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Warrior Woman: The Story of Lozen, Apache Warrior and Shaman
Warrior Woman is the story of Lozen, sister of the famous Apache warrior Victorio, and warrior in her own right. Hers is a story little discussed in Native American history books. Instead, much of what is known of her has been passed down through generations via stories and legends.
For example, it is said that she was embued with supernatural powers, given to her by the gods. She would lift her arms to the sky and place her palms against the wind, and through the heat she felt in her open hands, she could detect the direction and distance of her enemies. Whether true or not, she did ride into battle alongside Geronimo in the Apache wars, and fought bitterly and savagely until she was captured along with her people, packed into railroad cars, and sent to imprisonment in the east, where she spent her last days.
Peter Aleshire uses historical facts and oral histories to recreate her life. With immaculate detail he tells the story of her childhood, surrounded by the vastness of nature and the Chiricahua legends and religions that shaped her thoughts. He describes her coming-of-age ceremonies, and induction into her tribe as a spiritual leader. As the white men slowly took over the land of her people and forced them from one reservation to another, her role slowly evolved to match that of the staunchest warrior -- an almost unheard-of occurence among the Native Americans of the 19th century, where a woman's place was with the children in the villages.
This is not only the story of Lozen, but the story of her people, from the events leading up to the Apache Wars until their inevitable and unfortunate conclusion.
For example, it is said that she was embued with supernatural powers, given to her by the gods. She would lift her arms to the sky and place her palms against the wind, and through the heat she felt in her open hands, she could detect the direction and distance of her enemies. Whether true or not, she did ride into battle alongside Geronimo in the Apache wars, and fought bitterly and savagely until she was captured along with her people, packed into railroad cars, and sent to imprisonment in the east, where she spent her last days.
Peter Aleshire uses historical facts and oral histories to recreate her life. With immaculate detail he tells the story of her childhood, surrounded by the vastness of nature and the Chiricahua legends and religions that shaped her thoughts. He describes her coming-of-age ceremonies, and induction into her tribe as a spiritual leader. As the white men slowly took over the land of her people and forced them from one reservation to another, her role slowly evolved to match that of the staunchest warrior -- an almost unheard-of occurence among the Native Americans of the 19th century, where a woman's place was with the children in the villages.
This is not only the story of Lozen, but the story of her people, from the events leading up to the Apache Wars until their inevitable and unfortunate conclusion.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 22, 2021
Intanto grazie, Larry, per questo bel libro che meritava una rilettura da tempo.
L'utente Tintaglia sa di chi parlo.
Nello stendere la biografia di Lozen, guerriera e sciamana apache, Aleshire sceglie di seguire lo stesso stile della Sandoz nella biografia di CAVALLO PAZZO. Questo, se da un lato permette di leggere la biografia come un romanzo, dall’altro lato rende spesso difficile distinguere tra reltà e novellizzazione della stessa. Per evitare questo, Aleshire inserisce nunumerose note esplicative. Di questo lo ringrazio.
Lozen fu la sorella di Victorio, capo delle bande Apache Chihenne, per lo più note come Apache di Warm Springs, Mimbres, Mimbrenos, di Ojo Caliente. La storia della sua vita ci viene tramandata per lo più da Kaywaykla, che all’epoca dell’ultima “resistenza” era un bambino, e che la conobbe molto bene in quegli anni e nei decenni successivi, durante la prigionia. In quanto donna, non era tenuta in considerazione come nemico dall’esercito americano, tutto concentrato su suo fratello Victorio, su Nana, Geronimo, Juh, Chato, Loco e gli altri capi guerrieri riconosciuti. Eppure tutti loro facevano affidamento sul potere di lei di individuare la direzione da cui i nemici sarebbero arrivati. La usarono come ambasciatore in molte occasioni, e sia nelle fughe che nelle razzie le donne la seguirono come un capo. Attraverso la sua vita si ripercorre l’epopea degli Apache dell’Arizona e New Mexico meridionali, da Mangas Coloradas all’ultima resa di Geronimo, all’esilio prima in Florida, poi in Alabama ed infine in Oklahoma.
È abbastanza chiaro come Lozen, e con lei tutta la sua gente, non comprese mai i bianchi, americani o messicani che fossero. Troppo chiusi, legati fortemente alle loro tradizioni e ad uno stile di vita la cui forza stava nelle razzie, non capirono mai che fare la pace con un villaggio messicano per loro era fare la pace con quel villaggio, mentre per i messicani era fare la pace con tutti i villaggi messicani. Quindi quando ne attaccavano un altro, lo razziavano e poi portavano il frutto delle razzie al villaggio con cui avevano fatto pace, e venivano combattuti, lo prendevano come un tradimento. Lozen queste cose non le capì mai. Non che avrebbe fatto differenza: in quegli anni gli Apache potevano solo vivere così, c’erano abituati da almeno cinque secoli, come ben ci ricordano i vari popoli di cultura Pueblo come gli Zuni, gli Hopi, e quelli del Rio Grande.
5 stelle, perché l'originalità del soggetto e la ricostruzione meritano qualcosa di più delle 4 stelle abbondanti.
L'utente Tintaglia sa di chi parlo.
Nello stendere la biografia di Lozen, guerriera e sciamana apache, Aleshire sceglie di seguire lo stesso stile della Sandoz nella biografia di CAVALLO PAZZO. Questo, se da un lato permette di leggere la biografia come un romanzo, dall’altro lato rende spesso difficile distinguere tra reltà e novellizzazione della stessa. Per evitare questo, Aleshire inserisce nunumerose note esplicative. Di questo lo ringrazio.
