was a above her head she held her RIFLE. There was a
GLITTER as her right foot lifted and struck the GLITTER as her right foot lifted and struck the
shoulder of her HORSE. He reared, then plunged shoulder of her HORSE. He reared, then plunged
into the torrent. She turned his head UPSTREAM, into the torrent. She turned his head UPSTREAM,
and he began swimming.”and he began swimming.”
Victorio eluded both American and Mexican
forces for the next three years. During this time,
Lozen’s skills were in constant demand.
James Kaywaykla was an infant when Victorio
led his final exodus in August 1879. The band
was fleeing from the Mescalero Apache
reservation and had reached the Rio Grande,
but the horses refused to plunge into the swift-
flowing river.
The other horses followed and the group began crossing. When one of the horses was
washed downstream Lozen followed and rescued it.
As James Kaywaykla recalled:James Kaywaykla as
an infant with his mother and stepfather.
James Kaywaykla as an infant with his
mother and stepfather.
In late summer 1880, Victorio was fleeing Mexican forces. He
crossed the Rio Grande into Texas only to discover American troops
waiting in ambush. The weary band turned back. As they were about
to cross the Rio Grande again a young woman began to give birth.
Lozen offered to stay behind with her, hiding in the underbrush until
the Americans passed by.
Victorio continued on into Chihuahua. In October, at a remote
location
location called Tres Castillos,
he was trapped by the
Mexicans and killed along
with 78 of his followers, their
scalps taken for bounties.
Among the handful who
escaped were Lozen’s uncle
Nana, the 70-year-old chief
who became Victorio’s
successor.
Many Apaches believed
that if Lozen had been with
Victorio, he never would
have been caught.
Lozen’s Odyssey: Lozen’s Odyssey: “No Warrior More Worthy““No Warrior More Worthy“
““She whom we had mourned as dead hasShe whom we had mourned as dead has
returned to her people. Though she is a returned to her people. Though she is a
womanwoman there is no warrior more there is no warrior more
worthy worthy
than the than the sister of than the than the sister of
Victorio.”Victorio.”
Grande. While they hid, she killed a longhorn steer
using only her knife. After nightfall, she swam across
the river and stole a horse from a camp of Mexican
soldiers.
When the others cheered her name, Lozen began to
weep. Now in her early forties, she had lost her homeland
and most of her family. But her fight for freedom was not
yet over.
She finally rejoined them in the Sierra Madres
Mountains, riding into camp with an extra horse loaded
with supplies. At a war dance held soon after, Nana
declared:
Lozen rode with the mother and infant to their
home on the Mescalero Reservation, where she
learned about the fate of her brother. She then
traveled alone into Mexico, looking for the trail of
the survivors.
Nana, Warm Springs Apache chief and
Victorio's successor
Nana, Warm Springs Apache chief and
Victorio's successor
Meanwhile, Lozen helped
the young woman give birth,
then led her and the infant to
the Rio
Lozen demonstrated her bravery again in August
1881. She was at the San Carlos reservation when a gun
battle broke out with soldiers attempting to arrest a
medicine man. She rode into the fray and captured
horses carrying over 3,000 rounds of ammunition.
Soon after this, Lozen
joined Geronimo and
others and fled the
reservation to Nana’s
holdout in the Sierra
Madres.
The following spring, she
returned to San Carlos with
a party sent to retrieve theremaining members of the band. On their
way back, they walked into an ambush of
Mexican soldiers. During the battle that
followed, Lozen ran on foot under fire to
retrieve a bag of valuable ammunition. But
when it was over, 75 Apaches, mostly
women and children, were dead, and 22
others had been captured.
A New Role and a FriendA New Role and a Friend
On these missions, she was often
accompanied by a younger woman named
Dahteste (pronounced “tah-DOT-say“).
Dahteste had been with her husband on
Geronimo’s on raids for three years and was
seasoned fighter. James Kawaykla describes the
two women as being together throughout this
period. (Dahteste’s husband eventually
returned his first wife.)
Nana and Lozen now fought with
Geronimo, or Goyakla, the wiley, unpredictable,
hard-drinking medicine man from a related band
of Chiricahuas. Together they confounded all
efforts to capture them for two and a half years.
Geronimo was a brilliant guerilla fighter, but
he knew when to use diplomacy as well. For this,
Lozen proved invaluable once again. As an
unarmed woman, she could approach enemy
camps and villages in order to carry messages,
arrange meetings, and barter for supplies.
In May 1883, at a conference with
General George Crook in Mexico,
Geronimo agreed to return to San Carlos.
Several months later, when he was finally
ready turn himself over, Lozen and
Dahteste made the first contact with the
American officer sent to escort them
across the border.
By mid-1885, Geronimo was in flight
again, and American troops were crossing
the
border to find him. With his options narrowing, he sent Lozen and Dahteste into
the village of Bavispe to arrange for a peace council. When they left, some of the
villagers followed them, hoping to find Geronimo’s hideout, but the Apache
women easily eluded them.
Geronimo
General Crook
Conference between Geronimo and Crook in Mexico, March 1886.
Conference between Geronimo and Crook in Mexico, March 1886.
Geronimo decided to take his chances with the
Americans. In January 1886, Lozen and Dahteste arranged a
meeting at which Geronimo agreed to attend another
conference with Crook that March.
Crook convinced him to surrender, but as they were
returning to Arizona the Apache leader began drinking. Once
again he changed his mind and with a handful of followers
fled back into the desert.
In July, Miles received a report that two Apache women had entered
the village of Fronteras to arrange a peace council. Afraid he might lose
credit for ending Geronimo’s outbreak, he gave up trying to defeat him
militarily and sent Lieutenant Charles B. Gatewood and two Apache
scouts to find him and negotiate his surrender.
