Geronimoooo

What captivated my imagination about this reading was the older Native Americans' ideas on the "Geronimo Conspiracy." Although I don't know anything about the conditions under which Geronimo surrendered, it is entirely plausible, in my opinion, that something like this could have happened. The ethnic differences in persepctive were fascinating- that white men could not tell one rock or tree from another and were frightened by it. Based on that quality, and the way they regarded the Indians as nonhuman, they easily could have mistaken Geronimo's identity. The option to eliminate Geronimo as a cause of public unease would have been too good to pass up when touched to the dry tinder of military pressure, competition, and fear. Moreover, Silko gave us the "white" version of the incident in Sterling's "True Crime" magazine as a contrast the perspectives of the Indians.

Additionally, although I have always thought that is was wrong and cruel for the whites to have done all they did to Native Americans, I have never felt the injustice as acutely as I am during this reading. The amount of pain it caused the preliminary victims was substantial, but the perpetuated frustrations and confusions in identity of the younger generations may actually be worse. The older Native Americans had their memories to retreat to, but future generations (especially individuals who don't live on the Rez) will have only an elusive promised land sabotaged in their ancestors' time as they wander through a desert of cultural disparities.