Quotes from Geronimo http://www.indigenouspeople.net/geronimo.htm
"I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes. I was living peaceably when people began to speak bad of me. Now I can eat well, sleep well and be glad. I can go everywhere with a good feeling."
"The soldiers never explained to the government when an Indian was wronged, but reported the misdeeds of the Indians. We took an oath not to do any wrong to each other or to scheme against each other."
"I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say."
"When a child, my mother taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom and protection. Sometimes we prayed in silence, sometimes each one prayed aloud; sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us... and to Usen."
"I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures."
fact http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fact
From Latin perfect passive participle factus, ‘something made’ (cf. manufacture), <>facere, ‘make’ or ‘do’.
Pronunciation
- IPA: /fækt/
- SAMPA: /f{kt/
- Audio (US)
- Rhymes: -ækt
Noun
An honest observation.
- Something actual as opposed to invented.
- In this story, the U.S. Constitution is a fact, but the rest is fiction.
- Something which has become real.
- The opiate of television became a fact in the 1920s.
- Something concrete used as a basis for further interpretation.
- Let's look at the facts of the treason before impeaching.
- An objective consensus on a fundamental reality that has been agreed upon by a substantial number of people.
- There is no doubting the fact that the Earth orbits the Sun.
- Information about a particular subject.
- The facts about evolution.
- The facts about evolution.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Setting the Record Straight About Native Languages: "Geronimo" http://www.native-languages.org/iaq22.htm
Q: Why do people shout 'Geronimo!' when they jump off something high or do something else dangerous? Was this an Apache battle cry, or a reference to something the historical Geronimo really did?A: No, this common use of the name Geronimo comes from the US military during World War II. Paratroopers would shout "Geronimo!" as they jumped from their planes. Many of them claimed this was because the Apache chief himself bellowed this out as a war cry, and that he once evaded the US Army by leaping his horse off a cliff into a river near their air force base in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. These are highly unlikely stories. Geronimo really did evade the US Army on many occasions and was well-known for daring feats, but all of them happened in Apache territory in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. Geronimo was only sent to Oklahoma near the end of his life, as a prisoner of war, and did not do any fighting or escaping while he was there. Furthermore, "Geronimo" is what the Spanish called him (his own name was Goyathlay), so he would never have shouted it in battle or while performing acrobatics on horseback.
Like most military legends, this one probably has a less mysterious explanation. One veteran quoted in the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins remembered it this way: "In the early days of the 82nd Airborne, the men used to go to the nearby movie in Lafayetteville. During the week scheduled for the division's initial jumps, they saw a movie named "Geronimo." Anyway, one guy hollered the name and one of those things no one can explain happened. The whole division took it up and from them it spread to the later-activated airborne forces." This lively online account of the same incident has more detail including the name of the private who started the tradition. The stories told by these veterans about a paratrooper's act of bravado inspired by a movie seem highly plausible in comparison to an untraceable legend about an Apache warrior shouting out the wrong name in the wrong state.
~~~~~~
http://www.military.com/HomePage/UnitPageHistory/1,13506,101248%7C704728,00.html
"On the night before the "Test Platoons" first mass tactical jump, four commerades from the test platoon were said to have taken in a movie at the post theatre. They had watched an old western featuring U.S. Calvary troops shooting it out with the great Apache war chief Geronimo. Before returning back to the barracks the men stopped by the beer shack where they spent several hours drinking and talking about the next days jump. Pvt. Aubrey Eberhardt was catching hell from one of the troopers about how he was going to be too scared before the next days jump that he wouldnt even be able to speak. The tall lanky Eberhardt responded "NONSENSE!" As a matter of fact he would shout "GERONIMO!" as soon as he leaped from the door of the douglas bomber. Eberhardt kept his pledge, and the other test platoon men bailed out with indian war whoops and shouts of "GERONIMO!" From that moment on paratroopers would call the Apache Cheifs name on every jump, and "GERONIMO", not only became the bn mottoof the first tactical airborne unit, but the battle cry of the American Paratroopers. The civilian population then and will always associate "GERONIMO" with the nations most elite..."