Crook resigned and General Nelson Miles was sent to
replace him. Miles deployed thousands of troops to search for
Geronimo and created an elaborate signaling system using
mirrors to flash messages from mountaintops throughout the
region. In the words of one historian, “Probably never before
in American military history have so many men pursued so
few.” Miles also had 400 peaceful Chiricahuas from the San
Carlos reservation sent to prison in Florida to prevent them
from joining or aiding Geronimo.
Geronimo and his warriors, March 1886
Geronimo and his warriors, March 1886
In fact, Geronimo never intended to
negotiate with the Mexicans. Lozen and
Dahteste’s real goal was to barter for
supplies and liquor. In this they succeeded,
leaving with three loaded horses.
Lieutenant Gatewood arrived soon after
they left. His scouts picked up the women’s
trail and followed them to Geronimo’s lair.
When they reached the top of the trail,
Geronimo and his warriors, including Lozen,
awaited them. Geronimo met with Gatewood the
next day. He had been drinking the
night before, and his hands were
shaking. His followers had been
reduced to 15 men, 14 women, and 6
children. They were tired of fighting
and homesick for their families—but
undefeated.
At Fronteras, the authorities tried to delay Lozen and Dahteste, hoping to
lure Geronimo into the village and trap him. But an American officer
convinced them to let the women leave, so they could convince Geronimo to
surrender.Geronimo’s camp in the Sierra Madres
Mountains.
Geronimo’s camp in the Sierra Madres
Mountains.
Nachez and Geronimo at Fort Bowie following
their surrender
Nachez and Geronimo at Fort Bowie following
their surrender
Final SurrenderFinal SurrenderGeronimo and his remaining
followers surrendered to General Miles
on September 4, 1886,
They were shipped in cattle cars to
Florida, where they joined the
Chiricahuas already imprisoned by
Miles. They would remain prisoners of
war for the next 27 years.
The woman sitting next to Lozen has been
identified as Dahteste.
The woman sitting next to Lozen has been
identified as Dahteste.
According to James Kaywaykla, at
the time of their surrender,
“Dahteste was with Lozen.”
Poor conditions in Florida led to the deaths of 23 Chiricahuas and public
outcries on their behalf. In 1887, they were relocated to Mount Vernon Barracks,
Alabama. Conditions remained difficult, but the Apaches tried to resume normal
lives and observe their traditional customs and ceremonies. This photograph
shows a group of women gambling. The two women sitting in center appear to
Lozen and Dahtetse.It was here—in Alabama, in June
1889—that Lozen died of
tuberculosis. She was buried in an
unmarked grave as were as many as
50 other Apaches who died there
from various diseases.
In 1913, the Chiricahuas were finally given the choice of returning to
New Mexico. Dahteste was among those who settled on the Mescalero
reservation.
She remarried and raised a family, but she was said to have mourned
Lozen’s death the rest of her life. She died in her nineties.
The historical sources raise as many questions
about Lozen as they answer. Few Apaches spoke of her
to outsiders until James Kaywaykla’s narrative was
published in 1970. Various reasons have been given
for this. One is that the Apaches are protective of her
reputation—either because virtuous, unmarried women
normally never joined men on war parties or because
the details of her life suggest she might be lesbian.
Asking whether Lozen was a lesbian in today’s sense
of preferring relationships with other women, or if she
was
The Woman Warrior: The Woman Warrior: A Question of IdentityA Question of Identity
a traditional two-spirit, or third gender, person, are valid questions. After all, she
never married, she excelled at male skills, and her closest relationship seems to
have been with another woman.
An alternative gender role for females, however, has not been documented for
the Apaches, although some of their neighbors such as the Yuman-speaking tribes
along the Colorado River and their linguistic relatives, the Navajo, did have such
roles.
For now these questions about Lozen’s identity can’t be answered. But whether
she was lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual or celibate, cannot detract from the
contributions she made in protecting and fighting for her people in the face of
desperate odds.
“I have frequently been asked why nobody but Kaywaykla mentioned
Lozen. His explanation was that the Apaches respected her and were protecting her
from criticism. Only wives of warriors went on the
warpath with their husbands” — Eve Ball, An
Apache Odyssey“To us she was as a Holy Woman and she was regarded and treated as one….And she was brave!” — Charlie Smith, An Apache Odyssey
“Dilth-cleyhen’s mother laughed as she told the
story….” — Apache Mothers and Daughters
“Conceivably the tale has been used by the Apaches
as a means of protecting Lozen from those who would
label her as a lesbian or transvestite” — Kimberly
Moore Buchanan
“Apparently unable to accept that Lozen might simply have wished to remain unmarried, some researchers have instead repeated a romantic yarn that has no basis in historical fact” — Sherry Robinson
“One story of Lesbianism continually goes the rounds. They say that there were two women at Fort Sill who lived together and had sexual relations together….” — Morris E. Opler, An Apache Life-way
““Dahteste was with Lozen…”: Dahteste was with Lozen…”: Competing VoicesCompeting Voices
??““Lozen was too Lozen was too
young for young for marriage, but she marriage, but she
had seen this had seen this chief, and no chief, and no
other man ever other man ever interested her. interested her.
She put marriage She put marriage from her mind from her mind
and rode beside and rode beside her brother as a her brother as a
warrior. She lives warrior. She lives solely to aid him solely to aid him and her people.”and her people.” — Gouyen, James
Kaywaykla’s mother
Copyright 2005 Will Roscoe
Do not copy or distribute.
Additional topics:Additional topics:
–Gender: sex/gender, two-spirits and alternative/multiple genders
–Apache history/timeline
–James Kawaykla and his narrative