the–whispering–of–waves:

elodieunderglass:

rejectedprincesses:

rejectedprincesses:

Gouyen (c.1857-1903): Wise Woman of the Apache

Footnotes and citations available in the footnotes on the main site: click here.

Thanks to the Mescalero Apache Tribe for looking over the entry and okaying it for online publication. 

If you’re interested in the book, I put up a ton of details about it here, and you can preorder online here. 

Next entry, something less grim and gritty. More details behind the cut.

Keep reading

Thought I’d add some reference pictures used in the creation of this entry (this is the only reblog I’ll do for the full thing). First, we have Gouyen in later life, after she remarried and had a family:

Next, what I based her ceremonial outfit on:

And her regular wear:

Chief Quanah Parker, visual reference for the Comanche chief:

The Comanche knife:

And the dancers:

Sometimes when you are in a relationship you may look at your partner (perhaps they are sleeping, or doing something particularly sweet and vulnerable) and you ask yourself “what would I do if anyone hurt them?” - and your heart just roars in response. The answer can be worrying or surprising or frightening.

And here you know that if your heart answered chirpily, “If anyone hurt my partner, I would honestly kill them with my bare fucking teeth,” then there is a woman in history who shared this thought with you. 

And she did it. She straight-up killed someone with her bare fucking teeth. She went into that place, the place people are a little afraid of.

Maybe you don’t share much with other Disney princesses or heroes, but if you’ve ever had that thought, you share it with her.

This was a truly splendid reading experience, thank you.