Origins
of the Apache Indians
- In the beginning the
world was covered with darkness. There was no sun, no day. The
perpetual night had no moon or stars.
-
- There were, however,
all manner of beasts and birds. Among the beasts were many
hideous, nameless monsters, as well as dragons, lions, tigers,
wolves, foxes, beavers, rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice, and all
manner of creeping things such as lizards and serpents.
- Mankind
could not prosper under such conditions, for the beasts and
serpents destroyed all human offspring.
-
- All creatures had the
power of speech and were gifted with reason.
There were two tribes
of creatures: the birds or the feathered tribe and the beasts.
The former were organized under their chief, the eagle.These tribes often
held councils, and the birds wanted light admitted. This the
beasts repeatedly refused to do. Finally the birds made war
against the beasts.
The beasts were armed
with clubs, but the eagle had taught his tribe to use bows and
arrows. The serpents were so wise that they could not all be
killed. One took refuge in a perpendicular cliff of a mountain
in Arizona, and his eyes (changed into a brilliant stone) may be
see in that rock to this day. The bears, when killed, would each
be changed into several other bears, so that the more bears the
feathered tribe killed, the more there were. The dragon could
not be killed, either, for he was covered with four coats of
horny scales, and the arrows would not penetrate these. One of
the most hideous, vile monsters (nameless) was proof against
arrows, so the eagle flew high up in the air with a round, white
stone, and let it fall on this monster's head, killing him
instantly. This was such a good service that the stone was
called sacred. They fought for many days, but at last the birds
won the victory.
After this war was
over, although some evil beasts remained, the birds were able to
control the councils, and light was admitted, Then mankind could
live and prosper. The eagle was chief in this good fight:
therefore, his feathers were worn by man as emblems of wisdom,
justice, and power.
Among the few human
beings that were yet alive was a woman who had been blessed with
many children, but these had always been destroyed by the
beasts. If by any means she succeeded in eluding the others, the
dragon, who was very wise and very evil, would come himself and
eat her babes.
After many years a son
of the rainstorm was born to her and she dug for him a deep
cave. The entrance to this cave she closed and over the spot
built a camp fire. This concealed the babe's hiding place and
kept him warm. Every day she would remove the fire and descend
into the cave, where the child's bed was, to nurse him; then she
would return and rebuild the camp fire.
Frequently the dragon
would come and question her, but she would say, I have no
more children; you have eaten all of them.
When the child was
larger he would not always stay in the cave, for he sometimes
wanted to run and play. Once the dragon saw his tracks. Now this
perplexed and enraged the old dragon, for he could not find the
hiding place of the boy; but he said that he would destroy the
mother if she did not reveal the child's hiding place. The poor
mother was very much troubled; she could not give up her child,
but she knew the power and cunning of the dragon, therefore she
lived in constant fear.
Soon after, this the
boy said that he wished to go hunting. The mother would not give
her consent. She told him of the dragon, the wolves, and
serpents; but he said, To-morrow I go.
At the boy's request
his uncle (who was the only man then living) made a little bow
and some arrows for him, and the two went hunting the next day.
They trailed the deer far up the mountain and finally the boy
killed a buck. His uncle showed him how to dress the deer and
broil the meat. They broiled two hind quarters, one the child
and one for his uncle. When the meat was done they placed it on
some bushes to cool. Just then the huge form of the dragon
appeared. The child was not afraid, but his uncle was so dumb
with fright that he did not speak or move.
The dragon took the
boy's parcel of meat and went aside with it. He placed the meat
on another bush and seated himself beside it. Then he said, This is the child I have been seeking. Boy, you are nice and
fat, so when I have eaten this venison I shall eat you. The
boy said, No, you shall not eat me, and you shall not eat
that meat. So he walked over to where the dragon sat and to
took the meat back to his own seat. The dragon said, I like
your courage, but you are foolish; what do you think you could
do? Well, said the boy, I can do enough to protect
myself, as you may find out. Then the dragon took the meat
again, and then the boy retook it. Four times in all the dragon
took the meat, and after the fourth time the boy replaced the
meat he said, Dragon, will you fight me? The dragon said,
Yes, in whatever way you like. The boy said, I will
stand one hundred paces distant from you and you may have four
shots at me with your bow and arrows, provided that you will
then exchange places with me and give me four shots. Good,
said the dragon. Stand up.
Then the dragon took his bow, which was made of a large pine
tree. He took four arrows from his quiver; they were made of
young pine tree saplings, and each arrow was twenty feet in
length. He took deliberate aim, but just as the arrow left the
bow the boy made a peculiar sound and leaped into the air.
Immediately the arrow was shivered into a thousand splinters,
and the boy was seen standing on the top of a bright rainbow
over the spot where the dragon's aim had been directed. Soon the
rainbow was gone and the boy was standing on the ground again.
Four times this was repeated, then the boy said, Dragon,
stand here: it is my time to shoot. The dragon said, All
right, your little arrows cannot pierce my first coat of horn,
and I have three other coats --shoot away. The boy shot an
arrow, striking the dragon just over the heart, and one coat of
the great horny scales fell to the ground. The next shot another
coat, and then another, and the dragon's heart was exposed. Then
the dragon trembled, but could not move. Before the fourth arrow
was shot the boy said, Uncle, you are dumb with fear; you
have not moved; come here or the dragon will fall on you. His
uncle ran toward him. Then he sped the fourth arrow with true
aim, and it pierced the dragon's heart. With a tremendous roar
the dragon rolled down the mountain side---down four precipices
into a canon below.
Immediately storm
clouds swept the mountains, lightning flashed, thunder rolled,
and the rain poured. When the rainstorm had passed, far down in
the canon below, they could see fragments of the huge body of
the dragon lying among the rocks, and the bones of this dragon
may still be found there.
This boy's name was
Apache. Usen taught him how to prepare herbs for medicine, how
to hunt, and how to fight. He was the first chief of the Indians
and wore the eagle's feathers - the sign of justice, wisdom, and
power. To him and to his people, as they were created, Usen gave
homes in the land of the West.
Text
prepared by Jeroen Daanen, Peter Meindertsma, Else-Kirsten de
Schiffart, Elfie Theijs and Carlo Tinschert From Revolution to Reconstruction.
