Apache views in Geronimo

Continuing the discussion of Geronimo, the fourth episode of PBS's We Shall Remain series:

With Geronimo finally in captivity, the US made a cruel decision. It would send the entire Chiricahua Apache tribe, including people who had lived peacefully at Turkey Creek and scouts who had faithfully served the Army to Florida. Five hundreds Chiricahuas, just a quarter of the tribe's former population, boarded a train. "They were all paying a terrible price for Geronimo’s brave but stubborn resistance," says the narration.

In Florida, families were separated. Children taken to boarding school. People used to the dry mountain air began dying of tropical diseases. Altogether 119 of the 500 died within three years.

As Geronimo notes, the Chiricahuas would spend 27 years as prisoners of war. Even so, the state of Arizona refused to allow them to return to their homeland. Eventually, the US relocated them to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where many of them still live.

For more on the subject, see Fort Sill Apache Tribe--History.

The filmmakers speak

The filmmakers have made a big deal about getting both sides of Geronimo's story. Here's what they said:

Producer Profile:  Dustinn Craig and Sarah ColtEarly on Craig and Colt decided to be as respectful and inclusive as possible in this project. They also had to figure out how to tackle what Craig called a “general tribal cynicism” in some Natives communities. Some Apaches when they learned of PBS‘s interest in such a documentary responded with: “Let me guess, it’s about Geronimo, right?” or “Oh, Geronimo again. Don’t you get enough of Geronimo?”

To overcome this skepticism, the duo decided that their film would not tell the story of the Chiricahuas by exploring just one man. They wanted to include the perspectives of others attached to the story, whether that included good or bad reflections of Geronimo.

“I think we, right to the very end of the project, wanted to portray a real, living and breathing person. We struggled to understand him,” Colt said. “He was a very complicated person.”

Part of the film also discussed how Geronimo was viewed by his community. At times, Geronimo was not as popular among his people as he is portrayed in today’s history books. The film also tackles his band’s raid on villages while being hunted down by the U.S. Cavalry.I think Craig and Colt are kidding themselves a bit. The Apaches guessed they would focus on Geronimo and they did. Though they discussed Cochise a little and mention Juh a few times, the show was basically about Geronimo.

True, they included "the perspectives of others attached to the story, whether that included good or bad reflections of Geronimo." So it was a reasonably balanced look at Geronimo. But it basically did "tell the story of the Chiricahuas by exploring just one man." We get little sense of what the Chiricahuas and other Apaches were doing if they weren't fleeing with Geronimo.

True, Geronimo's renegade actions became the biggest part of the Chiricahua story. And they tell us something important about US-Indian relations. But it's not clear that Geronimo's story is the most representative or informative one. Focusing on another Chiricahua leader might've told us more about what the Chiricahuas were going through.

Of course, focusing on Cochise or Juh or someone else wouldn't have earned PBS as much publicity or financial support. For marketing reasons, therefore, it was valid to focus on Geronimo rather than someone less well-known but more representative. But if that's the case, say so. Don't spin it as some broad-based look at the Chiricahuas when you barely mention anyone except Geronimo.

Apaches speak

The end of Geronimo includes a brief evaluation of his role in history. Three Chiricahua Apaches utter the following comments:Apache people suffered because of him. We all suffered with him.

Most of the tribe were angry with him, and they blamed him. We don’t look at him as a hero.

Well, he killed a lot of people. Why is he remembered when he did all these bad things? It’s because he put a mark on the American people. He put a scar on them.The narration sums up the situation:While other Apaches remained in the Southwest, the Chiricahua had paid dearly for Geronimo’s resistance. They were never allowed home.And...that's it.

The Chiricahuas have a right to be mad. The US wouldn't have relocated them to Florida if Geronimo hadn't gone on a rampage. It's human nature to blame the troublemaker in situations like these.

But the American response was irrational and immoral. Who would've guessed that the US would ship off people who had no connection to Geronimo except an accident of birth? To imprison people who had done exactly what the US wanted, who had even helped the US capture Geronimo, was unthinkable. Neither Geronimo nor anyone else could've predicted this.

Sure, you can blame Geronimo. But the larger portion of blame should go to the Americans. Apparently the US wanted to grind the Chiricahuas into the ground--to wipe out their existence as a functioning tribal entity. How else to explain keeping them as POWs for 27 years? Excluding Leonard Peltier, that must be the longest time American-born persons have been held as political prisoners.

The filmmakers could've interviewed lots of Apaches and other Indians to get a fuller picture of Geronimo's place in history. Instead, they gave us a few paltry quotes from the specific people Geronimo harmed. As a bold reexamination of Geronimo, this episode fails.

Rob speaks

Heck, even my opinion would've added some spice. My evaluation of Geronimo would go like this:

Early in his career, he seemed to be fighting for a cause: his people's freedom. As time went on, he started fighting more and more for himself. He went from being a revolutionary or a freedom fighter to an anarchist or nihilist.

In that sense he's something like Che Guevara or the people who launched the French Revolution. Their ideals may have been good, but harsh circumstances turned them bad. We remember them for their abstract ideals even as we condemn them for their actual crimes.

Similarly, people should remember Geronimo for what he represents: the never-say-die fighting spirit that drove him to challenge the US again and again. We can honor that spirit even as we condemn the man for his moral failings. We should encourage people to challenge the powers-that-be, to rise up against authority, whenever truth and justice demand it.

For more on the subject, see Rampaging in Geronimo and Review of Geronimo.