Child of Water

    Today I focused on  the hero, Child of Water,who had to rid the world of mammoth animals, Eagle, Buffalo and Antelope, and who dominated the Earth and made it impossible for the “People” to thrive. Child of Water despite his age will ultimately free the world of these monsters through ingenuity, discipline, courage and the help of animal people: gopher and lizard. Gopher teaches Child of Water to burrow underground and lizard concealment. From these Cochise and others Apaches learned that the landscape/camouflage/deception can overcome numbers and technology. Cleverness is superior to brawn as is humility over pride and that planning; having at least 4 rendezvous points is a better way to protect the band from sudden attack than only one or two. Later however “Child of Water” and “Killer of Enemies” split into adversaries: “Child of Water” would be creative force for Apaches and “Killer of Enemies” for the Pindah. The Apaches chose bow /arrows and were to live close to land “on yucca fruit, pinon nuts, and all other wild plants”, whereas whites the gun and to live on corn and wealth. This cultural divide symbolize by bow/rifle represented a significant cultural/paradigm clash between Apache/Pindah about man’s life and relationship to Nature that would deepen the conflict between them.