Native Americans

That is a photo of Geronimo. Did you know that his name means "the one who yawns"? Now that I know that, I'll think of him whenever I yawn. Geronimo was an Apache, which draws me even closer to him because one of the ships that I served in during my years in the U.S. Navy was the USS Apache.

According to Wikipedia, "Geronimo was not a chief among the Chiricahua or the Bedonkohe band. At any one time, about 30 to 50 Apaches would be following him. However, since he was a superb leader in raiding and warfare, he frequently led large numbers of men and women beyond his own following."

How often do us white Americans ever stop to think about the Native Americans as real people, with real lives? Or is our image of the American 'Indian' so tainted by Hollywood movies that we can no longer put the early history of this continent into its proper perspective?

Take a moment and look at the photograph of Geronimo and General Crook sitting on a forest floor discussing issues that affected their two nations. Look into the face of Geronimo and reflect for a moment on the depth of history underpinning his entire being. There were indigenous North American and South American nations whose accomplishments equaled, and in some respects even exceeded, those of ancient Egypt and Greece, yet few U.S. school children ever learn any of this history.

A woman who was a direct descendant of Geronimo and I became good friends. She told me that when the Smithsonian came to ask for her grandfather's headdress that her family hid it away in the mountains so that the government would never get it.

Both the white settlers and the native Americans labored under illusions. The whites believed that the land was inexhaustible and theirs to take. The Indians believed that the land should be free for them to use, as it had been. As you already know, this is a story with a very sad ending.