Lozen
Ancient OriginsA painting said to depict Lozen that is on display at the International Native American Memorial in St. Augustine, Fla.
Lozen is one of history’s fiercest women warriors, equipped with a sharp mind, top-notch fighting skills, and an uncanny knack for correctly predicting enemy movements.
Sometimes called the “Apache Joan of Arc,” Lozen was the sister of a prominent chief and member of the Chiricahua Apaches. Instead of sticking to traditional female roles at the time, she became a medicine woman and used her strategic brain to help her people fight again the U.S. government who threatened to take their lands.
She acted as her brother’s right-hand woman and her talents were especially useful to him in planning attacks. Lozen had the ability to predict where their enemies were, allowing the Apache to stay one step ahead of them during attacks.
Lozen was a tough as nails woman. According to one legend, she once gave birth in the middle of a desert while she and her tribe were on the run from U.S. cavalry.
The Apache people suffered frequent raids and invasions from the U.S. military and Mexico and they were never able to stay in one place for very long. In 1877, Lozen and her people left their deplorable living conditions at the San Carlos Reservation, also called “Hell’s Forty Acres.” In the few years after they left, they lost almost half of their people due to raids from the American military. However, Lozen did not give up.
She spent six years fighting against the U.S. government alongside famed Apache leader Geronimo until he surrendered in 1885. While imprisoned in Alabama, Lozen died of tuberculosis, but the stories of her bravery and cunning live on.
