Chiricahua and Janos: Communities of Violence in the Southwestern Borderlands, 1680-1880

Description

Borderlands violence| so explosive in our own time| has deep roots in history. Lance R. Blyth’s study of Chiricahua Apaches and the presidio of Janos in the U.S.-Mexican borderlands reveals how no single entity had a monopoly on coercion| and how violence became the primary means by which relations were established| maintained| or altered both within and between communities.
For more than two centuries| violence was at the center of the relationships by which Janos and Chiricahua formed their communities. Violence created families by turning boys into men through campaigns and raids| which ultimately led to marriage and also determined the provisioning and security of these families; acts of revenge and retaliation similarly governed their attempts to secure themselves even as trade and exchange continued sporadically. This revisionist work reveals how during the Spanish| Mexican| and American eras| elements of both conflict and accommodation constituted these two communities| which previous historians have often treated as separate and antagonistic. By showing not only the negative aspects of violence but also its potentially positive outcomes| “Chiricahua and Janos” helps us to understand violence not only in the southwestern borderlands but in borderland regions generally around the world.