Autobiography. An autobiography is the story of a person’s life, written by that person. As you read, pay attention to the details Geronimo tells you about his life. Think about why he may have written his autobiography.
Point of View. Point of view is the vantage point from which a story is told. In a story told from the first-person point of view, the narrator takes part in the action and refers to himself or herself using words such as I and we. Autobiographies are usually told from the first-person point of view, since the narrator is writing about himself or herself. Would this selection have the same effect if it were written by somebody else?
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• Geronimo was an Apache. The name Apache comes from a Zuni word meaning “enemy.” The Apaches call themselves N’de or Dineh, which means “the people.” Originally, the Dineh were part of a larger group of native people called the Athapascans.
• The Dineh were nomadic, meaning they traveled from place to place as they hunted. Dineh men were great warriors and hunters. Dineh women were skilled artisans who wove beautiful, complex baskets.
• The Dineh shared their land peacefully with white settlers at first. As the U.S. and Mexican armies took more and more of their land, the Dineh began raiding settlers. In the 1870s, the United States government moved Dineh tribes from their homelands to reservations. Geronimo led a group who escaped the reservation many times. Geronimo and his followers surrendered to U.S. General Nelson Miles on September 4, 1886.
In this selection, Geronimo tells us about himself, but also about the Apache way of life. Using a cluster chart like this one, keep track of the information you learn about Apache customs.
If you were writing the story of your life, what would you want people to understand about you?
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