~~~~~~~
http://ask.yahoo.com/20060315.html
Dear Yahoo!: |
Why do we scream "Geronimo!" when we jump? |
Ted Parrish, Florida |
Dear Ted: |
World War II paratrooper Aubrey Eberhardt was the first to scream "Geronimo!" while jumping from great heights. Retired First Sergeant Ed Howard explains how it happened in his essay entitled "Paramount's 1939 Western Geronimo...A Forgotten Movie With a Giant Legacy." In 1940, the United States' first Parachute Test Platoon was formed. It consisted of 50 volunteers who trained in the sweltering heat of Georgia's Fort Benning. The days were mighty hot, so the paratroopers wanted to stay cool in the evening. One night, Private Eberhardt and three friends watched the movie Geronimo at a local (air conditioned) theater. After the film, the group discussed the jump they were to make the following morning. According to Howard, one paratrooper asked Eberhardt if he believed he could jump "without fear." Eberhardt, eager to prove his toughness, said he'd show everyone he wasn't afraid by yelling "Geronimo!" as he jumped. Eberhardt believed that if he had the presence of mind to remember the word, it would prove he wasn't scared. Questionable logic perhaps, but we're going with it. Long story short, Eberhardt jumped, yelled "Geronimo!" as promised, and the shout quickly caught on with his fellow paratroopers. Some time later the phrase was outlawed because officers felt it would draw unwanted attention to paratroopers landing in hostile territories. That said, the "Geronimo" motto is still seen on certain military insignias, so Eberhardt's legend lives on. |
(This one was probably written by the same Libertarian that invented Ronald Reagan for President)...
http://www.b-westerns.com/geronimo.htm
"A 1939 western named GERONIMO, the inspiration it gave a US Army paratrooper, and the formation of a US Army paratrooper tradition were events that combined to transform a character in a now-forgotten movie into a household word. This is the story of the relationship between the 1939 Paramount movie, the WWII paratroopers, and the motivational yell, "Geronimo".
At 6' 3", Private Aubrey Eberhardt was the biggest paratrooper of the platoon and growing up on a Georgia farm during the depression made him as tough as he was big. The 24 year old was used to hard work in the hot Georgia sun but the training regimen and parachute jumps taxed his mind and body as much as it did the other 49 men.
Evenings offered a brief reprieve from the rigors of training each day, and the place to take that break from their dusty airfield encampment was just a short walk away on Fort Benning's main post. The air-conditioned Main Post Theatre was the best place to cool down and relax after a hard day of training and on that particular mid-August evening, Eberhardt and three other paratroopers made their way there to watch the 1939 Paramount western, GERONIMO. This movie was filled with action, intrigue, and most importantly, the intimidating presence of Native American actor, Victor Daniels, who played the title role of the great Apache chief, Geronimo. Movie audiences knew him already as Chief Thunder Cloud who played the role of Tonto in the 1938 Lone Ranger serial, so to have Chief Thunder Cloud appear on the movie poster was to have a box office draw and Paramount's GERONIMO was no exception. Daniels had few appearances in GERONIMO, but his large persona matched the large print of his name on the posters and lobby cards. One can imagine how these four motivated young paratroopers sat in their theater seats with their eyes affixed to the screen, without a thought or concern about the next days parachute jump. Worries would have to wait because it was time for Eberhardt and the others to relax and take in the humor of the sidekick, the treachery of the politicians, and the battles of soldier and warrior.
After the movie and a drink at the nearby beer garden, the foursome began their walk back to their lowly tents on the airfield. During that fateful mile they would stumble into a conversation that would ultimately bring Geronimo into a whole new genre. One of the group asked Eberhardt if he thought he could jump out of the plane the next day without fear. Eberhardt, not used to having his confidence questioned, responded that he would not be scared and to prove it, he would let his fellow paratroopers know that he could keep his presence of mind by yelling something to them right after he jumped out. Although the group would be separated by hundreds of feet, with some in the air and some on the ground, Eberhardt insisted he could yell loud enough to be heard by all. When asked what he would yell, he thought for a few moments for a good word to choose - one that was distinctive enough that no one else would be using it. It is probable that he dismissed common salutations such as, "Hey!" or "It's me!" because he would take no chance that anyone would think his shout could be someone else. In the few moments it took him to think of such a unique word, his mind must have gone back to the movie and the inspiring sight of Chief Thunder Cloud. "Geronimo" was the word he chose.
