Naiche

Hide painting by Naiche, ca. 1900, depicting an Apache girl's puberty ceremony, collection of Oklahoma History Center

Chief Naiche (ca. 1857-1919) was the final hereditary chief of the Chiricahua band of Apache Indians.^[1]

Background

Naiche name, which in English means "meddlesome one" or "mischief maker", is alternately spelled Nache, Nachi, or Natchez.^[1] He was the youngest son of Cochise and was named after his grandmother Dos-Teh-Seh. His older brother was Chief Taza.^[2] During his adolescence, Naiche got to know Geronimo. As a medicine man, Geronimo acted as a teacher for him.^[2] Naiche married Ha-O-Zinne, an Apache woman.^[3] Together they had several children, including a son named Christian Naiche.

Career

In 1880, Naiche traveled to Mexico with Gerronimo's band, to avoid forced relocation to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona. They surrendered in 1883 but escaped the reservation in 1885, back into Mexico. They were captured in 1886, and Naiche and others were imprisoned in Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida.^[1]

Upon the death of his father Cochise, Naiche's brother Taza became the chief; however, Taza died only two years later, and the office went to Naiche. In the 1880s, Naiche and Geronimo successfully went to war together.^[2]

Naiche and other Apaches requested to return to Arizona, while still imprisoned in Fort Marion. The US did not allow their return, but Kiowa and Comanche tribes offered to share their reservations in southwestern Oklahoma with the Chiricahua, so Naiche and 295 members of his band moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma,^[1] where they became the Fort Sill Apache Tribe. In 1913, Naiche moved to the Mescalero Indian Reservation in New Mexico.^[1]

Death

Naiche died on March 16, 1919 in Mescalero, New Mexico.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Johansen, Bruce E. "Naiche (ca. 1857—1919)." Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. (retrieved 25 Sept 2011)
2. ^ ^{a b c} Chief Naiche
3. ^ "Portrait of Chief Naiche or Nachez or Noichiri, Cochise's Son, with Gun and Wife, Ha-o-zinne; Both in Partial Native Dress 1886." Smithonian Institutional Research Information System. (retrieved 25 Sept 2011)

Persondata
Name	Naiche
Alternative names	Nache, Nachi, or Natchez
Short description	last hereditary chief of the Chiricahua Apache
Date of birth	1856 or 1857
Place of birth
Date of death	16 March 1919
Place of death	Mescalero, New Mexico