Nana (Apache)
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Kas-tziden ("Broken Foot") or Haškɛnadɨltla ("Angry, He is Agitated"), more widely known by his Mexican-Spanish appellation Nana ("grandma" or "lullaby") (1810 ca. – May 19, 1896), was a
warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...
and
chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the bo ...
of the Chihenne band (better known as ''Warm Springs Apache'') of the
Chiricahua Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans. Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende ) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehend ...
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...
. A trusted lieutenant to Cuchillo Negro and
Mangas Coloradas Mangas Coloradas or Mangus-Colorado (La-choy Ko-kun-noste, alias "Red Sleeve"), or Dasoda-hae ("He Just Sits There") (c. 1793 – January 18, 1863) was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Mimbreño (Tchihende) division of the Central ...
, in the 1850s and 1860s he was one of the best known leaders of the Chihenne (Tchiende), along with Tudeevia (''Dudeevia'', better known as ''Delgadito'' - "Little Thin", "Skinny"), Ponce and
Loco Loco or El Loco may refer to: Places United States * Loco, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Loco, Oklahoma, a village * Loco, Texas, an unincorporated community * Loco Mountain (Labinero, Montana), a mountain peak of the Crazy Mountains ...
("crazy", "mad"). He was a nephew of Delgadito, and married a sister of
Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache b ...
.


Description

Captain
John Gregory Bourke John Gregory Bourke (; June 23, 1846 – June 8, 1896) was a captain in the United States Army and a prolific diarist and postbellum author; he wrote several books about the American Old West, including ethnologies of its indigenous peoples. He ...
described Nana as having "a strong face marked with intelligence, courage and good nature, but with an under stratum of cruelty and vindictiveness".
Charles Fletcher Lummis Charles Fletcher Lummis (March 1, 1859, in Lynn, Massachusetts – November 25, 1928, in Los Angeles, California) was a United States journalist, and an activist for Indian rights and historic preservation. A traveler in the American Southwest, h ...
claimed that Nana wore gold watch chains in each ear lobe, presumably taken from dead victims.


Early Fights

He fought alongside
Mangas Coloradas Mangas Coloradas or Mangus-Colorado (La-choy Ko-kun-noste, alias "Red Sleeve"), or Dasoda-hae ("He Just Sits There") (c. 1793 – January 18, 1863) was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Mimbreño (Tchihende) division of the Central ...
and his mixed Tchihende- Bedonkohe band until Mangas Coloradas was killed while in the custody of the
California Column The California Column was a force of Union volunteers sent to Arizona and New Mexico during the American Civil War. The command marched over from California through Arizona and New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and as far east as El Paso, ...
in January 1863. In
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
he undertook many joint raids with the Nednhi of
Juh Juh (also known as Ju, Ho, Whoa, and sometimes Who;Kraft, Louis (2000). - ''Gatewood and Geronimo''. - Albuquerque: University of New Mexico. - p.4. - c. 1825 – Sept/Oct 1883) was a warrior and leader of the Janeros local group of the Ndé ...
and Natiza against the Mexicans. After Ponce, Cuchillo Negro and Delgadito were killed too, Victorio took over the Tchihende leadership, joined by the leaderless Bedonkohe (Taklishim, old Mahko's son, had not been able to save his father's leadership in front of his competitors Mano Mocha and Luis). Nana, although at least 20 years older than Victorio, married the latter's elder sister, cementing his position as a leader.


Victorio's War

After several failed attempts to peacefully live on a reservation in their own country, Victorio and Nana gave up trying and fought back against the Americans and Mexicans. The Bedonkohe and Chihenne were joined by more than 80 warriors of the Mescalero Apache under their old chief Caballero. Victorio and Nana therefore had about 200 warriors. During the
Apache Wars The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the Mexi ...
and especially
Victorio's War Victorios War, or the Victorio Campaign, was an armed conflict between the Apache followers of Chief Victorio, the United States, and Mexico beginning in September 1879. Faced with arrest and forcible relocation from his homeland in New Mexico ...
Nana raided areas of Texas and Mexico with Victorio. While Nana and a small group was away on a scouting mission, Victorio and his band were surrounded and killed by soldiers of the Mexican Army under Joaquin Terrazas at the
Battle of Tres Castillos The Battle of Tres Castillos, October 14–15, 1880, in Chihuahua State, Mexico resulted in the death of the Chiricahua Apache chieftain Victorio and the death or capture of most of his followers. The battle ended Victorio's War, a 14-month long ...
in October 1880. 68 women and children were captured by the Mexicans and sold as slaves in Mexico.


Nana's Raids

After Victorio's death, Nana and his followers hid in the Sierra Madre. Several prestigious leaders and warriors, such as
Fun Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment". Etymology and usage The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertaining medi ...
(''Yiy-gholl'', ''Yiy-joll'', ''Yiy-zholl'', also known as ''Larry Fun''), Ka-ya-ten-nae (''Ka-e-te-nay'', ''Kadhateni'' or ''Kieta'' - "Fights Without Arrows", "Cartridges All Gone") took the leadership of the Tchihende, Bedonkohe, Tsokanende and Nednhi bands beside the already established Apache band leaders Nana, Loco, Mangas,
Naiche Chief Naiche ( ; –1919) was the final hereditary chief of the Chiricahua band of Apache Indians.Johansen, Bruce E"Naiche (ca. 1857–1919)." ''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' (retrieved 25 Sept 2011 ...
, Geronimo and Juh. Nana, now almost 80 years old (according to some reports, nearly 90-years), formed his own war party with the Chihenne (Warm Springs Apache), enlisting loitering warriors in the reservations. His band joined by 15 Tsokanende, 12 Mescalero warriors and a couple of Navajo, plus women and children, began raiding Army supply trains and isolated settlers. In less than a month Nana fought seven or eight battles stretching over the course of 1,000 miles and killed 30-40 Americans, at least as many Mexicans, captured about 200 horses to replace 100 ridden to death and then fled back to Mexico. He and his small force, evaded more than 1,000 soldiers, 300-400 civilian militia volunteers and Apache and Navajo Indian Scouts.Nana's Raid — Apaches in Socorro County


Nana's Death

Nana survived the Apache Wars. Upon surrender in March 1886 he, other Apache warriors and
Apache Scouts The Apache Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts. Most of their service was during the Apache Wars, between 1849 and 1886, though the last scout retired in 1947. The Apache scouts were the eyes and ears of the United States mil ...
were sent as prisoners of war to Florida and Alabama. In 1894, they were relocated to
Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...
in the Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. Nana died of natural causes in 1896.


Legacy

Nana has a special reputation among Apache war chiefs. He was still an active warrior well into his eighties. He had tenacity, stamina, courage and an uncanny ability to improvise in a fight to minimize his losses. He showed no mercy in battle, yet could be considerate when dealing with civilians. When Nana was executing guerrilla tactics in the 1880s, he was half blind, crooked from arthritis, but once he sat in the saddle, he rode "like the devil."


References


Bibliography

*''Nana's Raid: Apache Warfare in Southern New Mexico, 1881'' (Lekson, 1987)


External links


Nana, Apache Chief
at the Arizona Memory Project
Nana (Kas-tziden)
from the ''Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography'', via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

Nana in photograph of the Council between General Crook and Geronimo
from the U.S.
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

Warm Springs Apache Leader Nana: The 80-Year-Old Warrior Turned the Tables
at the Weider History Group's historynet.com
Tracking Nana - Nana’s raid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nana 1896 deaths Chiricahua Native American leaders Year of birth uncertain Apache people Native Americans imprisoned at Fort Marion