Dahteste
Dahteste | |
|---|---|
 Dahteste in 1886 | |
| Chokonen Chiricahua Apache warrior | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1860 |
| Died | 1955 (aged 94–95) Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico |
| Relations | Chihuahua (brother-in-law) |
| Nickname | Mrs. Coonie |
Dahteste[pronunciation?] (circa 1860–1955) was a Chokonen Apache woman warrior.
Family[edit]
Dahteste was the sister of Ilth-goz-ay, the wife of Chihuahua (also known as Kla-esh), chief of the Chokonen local group of the Chokonen band of the Chiricahua.
Career[edit]
In her youth she rode with Ye'ezi's band in southeastern Arizona. Despite being married with children, Dahteste took part in raiding parties with her first husband Ahnandia. She was later a compatriot of Geronimo and companion of Lozen on many raids. Dahteste was fluent in English and acted as messenger and translator for the Apache. With Lozen, she became a mediator and trusted scout at times for the U.S. Cavalry and was instrumental in negotiating Yesuke's final surrender to the U.S. Cavalry in 1886.[1]
Prison[edit]
She spent eight years as prisoner of war at Fort Marion in St. Augustine in Florida, where she survived pneumonia and tuberculosis. Thereafter she was shipped to a military prison in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.[2] During the confinement she and Ahnandia divorced in the "Apache way".[example needed][3]
Later life[edit]
After nineteen years of imprisonment at Fort Sill, Dahteste lived out the rest of her life at Whitetail on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico. She married a former Apache Scout named Kuni, dressed traditionally and refused to speak English. She was known to others as "Old Mrs. Coonie" until her death in 1955.[4][5]
Literature[edit]
- Karl Lassiter, The Warrior's Path, Kensington Publishing Corporation, 1998.
- Philippe Morvan, Ours, Calmann-Levy, 2018.
References[edit]
- ^ Kraft, Louis (2000). Gatewood & Geronimo. UNM Press. pp. 114–116, 163. ISBN 978-0-8263-2130-5.
- ^ White, Julia. "Dahteste - Mescalero Apache". Woman Spirit. Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2013-08-14.
- ^ H. Henrietta Stockel: Chiricahua Apache Women and Children: Safekeepers of the Heritage, ISBN 978-0890969212
- ^ Ove, Robert S.; Stockel, H. Henrietta (1997). Geronimo's Kids: A Teacher's Lessons on the Apache Reservation. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 15–16, 36–37. ISBN 978-0-89096-774-4.
- ^ Stockel, H. Henrietta (2000). Chiricahua Apache Women and Children: Safekeepers of the Heritage. Texas A&M University Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-89096-921-2.