Old token question...Again

[johnnycat]

I asked this same question a couple of years ago and got no response. I just figured I would try again. Anyway, a couple of years ago I was in the county library here in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and was reading a very interesting article on the Apache warrior, Geronimo. The article was mostly about his being held at the San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona. What really sparked my interest was the fact that he had finally accepted the fact the he, along with the other Native Americans were required to wear I.D. tags around their necks. I've asked a few people about this and have never received a good answer. I wonder if the writer was making this up or if it's true

[Mackaydon]

Authorities forced Apaches to wear identification numbers and tags.

“… General Crook … introduced (the system of “tagging”) … for the better protection of the Indians, as well as to enable the commanding officers to tell at a moment’s notice just where each and every one of the males capable of bearing arms was to be found. These tags were of various shapes, but all small and convenient in size; there were crosses, crescents, circles, diamonds, squares, triangles, etc. , each specifying a particular band, and each with the number of its owner punched upon it.” (Captain John Gregory Bourke, Third U. S. Calvary, Staff Member, General George Crook, Commander, Department of Arizona. In On the Border with Crook 1962:219. )

Source: http://www.chiricahua-apache.com/chi...n-reservation/


Don....