Lozen fu la sorella di Victorio, capo delle bande Apache Chihenne, per lo più note come Apache di Warm Springs, Mimbres, Mimbrenos, di Ojo Caliente. La storia della sua vita ci viene tramandata per lo più da Kaywaykla, che all’epoca dell’ultima “resistenza” era un bambino, e che la conobbe molto bene in quegli anni e nei decenni successivi, durante la prigionia. In quanto donna, non era tenuta in considerazione come nemico dall’esercito americano, tutto concentrato su suo fratello Victorio, su Nana, Geronimo, Juh, Chato, Loco e gli altri capi guerrieri riconosciuti. Eppure tutti loro facevano affidamento sul potere di lei di individuare la direzione da cui i nemici sarebbero arrivati. La usarono come ambasciatore in molte occasioni, e sia nelle fughe che nelle razzie le donne la seguirono come un capo. Attraverso la sua vita si ripercorre l’epopea degli Apache dell’Arizona e New Mexico meridionali, da Mangas Coloradas all’ultima resa di Geronimo, all’esilio prima in Florida, poi in Alabama ed infine in Oklahoma.
È abbastanza chiaro come Lozen, e con lei tutta la sua gente, non comprese mai i bianchi, americani o messicani che fossero. Troppo chiusi, legati fortemente alle loro tradizioni e ad uno stile di vita la cui forza stava nelle razzie, non capirono mai che fare la pace con un villaggio messicano per loro era fare la pace con quel villaggio, mentre per i messicani era fare la pace con tutti i villaggi messicani. Quindi quando ne attaccavano un altro, lo razziavano e poi portavano il frutto delle razzie al villaggio con cui avevano fatto pace, e venivano combattuti, lo prendevano come un tradimento. Lozen queste cose non le capì mai. Non che avrebbe fatto differenza: in quegli anni gli Apache potevano solo vivere così, c’erano abituati da almeno cinque secoli, come ben ci ricordano i vari popoli di cultura Pueblo come gli Zuni, gli Hopi, e quelli del Rio Grande.
5 stelle, perché l'originalità del soggetto e la ricostruzione meritano qualcosa di più delle 4 stelle abbondanti.
January 18, 2012
The book is written by White Eyes ,but it's better than nothing at all. I got a glimpse into the "eye for an Eye" warrior mentality.
February 1, 2020
Much like Larry McMurtry's Crazy Horse: A Life, Peter Aleshire's attempts at capturing the thoughts and actions of his subject are mostly a result of conjecture and hearsay, as Lozen did not leave much of a personal trace behind; as a result, the book is more about the final days of the Chiricahua Apache in the leadup to Geronimo's capture, though it does delve a lot deeper into the ceremonies Lozen's band engaged in, as well as the exploits of other leaders in the Apache, sourced from the works of other historians (when not simply retold in the romanticized literary stylings of Aleshire). A good book for learning more about the Apache, but maybe not so much as a detailed account.
February 24, 2022
Alright:
So Lozen's life should absolutely be celebrated and acknowledged. But I couldn't stand the way this book was written. It's written as a biomythography - to coin Audre Lorde'd phrase, automythography - but it came across as childish and insensitive. I feel like she, and all the other men and women included in her story, deserved an authentic and brilliant biography. Aleshire admits from the beginning that there isn't many sources available about her, and he had to take certain liberties of fiction. It seemed to apply all the cliches, stereotypes, and naive mentality about Indigenous Peoples under a banner of benevolent truth and celebration.
Praise the White Eye for having the courage to write about a Chihenne woman warrior!
(I gave it one star for the writing, and one star because Lozen really was a formidable woman, and her life should be told.)
So Lozen's life should absolutely be celebrated and acknowledged. But I couldn't stand the way this book was written. It's written as a biomythography - to coin Audre Lorde'd phrase, automythography - but it came across as childish and insensitive. I feel like she, and all the other men and women included in her story, deserved an authentic and brilliant biography. Aleshire admits from the beginning that there isn't many sources available about her, and he had to take certain liberties of fiction. It seemed to apply all the cliches, stereotypes, and naive mentality about Indigenous Peoples under a banner of benevolent truth and celebration.
Praise the White Eye for having the courage to write about a Chihenne woman warrior!
(I gave it one star for the writing, and one star because Lozen really was a formidable woman, and her life should be told.)
May 20, 2023
The concept of this book is stronger than its execution, so although it was sometimes hard to get through and often felt more like an ongoing account of battles than a deep look at Lozen herself, hers is a story that deserves to be told, and I appreciated how forthright Aleshire was about the way in which he went about telling it given the dearth of sources to rely upon. For many reasons - white supremacy, gender inequality, historical timeframe - there just isn't much to go on when it comes to Lozen, and when there is, different accounts often tell varying stories, either about her or her people. Despite that, the footnotes clearly outline what information comes from where, why a particular viewpoint was chosen, and when assumptions were made. That being said, this lack makes it hard to really know her in any real way - what is seen here is really Aleshire's interpretation of her - but I appreciated that she didn't seem overly simplified and that her thoughts and beliefs and ways of being felt honored and respected.
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December 31, 2017Slowly tried to finish this book. Made it about half way.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews