The Autobiography of a Kiowa Apache Indian (Native American) [Paperback]

Charles S. Brant (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Native American | Publication Date: October 21, 1991

This exciting autobiography of Jim Whitewolf, a Kiowa Apache born in the second half of the 19th-century, offers an excellent inside-look at Indian culture. An ethnological classic, it details childhood, tribal customs, contact with whites, government attitudes toward tribe, much more. Preface. Introduction & Epilogue. Index. 1 map.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; First edition (October 21, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486268624
• ISBN-13: 978-0486268620
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,435,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Anthropology > General

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Story of Jim White Wolf, November 23, 2008

By 

E. Hansen "rwhwildart & Elwyn" (Mojave Desert, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Autobiography of a Kiowa Apache Indian (Native American) (Paperback)

This book is indicated as a companion text to `Prayer On Top of the Earth`, a book about the Kiowa or Plains Apache.(see my review of this also)

Apache James (the Anglo name assigned to him by the boarding school) describes how he was sent to a boarding school and how the students there treated him, as well as how the administrators handled discipline. Some administrators were better than others. The lessons he learned there he used all the rest of his life. And his description of his jobs and chores was entertaining enough to hold my interest in his story. Once there was an effort made to introduce some familiarity with religion to the students there. James remembered the Minister man speaking words at Christmas, and at an official recognition of his marriage to a native girl. "The man was talking a whole bunch of words, but he didn't say anything."

Many Apache had picked up some Spanish vocabulary, and the chiefs, more so than the others.

This introduced a peculiar system of reliance on Indian guides in the west, where the Apache had the distinction of being sometimes less distinguishable from the Mexican residents. Since they all look alike to the white army people, they were never too certain whether to trust the brown or the red skins.

But this working relationship with the Indian guides, wasn't only Apaches. When the Apache, Commanche and Kiowa were on the reservation, the chiefs were instructed to pick men who would work for the army to help find the renegade nomad Indians who wouldn't settle down on the reservation. Now James remembers his father telling how the soldiers would sometimes kill the wandering Indians when they found them just so as not to be bothered by them. (It was always considered an occupational hazard by the soldiers that any Indians they approached might try to kill them.) The chiefs instructed the trackers to warn the people, if they saw them first.

Maybe I'm more than a little biased towards these people, but the tangled tale of James' courtship to his native wife is an unusually entertaining description of elopement, and then snaring the parents into the marriage agreement according to tribal `witness' customs. (I don't want to spoil it by revealing too much up front of what to expect.) Jim White Wolf is from a different tribe of Apache than Fig Tree John. And while confronting similar weaknesses, alcohol, white education, and divorce, his overall story is a lot more positive than John.

Fig Tree John

Then there is the most moving tale he heard from the elder people. How back in the days when the warriors used to go out on raids for cattle, or the wagon trains. And One time they took with them a youth and his older brother, who were cousins of James' father. They got into a battle with some pioneers on the trail, and some white people and some Indians were both killed. So the remaining white people fled. That youth who went with them for the very first time was shot by a rifle, which created a wound clear through his gut. His brother carried him to a stream and gave him water, but then, not wanting to carry him further, he left him there for dead.

It happened that a Commanche Chief and his warriors found him there later, and though they were enemies to Apache, that Chief took the boy home to their camp and used an unusual poltice of native vegetation to dress his wound. And after a few months of suffering he regained his strength. Only he was unable to speak Commanche. Then the Chief allowed him to care for his horses and he dwelt among them several years. One day he was summoned by the Chief, who told him a number of the tribes would be gathering for a Sun Dance. And some of his Apache people might be there too. He was able to speak their language by now, and the Chief told him he might like to go and rejoin his people. When they saw him again, they thought he was a ghost because his brother had told his mother he was dead. So he then told them how the Commanche Chief had treated him well. But his brother crept away and was not seen any more after that.

E.--Some stories go right through your gut.