Tze-gu-juni, also known as Huera, was a woman whom Geronimo called “The Bravest of Apache Women.” She was a woman of intensely powerful inner strength who survived captivity, a trek across the desert, and mountain lion attack to serve her tribe as a shaman.
Tze-gu-juni was born around 1847. As a child, she survived a lightning strike that killed her mother and sister. She seems to have lived an otherwise peaceful life until October 14, 1880, the day of the Battle of Tres Castillos, the battle that killed Chiricahua Chief Vittorio and ended Vittorio’s War, a war Vittorio waged against U.S. and Mexican Army soldiers in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. Tze-gu-juni was captured along with approximately seventy other women and children and taken to Mexico City, where she was enslaved and given the name ‘Huera’.
During her captivity, Tze-gu-juni became fluent in Spanish and secured a role as a translator at an Apache reservation in Arizona. She and about five others planned an escape and fled into the desert. They had one knife and one blanket and would have to walk for approximately 1300 miles to reach safety. They foraged for food and water in the desert.
Along the way, Tze-gu-juni was attacked by a mountain lion. She tightened the blanket around her neck which saved her, and fought off the mountain lion. She was badly wounded but managed to reach San Carlos Reservation, where Geronimo and Tze-gu-juni’s future husband, Mangas, were living. Her hands and face were scarred for the rest of her life and she had limited use of her hands thereafter.
Tze-gu-juni was married to Mangas, son of the Apache leader Mangas Coloradas, during her time at San Carlos. She had many skills to offer the community. In addition to her language skills, she was an expert at making a prized fermented drink called tiswin. She was a healer and shaman. She was also an influential advisor who played an important role in convincing Geronimo’s followers to escape from San Carlos in May 1885.
According to an article by John P. McWilliams, following one of her speeches,
The next day [following a speech by Tze-gu-juni] Geronimo, Mangas and some 145 other Apaches bolted from the reservation, joined within a few days by Chihuahua and Naiche. Soon following in pursuit were some 5,000 U.S. Army troops. “In analyzing this pivotal moment in Chiricahua history,” writes historian Edwin R. Sweeney in From Cochise to Geronimo, “we should not underestimate the influence of Huera.”
Soon after, Tze-gu-juni and many other women were captured and held hostage by the U.S. Army. Geronimo surrendered on September 4, 1886. Geronimo, Tze-gu-juni, and others were held captive for the rest of their lives in Florida, where Tze-gu-juni and Geronimo may have married. Tze-gu-juni used another of her skills all too often: singing dirges for the dead. The date of her own death is unknown, but we remember the woman who walked 1300 miles across the desert and fought off a mountain lion with her bare hands. Bravest, indeed.
For more about this Kickass Woman, check out:
Tze’gu’juni: (a.k.a.: Huera) – Apache Leader & Medicine Woman – Arizona, USA from JaguarBird on YouTube
History.net’s image of Huera, wife of Geronimo
“Wild women of the West: wives of Geronimo” by Chris Enss, from Cowgirl Magazine
“Statement of Geronimo,” March 25, 1886, from Teaching American History
The Native Americans Project at WikiTree: Biography of Huera Apache
What a strong woman. Thank you for the introduction, @Carrie!
Thanks, Carrie! Could you correct the “convincing Geronimo’s followers to escape from San Carlos in May 1865.” which was, of course, 1885. 1865 left me scrambling to understand the sequence of events.