The next day he fulfilled his promise. Eberhardt's fellow paratroopers heard the word, "Geronimo" repeatedly fill the air from the moment he jumped out until his feet touched the ground! Others in the platoon picked up on the idea in their subsequent parachute jumps and the beginnings of a tradition formed in the skies above Lawson Army Airfield as more of the platoon mimicked Private Eberhardt's bold, mid-air yell. Had an Indian warrior's name ever before been used in such an adrenaline-filled situation? In all probability this idea was born in the mind of none other than a US Army private, with his only help being a mountain of paratrooper confidence and the inspiring Chief Thunder Cloud on the screen of the Fort Benning's Main Post Theatre.
So the Geronimo yell was conceived by Pvt. Eberhardt and immediately embraced by the platoon in the 3rd week of August, 1940, but how long would this unmilitary practice be allowed to continue? The two officers of the test platoon tolerated this unsanctioned yell, but its safety was far from assured because any senior officer having jurisdiction over the platoon could easily have put a halt to it. The seal of approval came during a jump later that month, which was observed by a group of dignitaries and high-ranking Army officers from Washington DC. They were surprised by the odd yell coming from most of the platoon. Some of the group said that this shout should be halted immediately because it appeared to show a breach of military discipline in the midst of a very serious act - military parachuting. Others disagreed. After some discussion one senior officer prevailed, who said it displayed bravery, and not only did he approve of it, he wanted to see more of it! So, just as the new tradition was on the brink of extinction, it was saved. That officer, whose name is now lost to history, would see his impromptu endorsement grow beyond belief as "Geronimo" took on a life of its own."
~~~~~
~ Not one of those fact reporting articles tells the same story!
This is the best which i have Google'd as of RIGHT NOW...
Geronimo! http://www.answers.com/topic/geronimo-word-origin-mexico
This word originated in Mexico
Leaping from airplanes to land on the battlefields of World War II, paratroopers of the U.S. Army shouted the Spanish name given by Mexican soldiers to an Indian chief who had terrorized white settlers in northern Mexico and the south-western United States eighty years earlier. How did it happen that "Geronimo!" sometimes followed by an Indian war whoop became the battle cry of American paratroopers?
Apparently the immediate cause was a movie of that name that paratroopers had watched as they were beginning their training in 1940. The 1939 movie depicts Geronimo, chief of the Chiricahua Apache tribe, as a bloodthirsty villain. Portrayed by the wild-eyed actor Chief Thundercloud, the movie Geronimo is an Apache whose sole delight is slaughtering whites, preferably defenseless women and children. According to Cinebooks' Motion Picture Guide, "Chief Thundercloud has only one expression--murderous."
Needless to say, that movie version of Geronimo is not entirely the truth. The real Geronimo, born in 1829 in what is now Arizona, lived peaceably until Mexicans killed his wife, mother, and children in 1858. In retaliation, he led raids against both Mexican and American white settlers, then settled on a reservation. In 1876, when the U.S. government tried to move the Chiricahua to New Mexico, he took up arms again and continued his occasional raids until 1887, when he was finally captured and relocated to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He took up farming, converted to Christianity, and became such a public figure that he was in the inaugural parade for President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. Geronimo's Story of His Life, published in 1906, three years before his death, was a best seller.
Back in 1940, however, it was the ferocious warrior of the earlier film who commanded the attention of the paratroopers. It is said that Aubrey Eberhardt, a member of the first platoon testing methods of air drops in 1940, was inspired by the movie to announce that he would shout "Geronimo" as he jumped the next day. He did; his shout was heard on the ground; and the rest of the paratroopers adopted it as their call. Since then, of course, any kind of attack can be heralded in English with Geronimo!
In his Apache language, the warrior was known as Goyathlay or "one who yawns." It was the Mexicans who called him Geronimo, the Spanish version of the name Jerome. Numerous other words have crossed the border into English via Mexican Spanish, including Nahuatl words like chocolate, and more recently chihuahua (1858), a breed of dog named after the Mexican city, and maquiladora (1976), a south-of-the-border factory that uses cheap labor to make products for export to the north."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Anyway, a FACT is a subjective word that pretends objectivity.
It is a Fact that Geronimo was a great man, and the U.S. Army celebrates a man that they hunted and destroyed.Genocidally.
