She is, for Apache people today, part of the foundation of identity — a specific person from the specific history that constitutes who the Apache are and what they have survived.

For the broader project of American historical understanding, her recovery challenges the narrative of the Apache Wars as a story of inevitable conquest.

The Apache resistance was not a simple military campaign against a primitive enemy.

It was a sustained, sophisticated resistance by people with exceptional capabilities, fighting for their homeland against an opponent with vastly greater resources.

The specific individuals who made that resistance possible — including Lozen — deserve recognition as the formidable figures they were.

For the even broader project of recovering the contributions of women and Indigenous people to American history, her story is evidence of what was lost and what is being found.