Lozen was a female warrior of the Chiricahua Apaches (known also as the Members or Warm Springs Apache) who lived during the 19th century. Another example of a female warrior left out of history. Although she was well known among Apaches, many of the accounts documenting her role in the Apache wars of the 1870s and 1880s were not published until the late twentieth century. These accounts documented Lozen as being one of the leading warriors in the final episode of Native American armed resistance to the invasion that began with the arrival of Columbus.
Apart from her prowess as a warrior, Lozen is reputed to have been a skilled military strategist, as well as being highly proficient when it came to medicinal matters. Lozen took pity on the women and children during one such raid, and, as recounted by James Kaywaykla, who was a child at the time, she led them to safety across the Rio Grande. "I saw a magnificent woman on a beautiful horse—Lozen, sister of Victorio. Lozen the woman warrior!" Kaywaykla recounted, "She could ride, shoot, and fight like a man."
According to the Chief, her brother Victorio, "Lozen is as my right hand. Strong as a man, braver than most, and cunning in strategy, Lozen is a shield to her people." After her brother was killed, Lozen served along side Geronimo and another fierce woman warrior named Dahteste. Despite their courage and warrior strength, their people were being slaughtered and they were outnumbered. Lozen and the other Apache leaders were imprisoned at a military arsenal in Alabama. She passed away of tuberculosis in 1887.
コメント