In Geronimo’s Footsteps: A Journey beyond Legend by Corine Sombrun, Harlyn Geronimo (review)

Corine Sombrun heard the name “Geronimo” in a trance while she was an apprentice shaman in Mongolia. On assignment for the BBC, Sombrun had been told she was a shaman during a Mongolian ceremony. Once she realized that it was a reference to the legendary Apache leader, she made plans to travel to New Mexico to meet his great-grandson, Harlyn Geronimo, who is an activist for the Chiricahua Apache and working on securing the return of his great-grandfather’s bones. This book, told in the voice of both authors, traces the steps of Geronimo backwards in time from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he died, to his birth at the source of the Gila River in New Mexico.

During her journey, Sombrun was looking for a link between the Apache people of the American Southwest and the people of Mongolia. There are many discussions in this monograph between both writers as they compare the nature of Apache shamanism with that practiced in Mongolia. Sombrun provides a lot of details about things, like the candy wrappers in the back of the truck that they are driving. Harlyn Geronimo discusses his recollections of being a small boy at the knee of his great-grandmother as she related stories from the great Geronimo himself. The reader can see the bias in these stories, as Harlyn Geronimo is an advocate for his great-grandfather and the Apaches. His stories recount Geronimo’s life from the time when he was a small boy through his battles with the United States government, and finally his return as a prisoner to Fort Sill, where he remained until his death in 1909.

Both authors devote much of their narrative to discussing similarities between Apache and Mongolian shamanism, describing different ceremonies and medicinal uses for plants. They discover there is a great deal of similarity between them. In fact, by the end of the book, Harlyn Geronimo plans a trip to Mongolia to visit with shamans there. This book is truthfully more about shamanism than the history of Apaches or the great Geronimo. There is information about life as an Apache, as seen through the eyes of Geronimo, but since there are no references or bibliography there is no way to verify any of the information presented. Although the authors do a wonderful job aligning shamanism with the Apache lifestyle, additional outside reading would be necessary to validate the historical value of what is presented.

This book is interesting and anyone interested in holistic medicine or shamanism will find it valuable. Unfortunately as an historical monograph, there is little in this work that adds to the knowledge of what has already been published on Geronimo. This book might be helpful in a sociology or psychology class, but it would not be a useful source for a history class due to the lack of source material.