The Geronimo Apache Warrior

Geronimo was an Apache warrior who was born in 1829 and became one of the most feared out of Indian leaders of the 19th century. When Geronimo was born he grew into becoming part of the Bedonkohe tribe, which at the time was one of the smallest band out of the Chiricahua Apache tribes. At that time in history, the Chiricahua Apaches, specifically the Bedonkohe tribe, would have lived in what is now New Mexico and Arizona in the United States of America. Geronimo is important because he was a warrior; he fought for his land and then only surrendered because surrendering was less important than his followers’ lives. When Geronimo became of age, he grew up in a time of bitter battle between the Chiricahua Apaches and the Mexicans in the South,

His village fell victim to a massacre in 1851. This is two of the many reasons why Geronimo came into leadership. Through the countless raids and wars the Apaches fought, it unfortunately led him to be a prisoner of war for the rest of his 23 years. Geronimo only ended up surrendering to the United Sates General and soldiers in 1886 because his followers and himself were too outnumbered. Normally this would not have even fazed Geronimo or gave him the second thought of surrendering but his followers and fellow Apaches were way too exhausted from the constant sequence of events that happened prior to the surrendering to be bale to keep fighting for their land and their human rights. He showed greater leadership surrendering that day than he could’ve if he kept on fighting, knowing that his people would go down with him if he had not have surrendered. His story is important to know because it is not only American history, it is part of the Atlantic world which pertains to Canada as well who also had and still has Indigenous people fighting for their land rights. This is another example of Indigenous people and culture being colonized and