The Storm - Apache, 1906

A scene in the high mountains of Apache-land just before the breaking of a rainstorm.

Print caption by Edward S. Curtis, The North American Indian, Portfolio I, Plate no. 9, 1907.

We are vanishing from the earth, yet I cannot think we are useless or Usen would not have created us.  He created all tribes of men and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each.

For each tribe of men Usen created He also made a home.  In the land created for any particular tribe He placed whatever would be best for the welfare of that tribe. 

When Usen created the Apaches He also created their homes in the West.  He gave them such grain, fruits, and game as they needed to eat.  To restore their health when disease attacked them He made many different herbs grow.  He taught them where to find these herbs, and how to prepare them for medicine.  He gave them a pleasant climate and all they needed for clothing and shelter was at hand. 

Thus it was in the beginning:  the Apaches and their homes each created for the other by Usen himself.  When they are taken from these homes they sicken and die. How long will it be until it is said, there are no Apaches?

Geronimo, Geronimo’s Story of His Life, 1906, 15-16.