Geronimo: My Life

Geronimo: My Life

Geronimo is a member of the Bedonkohe Apache Indians near the border of Mexico. He starts off the book by describing the Indian tale of how the first chief of the Apache Indians was created and how their god Usen taught this boy how to hunt, search for herbs for medicine and how to fight. He then goes on to talk about the different subdivisions of the Apache life and their different customs as well as who gets along with who. Geronimo goes into great detail about Indian life from birth to death. A custom that is mentioned is that the death of a family member requires the hiding of the body in a cave in seclusion then giving away all of the deads personal belongings as a sign of respect. Keeping an item that belonged to the deceased was seen as a sign of being happy that they were gone instead of as a sign of respect. Otherwise the Apache didn’t really have a religion. They prayed to Usen sometimes in big groups, sometimes in silence but did not have an official church or religious organizations. If disease struck the tribe, they would often pray to Usen and offer a sacrifice and sometimes punish the offender. Transgressions such as allowing aged parents to suffer or being unfaithful sometimes led to being banished from the tribe. Feasts often lasted for days where the tribe would sing, eat, dance and play games for up to four days. When the games were done the camp would break up and say, “we are satisfied” and they went back to day to day life.

We really begin to learn about Geronimos life and his character after the introduction of his wife Alope. The only marriage ceremony necessary in the tribe was the meeting of her fathers demands for many ponies. They ended up having three children but unfortunately in 1858 while Geronimo was in the town of Kas-ki-yeh as called by the Indians, disaster struck. Geronimo and many men of his tribe stayed in this town for several days but had left a small guard to protect their supplies and the rest of...