Saturday, June 18, 2011

Preface/Cochise: Life/Times

 
My initial encounter with Cochise came during World War II when my parents’ relationship broke and I found myself profoundly affected by the loss of my Father. It was a big loss; I struggled for years over it. I was caught in the deep journey described by Joseph Campbell as the “Search for the Father”. As an “orphan archetype” I was confused, angry and self-destructive. My self-image had been bruised. Luckily my mother realizing that she could no longer manage me sent me off at the age of eight to live with my Uncle/Aunt and cousins. This provided stability and role models to learn from. While there I was drawn to native culture. I am not sure why or how the “spiritual magic” entered into my life leading me in their direction. I read everything I could about the Native experience and probably identified with them too as they had been orphaned/demonized and ethnically cleansed but nonetheless displayed incredible nobility, honor, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds.
At this juncture when I was about twelve Cochise arrived. The vehicle that brought him alive was the film “Broken Arrow” made in 1950. Jeff Chandler played Cochise, and although he was not indigenous, his role was so powerful that it exercised a significant emotional influence upon me. The film then led me to the historical fictional novel from which it was drawn, namely, Blood Brother, written by Elliot Arnold in 1947. My mother retells the story that when we first saw the film she realized the impact it was having and we stayed for all 5 showings. The same passion gripped me when I read Blood Brother. If I read it once I must have read it a dozen times. I just couldn’t get enough of the “Cochise Story”, I was snake bitten. I was drawn to Cochise’s honesty, compassion, strength, courage, and wisdom. He was the iconic “Father” figure and I wanted to imitate and internalize the qualities he had displayed during a difficult time for the Apaches as they experienced a serious challenge from a different culture.
Extraordinarily Cochise emerged as my internal “Sage Archetype” or voice/ guide who helped me to transform the youthful negative “orphan” images/patterns of victim, self-piety into a deeper insight that from loss emerges growth, wisdom and transformation. Out of this budding relationship with Cochise came the realization that everyone has the ability to create through the power of imagination and knowledge internal models of inspiration leading to a deeper appreciation of self and the frailties of the human condition humanity. Cochise expanded my appreciation for diversity and Native culture. There was so much “wisdom” that the dominant culture could learn from the Apaches about community, relationships, “Mother Earth”, four legged, nature, “rock people”, time, and healing. Indeed it wasn’t until 1989 that I realized what a profound impact Cochise had in shaping my life.  Upon leaving a “Forty Day Spiritual Retreat” in Taos, I along with a friend, drove to Chiricahuas Mountains to visit Chiricahua National Monument. I was very excited and expected to see many monuments to Cochise and his people, but soon went away baffled, confused and upset as hardly a word or artifact was to be found about the Apaches who had been there for centuries. I left visibly shaken and my friend pointing this out indicated to me that Cochise indeed had replaced my biological father. I vowed at that moment to honor his memory by writing a biography of him and his times.



Monday, June 13, 2011

Cochise and His Times : Book Outline

COCHISE: TIME ,PEOPLE, AND CULTURE
BOOK OUTLINE

Chapter I: The Landscape and Geography: Desert, Mesas, Mountains, Flora/ Fauna with emphasis on desert plants, herbs, animals as well as discussion of paleo-Indians, Mongollan, Anasazi and Pueblo people.

Chapter II: Arrival of Apaches: Creation Story, Cultural values, social organization, philosophy of governance, leadership, bands /divisions, the Chiricahuas, warrior culture.

Chapter III: Spanish/ Mexican Presence: Coronado and 7 Cities of Gold,  horse/cattle/sheep, Santa Fe/New Spain, Padres and Missions, Apaches relationships with Spanish/Mexican, a Raiding economy.

Chapter IV:  Cochise: Child hood/adolescences, becoming  a leader, royal bloodline, death of the Father,  Mangas Coloradas, Mexican - American War, shifting boundaries, miners/prospectors, Apacheria under threat, dealing with White Eye Americans, Butterfield Line.

