2021 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 280
In discussing this painting the artist writes, “The first horse, so Apache legend holds, was made by ‘Changing Woman’ wife of the sun. This horse had hooves of agate, a mane from rainclouds, and eyes from stars.
“‘Changing Woman’s’ twin sons, ‘Monster Slayer’ and ‘Child Born of Water’ brought this gift to the ‘People’ and taught them that ‘Raiding and War’ were spiritually directed and if warriors honored this belief system, that the ‘Gan’ or ‘Mountain Spirits’ would conceal and protect them.
“So evolved the bandit culture of the Chiricahua Apache. With their blessed possession the horse, and the rugged topography of their home, they were able to put off the day – for a half century or so – when the encroachment of civilization and the march of technological progress would subdue them all.”