Visit to Disneyland Expands World of Apaches

Beneath the Disneyland monorail, a band of Apache Indians listened respectfully Tuesday to the same blessing that Geronimo and Cochise had heard before going into battle against the U.S. Cavalry a century ago.

Facing heavenward with closed eyes, medicine man Reppert Cassadore beseeched the good will of Indian spirits for the 60 Apaches who stood around him.

When the prayer was over, the Indians--many of them elderly people who had left their San Carlos Reservation in Arizona for the first time--blinked in wonderment at the new sights. They were joining a group of 78 other Apaches from the White Mountain Reservation in Arizona for a long-anticipated day at Disneyland.

“To them, it’s a thing they will always remember--that they can tell their grandchildren that Disneyland is real,” said Reno Johnson, chairman of the White Mountain Apache Nation.

Although children on the two reservations wanted to go along on the four-day visit to Orange County theme parks and beaches, said trip organizer Elizabeth Classay, this was intended only for the elderly Indians because most had never ventured beyond the reservations.

“They are getting too old,” Classay said. “This is the first--and maybe their last--trip (to the outside world).”

The two reservations, which sprawl over a wide area of alpine forests and desert plateau, were established by the U.S. government during the Apache Wars of the 1870s and 1880s. Many of the older residents said they are descendants of Geronimo, whose band of warriors was headquartered at the San Carlos Reservation. The Apache Wars ended Sept. 4, 1886, when Geronimo and 16 warriors surrendered to Brig. Gen. Nelson A. Miles in Skeleton Canyon, near the Mexican border.

The $290 necessary for each person to go on this week’s trip was raised by selling Indian-made cradle boards, jewelry and burden baskets, Classay said.

Wearing colorful dress that drew stares from camera-toting tourists, the tour group participated in the Main Street Parade and then endured a photo session in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Then, they got around to the really important business: going on the amusement rides.

Ranging in age from late 50s to 95, the Indians mostly steered clear of high-action rides such as Splash Mountain. However, 74-year-old Alice Wesley didn’t realize until after she had been fastened in that the Matterhorn bobsled ride was not exactly suited for seniors.

“Ohhh, it almost gave me a heart attack,” she wailed afterward.

At 95, San Carlos Reservation matriarch Mae Dewey felt quite comfortable easing out of her wheelchair and mounting an artificial steed on the Disneyland merry-go-round.

“It brings back the memories of when I was a little girl and I used to gather acorns in the mountains,” Dewey said later.

Seeing the Indians in their red, pink and yellow dresses, a vacationing couple from England tried to present their daughter to Dewey. Eyes twinkling in delight, Dewey reached out to shake the shy girl’s hand--and then suddenly pulled her close.

“Don’t be afraid,” Dewey said with a laugh. “I’m tame now.”