Geronimo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo
Geronimo (Chiricahua Goyaałé 'One Who Yawns'; often spelled Goyathlay in English) (June 16, 1829–February 17, 1909) was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who warred against the encroachment of the United States on his tribal lands and people for over 25 years.
Contents |
Biography
Goyaałé (Geronimo) was born to the Bedonkohe band of the Apache, near Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Gila River in what is now the state of Arizona, then part of Mexico, but which his family considered Bedonkohe land.
Geronimo's father, Tablishim, and mother, Juana, educated him according to Apache traditions. He married a woman from the Chiricauhua band of Apache; they had three children. On March 5, 1851, a company of 400 Sonoran soldiers led by Colonel Jose Maria Carrasco attacked Geronimo's camp outside Janos while the men were in town trading. Among those dead were Geronimo's wife, Alope, his children, and mother. His chief, Mangas Coloradas, sent him to Cochise's band for help in revenge against the Mexicans.
While Geronimo said he was never a chief, he was a military leader. As a Chiricahua Apache, this meant he was also a spiritual leader. He consistently urged raids and war upon many Mexican and later U.S. groups.
Next, he married Chee-hash-kish and had two children, Chappo and Dohn-say. Then he took another wife, Nana-tha-thtith, with whom he had one child. He later had a wife named Zi-yeh at the same time as another wife, She-gha, one named Shtsha-she and later a wife named Ih-tedda. Some of his wives were captured, such as the young Ih-tedda. Wives came and went, overlapping each other, being captured and brought into the family, lost, or even given up, as Geronimo did with Ih-tedda when he and his band were captured, at that time he kept his wife She-gha but not the younger wife, Ih-tedda. Geronimo’s last wife was Azul.
While outnumbered, Geronimo fought against both Mexican and United States troops and became famous for his daring exploits and numerous escapes from capture from 1858 to 1886. At the end of his military career, he led a small band of 38 men, women, and children. They evaded 5,000 U.S. troops (one fourth of the army at the time) and many units of the Mexican army for a year. His band was one of the last major forces of independent Indian warriors who refused to acknowledge the United States Government in the American West. This came to an end on September 4, 1886, when Geronimo surrendered to United States Army General Nelson A. Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona.
Geronimo and other warriors were sent as prisoners to Fort Pickens, Florida, and his family was sent to Fort Marion. They were reunited in May 1887, when they were transferred to Mount Vernon Barracks in Alabama for five years. In 1894, they were moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In his old age, Geronimo became a celebrity. He appeared at fairs, including the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, and sold souvenirs and photographs of himself. However, he was not allowed to return to the land of his birth. He rode in President Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 inaugural parade. He died of pneumonia at Fort Sill in 1909 and was buried at the Apache Indian Prisoner of War Cemetery there.
In 1905, Geronimo agreed to tell his story to S.M. Barrett, Superintendent of Education in Lawton, Oklahoma. Barrett had to appeal to President Roosevelt to gain permission to publish the book. Geronimo came to each interview knowing exactly what he wanted to say. He refused to answer questions or alter his narrative. Barrett did not seem to take many liberties with Geronimo's story as translated by Asa Daklugie. Frederick Turner re-edited this autobiography by removing some of Barrett's footnotes and writing an introduction for the non-Apache readers. Turner notes the book is in the style of an Apache reciting part of their rich oral history.[1]
Geronimo was raised with the traditional religious views of the Bedonkohe. When questioned about his views on life after death, he wrote in his 1903 autobiography, "As to the future state, the teachings of our tribe were not specific, that is, we had no definite idea of our relations and surroundings in after life. We believed that there is a life after this one, but no one ever told me as to what part of man lived after death...We held that the discharge of one's duty would make his future life more pleasant, but whether that future life was worse than this life or better, we did not know, and no one was able to tell us. We hoped that in the future life family and tribal relations would be resumed. In a way we believed this, but we did not know it."
Later in life, Geronimo embraced Christianity, and stated, "Since my life as a prisoner has begun I have heard the teachings of the white man's religion, and in many respects believe it to be better than the religion of my fathers...Believing that in a wise way it is good to go to church, and that associating with Christians would improve my character, I have adopted the Christian religion. I believe that the church has helped me much during the short time I have been a member. I am not ashamed to be a Christian, and I am glad to know that the President of the United States is a Christian, for without the help of the Almighty I do not think he could rightly judge in ruling so many people. I have advised all of my people who are not Christians, to study that religion, because it seems to me the best religion in enabling one to live right."
