GERONIMO...PART OF MY FAMILY?

This is a first part of an article I plan for the future. It is a short, partial account of the man called Geronimo.

My great grandmother was a Native American. I must say up front that I have no paper documentation of the statement. But as all Native American tribes had a 'written history' that was not written except in the hearts, minds and at the mouth of, the people themselves, that 'history' is a part of my history.

Going by the stories my own mother told me and the stories she obtained at the mouth of her mother and grandmother, I firmly believe that the Apache Nation were a part of my ancestral history.

I look forward to exploring this subject more in-depth and when it is complete in its writing, I will post it here. I hope you enjoy my artwork in my rendition of Geronimo, Medicine Man of the Chiricahua and a man famous for war. The other image is just an image, not a particular person.

Geronimo's given name meant 'one who yawns'. Going by the way this people used names, it could have meant he rarely slept. He had several wives and children. This was a man like any other, except that his mother, wife and three children were all murdered while he was away from home. And the men who killed them wanted Geronimo dead. His goal was to stay alive and keep his people free if possible. When he was finally taken into custody, he had to leave yet another wife. 

Geonimo wanted to know the answer to a simple and fair question:  With so much land, why did the 'white eyes' need it all? He wanted to know why his people couldn't have some land on which to live and care for their families.

Until later, I will leave all to ponder that question.