Warrior Woman: The Story of Lozen, Apache Warrior and Shaman [Hardcover]

Peter Aleshire (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312244088 | ISBN-13: 978-0312244088 | Publication Date: April 1, 2001 | Edition: First Edition

Warrior Woman is the story of Lozen, sister of the famous Apache warrior Victorio, and warrior in her own right. Hers is a story little discussed in Native American history books. Instead, much of what is known of her has been passed down through generations via stories and legends.

For example, it is said that she was embued with supernatural powers, given to her by the gods. She would lift her arms to the sky and place her palms against the wind, and through the heat she felt in her open hands, she could detect the direction and distance of her enemies. Whether true or not, she did ride into battle alongside Geronimo in the Apache wars, and fought bitterly and savagely until she was captured along with her people, packed into railroad cars, and sent to imprisonment in the east, where she spent her last days.

Peter Aleshire uses historical facts and oral histories to recreate her life. With immaculate detail he tells the story of her childhood, surrounded by the vastness of nature and the Chiricahua legends and religions that shaped her thoughts. He describes her coming-of-age ceremonies, and induction into her tribe as a spiritual leader. As the white men slowly took over the land of her people and forced them from one reservation to another, her role slowly evolved to match that of the staunchest warrior -- an almost unheard-of occurence among the Native Americans of the 19th century, where a woman's place was with the children in the villages.

This is not only the story of Lozen, but the story of her people, from the events leading up to the Apache Wars until their inevitable and unfortunate conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Little has been written about Lozen, an Apache woman of the late 19th century; even oral accounts are scarce. Yet in this meticulously footnoted conjectural history of the warrior and shaman, Aleshire (The Fox and the Whirlwind), an American studies professor at the State University of Arizona, casts Lozen as a powerful and important leader, her role perhaps deliberately obscured to protect her life. From the 1840s through the 1870s, Lozen fought alongside Geronimo and her brother Victorio, participating in war councils, ambushes of Mexican soldiers, and territorial battles with American settlers and soldiers such as the Battle of Apache Pass, the massacre at Cibecue and countless other struggles. Though the book might have been better billed as historical fiction, Aleshire's informed speculation works well. But his decision to infuse his narrative voice with Native Americanisms--some derived from actual accounts, others apparently from the author's imagination--can seem presumptuous and hackneyed. Aleshire's subjects die from "the spotted disease," they move on course "like an arrow that has left the bow" and they go to "the Happy Place" when killed in battle. Perhaps Apache leaders did compare everything to hawks or deer or falling feathers. Although he tells us from the outset that he's writing this from an Apache viewpoint, in Aleshire's mouth the voice rings false. Only occasionally--as in his discussion of place names or of the complex politics of the Ghost Dances--does his thorough, substantive scholarship outweigh the thin conceit of his narrative voice.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The Apache resistance of the late 19th century is familiar to many Americans. Both famous and notorious, such leaders as Victorio, Mangas Colorado, and Geronimo kept government troops at bay on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border off and on for more than 40 years. With them, sometimes separately, sometimes together, was Victorio's sister Lozen, a woman of special talent and power, whose importance was unknown to the soldiers in pursuit. Recounting this dramatic period in time from an Apache viewpoint, journalist Aleshire (American studies, Arizona State Univ.; The Fox and the Whirlwind) allows the reader to accompany Lozen's Chihenne Apache band as it struggled to stay in its homeland, confronted by the incomprehensible and often reprehensible behavior of white intruders. As the Apache world was reduced, Lozen's band and others were forced to stay on the move. While it could have used a map, this very readable book pulls together the Apache phase of the so-called Indian wars extremely effectively. Highly recommended for all collections. Mary B. Davis, American Craft Council, New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312244088
• ISBN-13: 978-0312244088
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good--but incomplete, June 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Warrior Woman: The Story of Lozen, Apache Warrior and Shaman (Hardcover)

Finally, this warrior woman's story is being told! This well researched biography reads like a novel. Peter Aleshire presents her as a hero to her people. He researches every battle and skirmish and reveals Lozen's known or most probable role in them. He shows that her warrior exploits took up the bulk of her life.

He attempts to write from an Apache viewpoint. I'm not sure if he succeeds, but he does choose Apache sources of information over others, and admits his limitations as an outsider, even as he felt compelled to write this book.

This book desperately needs maps and photographs. There are none. Lozen's life criss-crossed much of the Southwest and Mexico. Mr. Aleshire mentions a famous photograph of Lozen without including it in this volume. I had to go to outside sources to track her movements and see her face. So, I call this book incomplete.

But, I am immensely glad this book has finally been written. It's existence is a hundred years overdue.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating!, January 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Warrior Woman: The Story of Lozen, Apache Warrior and Shaman (Hardcover)

This book, though rather dry at times, is still a fascinating account of a forgotten warrior. Detailing the life of Lozen is a worthy endeavor (though it's been done before in another book called "Lozen: Apache Woman Warrior" - which is also worth reading by the way.) I found this book to be well worth reading, as well - it's one of those history explorations that seem to take you back to the time and place of it's account, and spark your imagination to what the life of the people of that time might have been like. I hope more people read this book so that Lozen's name is not forgotten (as so many great, historical women in other cultures are) I would love it if one day her name were as recognizable as Geronimo or Crazy Horse. Maybe this book will help with that - who knows!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read, May 2, 2006

By 

Momma Stacey (Oklahoma City, Ok) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Warrior Woman: The Story of Lozen, Apache Warrior and Shaman (Hardcover)

The book could be described as "dry" on occasion but it's History, forgotten History at that. I loved Mr.Aleshire's book about a true Hero that so little has been written of. I enjoyed the chapter notes and appreciate that Mr. Aleshire added his own assumptions at time. I had a hard time putting this book down and have recommended it to people I know would enjoy it. My Great-Grandmother mentioned Lozen when I was younger and until I was in High School I thought she was a myth. What a terrible shame it is to know so little about someone so legend worthy.