Alleged theft of remains
In 1918, certain remains of Geronimo were apparently stolen in a grave robbery. Three members of the Yale secret society of Skull and Bones served as Army volunteers at Fort Sill during World War I; one of those three members was Prescott Bush, grandfather of the forty-third President of the United States George W. Bush. They reportedly stole Geronimo's skull, some bones, and other items, including Geronimo's prized silver bridle, from the Apache Indian Prisoner of War Cemetery. The stolen items were alleged to have been taken to the society's tomb-like headquarters on the Yale University campus, and are supposedly used in rituals practiced by the group, one of which is said to be kissing the skull of Geronimo as an initiation. The story was known for many years but widely considered unlikely or apocryphal, and while the society itself remained silent, former members have said that they believed the bones were fake or non-human.
In a contemporary letter discovered by the Yale historian Marc Wortman and published in the Yale Alumni Magazine in 2006, society member Winter Mead wrote to F. Trubee Davison:
- The skull of the worthy Geronimo the Terrible, exhumed from its tomb at Fort Sill by your club... is now safe inside the tomb together with his well worn femurs, bit and saddle horn.[2]
This prompted the Indian chief's great-grandson, Harlyn Geronimo of Mescalero, New Mexico, to write to President Bush requesting his help in returning the remains:
- According to our traditions the remains of this sort, especially in this state when the grave was desecrated ... need to be reburied with the proper rituals ... to return the dignity and let his spirits rest in peace.[3]
ArtiFACT http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/artifact/geronimo.shtml
Geronimo
Geronimo was a Bedonkohe [Chiricahua] Apache who lived in the "Southern Four Corners" region (southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, northwestern Chihuahua, northeastern Sonora) during the late 1800's. Born in the 1820's, scholars disagree on whether his birthplace was actually in Arizona or New Mexico. His original name "Goyakla," or "one who yawns," was replaced with "Geronimo" by Mexican soldiers.
By the 1850's Geronimo was married with three children and also supporting his widowed mother. The entire Bedonkohe group went to Mexico in the summer of 1858 to trade with the Mexicans living in a town Apache's called Kas-ki-yeh (probably Janos). After their camp was established, the women and children remained behind while a group of men went into town to trade. On the third day, the men returned to the camp to discover that a band of Mexican soldiers from another town had come and massacred many people, mostly women and children. Among the dead were Geronimo's mother, wife, and children. From that day, he vowed vengeance upon the Mexican troopers. He became a War Chief, leading the Chiricahua Apache in raids on Mexican towns and villages as well as attacking people throughout southern Arizona and New Mexico.
Some people give Geronimo the distinction of being the last Indian to surrender to the United States but actually he surrendered several times. In 1884, Geronimo, the Bedonkohe tribe, and members of other Apache groups surrendered and were taken to the San Carlos Indian Reservation. In 1885, he and 144 others escaped from the reservation, but surrendered to U.S. authorities ten months later in Mexico. As they were brought back across the United States-Mexico border, however, Geronimo and a small band escaped fearing they would be murdered. This band remained at large for the next five months despite being hunted by 5,500 men in a sweeping search that ranged over 1645 miles.
The negotiations for Geronimo's final surrender took place in Skeleton Canyon, near present day Douglas, Arizona, in September, 1886. He and approximately 40 others, as well as Western Apache scouts who had faithfully served the U.S. military in tracking Geronimo's band, were taken into custody. General Nelson A. Miles promised that they would be able to return to Arizona after a short incarceration in Florida.
The group was sent by train to Florida where they were detained for a year at Fort Pickens and their families at Fort Marion. The warriors were reunited with their families the following year at Mount Vernon, Alabama. The entire group was moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1894, still classified as "prisoners of war". Geronimo lived at Fort Sill until his death, in 1909, at the age of 85. During his later life Geronimo was a celebrity. He made appearances at the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, the 1901 Pan American Exposition, and the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition and was often presented as the "Apache terror." He was also given the honor of riding in Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade after which he was given a personal audience with the President. Although he pled "Let me die in my own country, an old man who has been punished enough and is free," he was never allowed to return to Arizona.
Barbara Ping
fact (fkt) http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fact