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