He seemed almost in a trance and didn't notice the edge on my voice. "My grandfather told me that his tribe were the N'de, `the people'. He said `Apache' was what the Zuni people, the ones who built huts of mud called us. They called us `Apache', which means `enemy', because we were great fighters.
"He said our people came from the lower world where there was no light. Our people wanted to know if there was another world so they sent Wind above to find out. But Wind did not return. Then they sent Crow, but he did not come back either. Next Beaver went out but he did not return. Finally they sent Badger, and Badger came back and told them about the world above.
"The people then sent four men to look over the world above. They were called by the word that means Indians. These four took the flat, dry land and formed it for the people. They made mountains and hills and arroyos and water. Then they called up all the animal people and tree people, the bird people, the grass people...even the rock and plant people. Then the real humans came out.
"When the humans came out of the lower world they began to walk around the earth in a great circle clockwise and different tribes settled in different places. At the very end of the journey, he said, the N'de dropped off. We were the last people to find a home." This was the most I had heard him say in one sitting. His voice told the story much as it must have been told him. He spoke with reverence, rhythm and meter, like he was reciting a sacred poem. I turned the radio off.
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