Chapter V: War( 1861-65): Bascom Affair, avenging family,  Fort Bowie, Battle of Apache Pass, Civil War, new war strategies, death of Mangas Coloradas, apparent victory over Americans, White flight from Apacheria, consolidating victories, emergence of Victoria, Juh, Lozen and Geronimo.

Chapter VI: War of Attrition (1865-72): The American return, new Washington program: reservations, acculturalization, ethnic cleansing, series of Forts, life becomes hard, war of attrition, Cochise on the run, pitting bands against bands, the use of Apache scouts, Crook, “the Grey Fox”, no way out.

Chapter VII. Looking for peace, mysterious Tom Jeffords, crossing cultures, “blood brothers”;  Grant administration, 1872 Camp Grant Massacre, Cushing and Juh, Coyler’s Peace Initiative, General Otis Howard, Cochise agrees to meet, creation of Chiricahuas reservation, Jeffords' agent.

Chapter VIII.  Cochise death, 1874, Taza emerges, Jeffords' fights to preserve the reservation, dissolved and Chiricahuas forced to settle at San Carlos, Geronimo and  others unhappy including Victoria who wished to live in his beloved Ojo Caliente lands, the death of Taza.

Chapter IX. The Victorio/GeronimoWars, 1878-1886, highlights, Victoria’s death by Mexican soldiers @ Tres Castillos (1880), Crook /Geronimo, Geronimo’s 1886 surrender ,Chiricahuas sent to Florida , Chiricahuas were permitted to return to Oklahoma in 1894 and then to Mescalero Reservation in 1909, but not to their original Arizona /New Mexico home land.

Chapter X. Historical analysis, today’s Apaches, future prospects/implications for America, return to the land of Cochise.


Saturday, June 4, 2011

Apache Healers/Witches

 Witches and healers (Medicine Doctors) either men or women were those who manifested early a talent for communicating with the spirit world. "Some say that the earth talks to them, some say that the wind has life, some say the mountain." Doctors /witches usually received a vision or spiritual guidance instructing them in sacred songs and prayers for healing, for abundance, for blessing, to locate lost people, to control the weather, to weaken an enemy or to curse a person. Some "Doctors" were taken to a sacred mountain or cave where they were initiated into ceremony and received instructions about what and how to do it! During the healing there is a constant interplay between the Power and the practitioner. Some say that Cochise's death in 1874 was the machination of a witch! Geronimo as a war leader's had the “medicine” to extend the darkness, to vanish into air, to raise a dust storm. Lozen, Victoria’s sister was a great psychic warrior who had the ability to see into the future by experiencing after prayer an itch in her palm allowing her to locate/predicting enemy movements. As she stated: "I see as one from a height sees in every direction." Unfortunately for Victorio, her brother, she was not there when he ran into the Mexicans in October, 1880 at Tres Castillos. (Cf, Debo, Geronimo, pp.142-45; Stockel, Women of the Apache Nation, pp.29-51.)
               Doctoring/healing ceremony often was a four day ritual beginning with a Sweat in which the healer dressed in full regalia including wearing of turquoise, abalone shells, red coral, eagle feathers, pollen, black flint blades, white shell, and obsidian. Other items including tobacco, snakeweed and grama grass were part of their medicine bag. The Medicine person was accompanied by two assistants, a drummer and a rattler. The drumming sound in cadence with the rattle had the effect of calming the mind, releasing fear and was a reminder of the centrality of the heart in all healing. The drum cadence simulated the heart beat and the drum itself was consider spiritually alive return one to the spiritual
center of one's existence. The Doctor would sing: "I want nothing to harm us." "I want him to live" "Your Power must go into the life of this poor man." As the ceremony unfolded the doctor sprinkled the sick with pollen (symbol of life), red ocher, iron ore (strength), and white clay (purification). He simultaneously sang to the Four Directions, Colors (Red, White, Black and Yellow) and stones. Tea was used to heal and its plant burnt and smoke fanned over the patient with a sacred eagle feather. Cf, Opler, An Apache Life-Way pp.186-315, Film, “The Missing”)