Why Recovery Matters: A Final Reflection

The recovery of Lozen’s story — begun by Ball and the other historians of the mid-twentieth century, continued by subsequent scholars and writers, and now reaching a wider audience through the popular history that has grown around her name — is important for reasons that go beyond the historical record.

It is important because the systematic exclusion of Indigenous women from American historical narratives has consequences for how Americans understand their country and its history.

A history that does not include Lozen is a history that does not include the full range of what the Apache resistance was — the specific capabilities it developed, the specific values it expressed, the specific individuals who made it possible.