The idea that this name means "morning star" or even is a real Apache name is problematic. Though it is true that the screenwriters of "Broken Arrow" did not make up the name but took it from John Carey Cremony's book "Life Among the Apaches", Cremony himself may not be an accurate source at all. One online article about Cremony includes the following:"Cremony authored Life Among the Apaches, published in 1869, which described his experiences with the tribe. Historians of the West have come to deem many of Cremony's accounts of his Indian campaigns extravagant. The Arizona Evening Star compared his veracity to that of Baron Munchausen, and a soldier who served under him did not "believe anything he says except when he says he wants whiskey."In an online Apache-English dictionary there is nothing like "Son-see-ah-ray" meaning "morning star." The phrase "morning star" usually refers to the planet Venus as seen in the night sky, and according to the dictionary the Apache word for Venus is Disǫséchoh, which literally means "big star." The Apache word for "morning" according to the dictionary is dahbįh or tahbih, while the word for "star" is tsʼiłsǫǫsé, chʼiłsǫǫsé, tsʼiłtsʼǫǫsé, or chʼiłtsʼǫǫsé. (Perhaps these are dialectical variations.) It also seems from the dictionary that the Apache language does not contain the sound of English "r" at all. The dictionary I found is for "Western Apache." I suppose it's just barely possible another dialect of Apache contains something like Son-see-ah-ray, but it doesn't seem very likely to me. It's possible Cremony misheard or misinterpreted something he heard, but I think it's just as likely he made this name up out of whole cloth to add some romantic nonsense about Apache names when writing his book.
― Anonymous User 9/23/2024, edited 9/23/2024
3
Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.
"Cremony authored Life Among the Apaches, published in 1869, which described his experiences with the tribe. Historians of the West have come to deem many of Cremony's accounts of his Indian campaigns extravagant. The Arizona Evening Star compared his veracity to that of Baron Munchausen, and a soldier who served under him did not "believe anything he says except when he says he wants whiskey."
In an online Apache-English dictionary there is nothing like "Son-see-ah-ray" meaning "morning star." The phrase "morning star" usually refers to the planet Venus as seen in the night sky, and according to the dictionary the Apache word for Venus is Disǫséchoh, which literally means "big star." The Apache word for "morning" according to the dictionary is dahbįh or tahbih, while the word for "star" is tsʼiłsǫǫsé, chʼiłsǫǫsé, tsʼiłtsʼǫǫsé, or chʼiłtsʼǫǫsé. (Perhaps these are dialectical variations.) It also seems from the dictionary that the Apache language does not contain the sound of English "r" at all.
The dictionary I found is for "Western Apache." I suppose it's just barely possible another dialect of Apache contains something like Son-see-ah-ray, but it doesn't seem very likely to me.
It's possible Cremony misheard or misinterpreted something he heard, but I think it's just as likely he made this name up out of whole cloth to add some romantic nonsense about Apache names when writing his book.