Throughout his essay Basso repeatedly deals with the question of what is required to interpret statements made by Apache's about their land (Basso 1996: 39). For help with this question and many others he visited an old wise Apache man by the name of Nick Thompson. As soon as Basso mentions his curiosity of the meanings of geographical names for Apaches, Nick simply tells him to "learn the names. Learn the names of all these places" (Basso 1996: 42). This is the first step Basso takes in properly interpreting

Now that Basso has acquired a large amount of information he can begin to interpret the statements made by natives earlier. A statement made by Nick Thompson includes, "We know the names of the places where everything happened. So we stay away from badness" (Basso 1996: 38). Nick is saying that they stay away from badness because they are reminded of the stories when they see a place or hear its place-names. When the Apaches are reminded of their stories they are also reminded of the rules and regulations, as well as the punishments that come along with doing something inappropriate. When speaking of children in a passage, Ronnie Lupe states, "They don't know the stories about what happened at these places. That's why some get into trouble" (Basso 1996: 38). Lupe is obviously concerned that the important knowledge of the stories and their locations is not being passed onto the next generation. Perhaps the most memorable quote comes from Annie Peaches when she says, "the land is always stalking people" (Basso 1996: 38). Only after devoting himself to research is Basso capable of understanding this. The land stalks people because they remember the stories and no matter where they are, reminders of the places and stories are present.

Although Basso's essay is primarily about the Western Apache Natives, and why their land has such a special meaning to it, there are broader messages as well. He is very concerned with people's lack of interest in other cultures and what their environments mean (Basso 1996: 66). We must develop knowledge for all human beings, and be able to clearly unders

Some topics in this essay:
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