Apache Legends & Lore of Southern New Mexico: From the Sacred Mountain

by Lynda A. Sanchez

Storytelling has been a vital and vivid tradition in Apache life. Coyote tales, the creation legend and stories of historic battles with Comanche and Anglo intruders create a colorful mosaic of tribal heritage. Percy Bigmouth, a prominent oral historian of the Mescalero and Lipan Apache tribes, realized in the early twentieth century that the old ways were waning. He wrote in longhand what he had learned from his father, Scout Bigmouth, a prison camp survivor at Fort Sumner and participant in the turbulent Apache Wars. Join author Lynda Sanchez as she brings to light the ancient legends and lore of the Apaches living in the shadow of Mescalero's Sacred Mountain. Seventy-five years in the making, this collection is a loving tribute to a way of life nearly lost to history.

Genres: Indigenous, Nonfiction, Native American

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2014

Reviews

[Denver Michaels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. For anyone interested in the legends of the Apache and/or history of southern New Mexico, I can't recommend this book enough. The myths and legends recounted in this book are taken directly from the writings of Apache elders who faithful recorded the oral traditions.
Excellent.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Documenting the oral traditions of the Apache
and their tragic relocations to Florida, Oklahoma,
Bosque Redondo and return to Sierra Blanca where
peoples of Arizona, Texas and New Mexico all live
together today. Lynda Sanchez has been passed the
torch of previous residents of Ruidoso who lived
and became friends with the Mescalero and have
written down their stories and history.

[Richard Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the book is informative about Mescalero and Lipan Apache oral history, the presentation is somewhat uneven. In places it feels more like reading notes that can be turned into a book than a finished book. That notwithstanding, the book captures much of the pride, the humor and the sense of tragedy of a resilient people whose story has not always been told with sympathy by those who conquered them.