Apache Ancestors

Ever since I was a little girl and first heard the stories about my Apache ancestors, I have been fascinated and proud to have that blood run through my veins.  I have a love for the Apaches that I haven't been able to explain, even to myself.  In college, one of my first English papers was about my 5x great grandfather, Mangas Coloradas.  I was in awe of how courageous this Apache Chief was, in spite of all the dangers, to keep his people on their lands.  His bravery and sacrifice sparked a love in me that I have never been able to shake.  From an early age, I knew that from somewhere before, I know him and he knows me. 

As my life continued, I always felt a need to seek out this Apache line of my genealogy.  I have often times told my mom that this line always "bothers me."  There is something about these people that have been calling to me from the dust.  When we moved to Texas, the "bothering" was so overwhelming that I actually printed out a bunch of pedigree charts and taped them to the wall so I could figure out where I came from and what about this people was bothering me so much.  But I had five small children and again the need to do genealogy always came last.  I always thought, I'll figure it out when the kids get older. 

They are calling to me again, this time, the kids are older.  I am hearing their call and I am now answering.  As I began to really research these people and read about their wanderings, I realized that every place they went, I have physically been.  I have been to Fort Sill, OK, when my oldest son graduated from basic training.  I have been to Ruidosa, NM, when we were on the way to Texas once and we took a wrong turn, ending up in Ruidosa, which sits on the top of a forested mountain.  I have been to Safford, AZ, when we lived there for a few years as newlyweds.  As the story of their wanderings unfolded to me and this realization sunk in, tears came to my eyes and my heart sank.  All this time, I could have been doing their work, I was in all the places they had been but had neglected to search them out.  I could have taken pictures of headstones in those areas had I been actively looking for them and knowing their history then.  I could have done so much work for them. 

But I'm here now and regrets can't get me that information now.  As I began to research that line again, I found that someone else had taken all the pictures I needed.  I have been going forward and have been led to their information, to one daughter-in-law of Mangas in particular.  She has called out to me from one grandmother to another.  Understanding the love a grandmother has for her grandchildren has drawn me to Bey-ih-tsun. 

Before she married Mangas' son, Seth-mooda, she was married to another man whose name we don't know and had a little baby girl, Ken-i-ee-nidlth.  Somewhere along the line, Bey-ih-tsun's husband died and she ended up marrying Seth-mooda and he raised Ken-i-ee-nidlth as his own.  She grew up and married Tse-De-Kizen Sundayman.  They had three children, Grace Rose, Jessie, and Waldo, Jr.  My eyes were drawn to the "Jr." part of Waldo's name and in my mind I heard "Tse-De-Kizen Sundayman is Waldo."  As I went on, I found the graves of the children and mother all in Oklahoma.  Grace Rose lived the longest, to age 16.  As I put these dates into my family tree, I felt overwhelming excitement.  So much excitement, in fact, that I had to say out loud, "Hold on, I'm getting it!"  I felt as if Ken-i-ee-nidlth was so happy that I found her and her three small children in a little corner of an Oklahoma cemetery.  I couldn't find Tse-De-Kizen.  Nothing more was found about him.  It was almost as if he had buried his whole life in Oklahoma and then just disappeared.  In my mind, I heard these words, "Keep looking."  I continued to search.  I found the record of a Waldo Sundayman that was married and had four children in New Mexico.  Is this the same man?  I couldn't be sure, until I heard the words again, "Keep looking."  I then opened another census record and in black and white this same man, married to a new wife with four children, had the name Waldo Tse-De-Kizen Sundayman.  This was him.  I found him. 

"As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that people who have died without essential gospel ordinances may receive those ordinances through the work done in temples. You may do this work in behalf of your ancestors and others who have died. Acting for them, you can be baptized and confirmed, receive the endowment, and participate in the sealings of husband to wife and children to parents.

You should actively search for the records of your deceased ancestors so temple work can be performed for them." --True to the Faith

For Bey-ih-tsun, I have found those little grandchildren of hers and will take their names to the temple so that they can be sealed forever to each other.  I know that someday, I will stand face to face with Bey-ih-tsun and we will hold each other and cry with gratitude as only a grandmother can.