Ethan Hawke’s Indeh Is a Graphic Novel History of Two Peoples

Hawke and Ruth focus on a significant triumvirate of Apache figures during the period: Cochise, chief of the Chokonen band of the Chiricahua Apache, who led the uprising against the American government from around the time of the U.S. Civil War and for about a decade onward; his son and heir, Naiche; and Geronimo, the legendary, almost preternaturally gifted warrior obsessed with revenge. The three men begin in the same place, but travel down conflicting roads through war and peace, with the slaughter of Geronimo’s family spurring him on to fight Mexican and American settlers well after Cochise and many of the Chiricahua have accepted a type of peace, having come to see the battle for their lands and lifestyle as hopeless.
Though Hawke’s name will likely draw the most attention, Ruth’s art is indispensable. He’s worked on books as varied as Conan the Barbarian and Freaks of the Heartland, and his incredibly detailed pencil work is always hauntingly beautiful. Here, it takes the form of rich and evocative faces set against stark western landscapes. There’s a great deal of violence inherent in the tale, and the creators don’t shy away from it, but neither foes Ruth’s oversell it. His art always returns to the warriors’ faces, to the leaders and civilians who all play a role in what is the tragic end of an era for people of the First Nations.

While most of the book focuses on Geronimo, painting him as an often-ruthless leader, it ends with the surrender of Cochise, which put Geronimo on the path to becoming the figure of legend: the mythic folk hero, and, in some ways, stereotypical representation of the “good” Native—one who played by the rules, showed up at the World’s Fair, sold autographs, converted to Christianity, and even scored an invitation to Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration. That’s all outside the scope of the story, but it’s to Hawke and Ruth’s credit that the sense of an inescapable future hangs over the slice of history between the pages. (Perhaps rare for a graphic novel, even a dramatized bit of non-fiction, the book includes a rather extensive bibliography.) As an aside: readers interested in the period are encouraged to dig deeper with Eve Ball’s seminal ethnography Indeh: An Apache Odyssey, a key work on the Apache Wars, and one of Hawke and Ruth’s main sources.
It’s hard to pin down Hawke’s moral take on the whole of the Apache Wars: while there’s a fair bit of shading among the Apache characters, American soldiers are generally, but not exclusively, portrayed negatively. Geronimo might be the hero of the story (in as much as there are heroes to be found), but General Oliver O. Howard winds up being the ultimate force for peace. There are quiet moments between Apaches and U.S. soldiers that show a bit more tenderness than the actual events might have allowed for.
In a story this fraught, I’m not sure that the ambiguity is avoidable, or even to be considered a flaw. By focusing on the life of Geronimo long before he became a household name among white people as well as Apaches, Hawke and Ruth create a portrait of a complex man who was more than the revenge-obsessed war leader of his youth, and quite a bit more than the tourist attraction that he became. As a reader, it’s tempting to root for peace when the story is this ugly and bloody, but peace at what cost? The surrender of Cochise and, eventually, Geronimo, may have been inevitable, but there’s no sense of triumph, and that’s as it should be. If Hawke’s name draws more readers to this still-relevant piece of history, that’s not a bad thing, especially given the craftsmanship and sensitivity that he and Greg Ruth bring to story.
Indeed: A Story of the Apache Wars is available on June 7.