Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is known to most as one of the greatest basketball players of all time and, of late, author and columnist of several publications. 

But to Edgar Perry, a White Mountain Apache Tribe member, he was a fellow history buff and friend. The two met in the mid-1990s when Abdul-Jabbar first visited Fort Apache while researching the history of the Buffalo Soldiers.

Abdul-Jabbar turned to Perry, the tribe’s cultural director at the time, for assistance, kicking off what would become years of an unlikely bond between one of the tribe’s most prominent elders and one of the world’s most prominent athletes. 

The pair maintained their friendship from a distance over the past two decades until Perry’s death on Aug. 12 due to complications from COVID-19, according to his family.

The 82-year-old was known as the tribe’s historian and cultural preservationist, playing a key role in the creation of the first Apache-English dictionary. He was popular and well-regarded within the community for his many talents, including as an artist, singer, writer and teacher. 

“He’s done so many things in his life; we could go on forever,” said Evangeline Warwick, one of Perry’s five daughters. “I think the daughters need to get together to write a book about him because there’s so much people don’t know about him.”

‘He was my father’s good friend’

Not long after meeting Abdul-Jabbar, Perry pitched a wild idea: would he consider coaching the local high school basketball team? 

“It was an outrageous proposition, but Edgar had a way of making it sound reasonable, even attractive,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote in statements to The Arizona Republic. “I was tempted because I liked the idea of coaching, and I felt a kinship with the tribe through our similar cultural histories.”

He ultimately accepted a position as the assistant coach at Alchesay High School during the 1998-1999 basketball season in Whiteriver, a small community on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation east of Phoenix. 

“Edgar asked me how much they would have to pay me to coach and I said one dollar,” he said. “When I left, they gave me a dollar from the 1870s. I still have it.”

The experience allowed Abdul-Jabbar a chance to teach classes about the Buffalo Soldiers, who were Black troops in the Army from just after the Civil War through World War II. They were stationed at Fort Huachuca near Sierra Vista in southern Arizona and Fort Apache between 1885 and the post’s closure in 1922, according to Fort Huachuca spokesperson Angela Camara. 

“I get asked a lot what would I have done if I hadn’t played basketball and I always say, ‘I would have been a history teacher,'” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Edgar gave me a chance to do just that.”

The two had a relatively simple friendship centered around hikes, eating meals together and conversations about history, explained Abdul-Jabbar.

“He showed me sacred spots, took me to various tribal ceremonies, including the Crown Dance and the Sunrise ceremonies,” he said. “He showed me places where Geronimo would hide from the U.S. Army.”

Perry through the years tried to keep their friendship under wraps, providing only glimpses to his own family. 

“He kind of kept all that information private because he was a famous person and he was a private person so my dad didn’t share much with us … we just knew that he was my father’s good friend,” Warwick said.

She recalled a time when she and her dad took students on a field trip to Abdul-Jabbar’s home in California to perform an Apache Mountain Spirit dance. To this day, Warwick considers Abdul-Jabbar a friend of the family and even wanted him to attend her dad’s funeral but wasn’t able to reach him in time. 

‘To us, he was very famous’

Perry, born in Whiteriver and raised in McNary, was the oldest of 10 children. At more than 6 feet tall, his height likely came in handy when he played sports, including basketball, in high school. 

He was married to his high school sweetheart, Corrine Perry, for more than 30 years until her death in 1993. Together, they shared five daughters — Warwick, Angeline Hoffman, Deborah Perry, Paula Perry and Elizabeth Perry.

The couple for many years taught at a handful of schools on the reservation before he went on to become the founding member and director of the White Mountain Apache Cultural Center and Museum.

As the director, Perry helped create the first Apache-English dictionary released in 1972, according to The Baltimore Sun. In collaboration with other tribal members and editor Dorothy Bray, he also helped create a second dictionary, which had about five times as many words as the first and took nearly 15 years to edit, the newspaper reported. A new paperback copy of the dictionary currently runs for more than $900 on Amazon.

“For countless generations to come, Edgar Perry’s selfless work to preserve Ndee language, culture and history will continue to bless our children and grandchildren, leaving a legacy that will endure as long as the mountains, rivers and trees that adorn our homeland,” the tribe’s Chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatewood wrote in a proclamation dedicated to Perry. 

Perry was often described as always smiling and having a great sense of humor.

Some of his hobbies over the years included crafting Apache moccasins, painting, singing and leading a group of traditional Apache dancers who traveled across the country to perform, according to his family. 

“To us, he was very famous,” said Warwick.

“I’m just so grateful he taught us about the importance of education and then also sharing with us his artistic ability and love of music,” she continued. “He was amazing.” 

COVID-19 spreads among family 

Perry in the later years of his life was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s dementia, according to Warwick. He also had diabetes, she said.

In early June, the White Mountain Apache Tribe surpassed the Navajo Nation in total number of COVID-19 cases per capita, meaning it had one of the highest infection rates in the country. 

DOWNWARD TREND: White Mountain Apache Tribe sees 4th day of no new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks

That also was when the virus spread to Perry, all five of his daughters and five of their children and grandchildren, Warwick said. Like in many Native American communities, several members of the family live under the same roof, including Perry who at the time lived with Paula, she explained. 

Perry’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth, 49, died on June 30 due to complications from COVID-19, according to the family. 

“She was the light of the party, you know, she was very outspoken and very intelligent,” Warwick said, adding that Elizabeth was a mother of two and had two degrees from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.

Nearly two months later, Perry also died of COVID-19. He was staying at a nursing home in Mesa while Paula was also battling the virus.

“It was not easy for me to put him to bed, put him in the wheelchair and what not,” she explained. 

Perry was buried in a cemetery in Cedar Creek on Aug. 20. The rest of the family is on the path to recovery.

‘He’s inspired me to try to be the same’

Abdul-Jabbar looks back on his time spent on the reservation with fondness, in large part due to Perry and the tribe’s ability to make him feel at home. 

“He didn’t have to do much because I felt right at home almost immediately,” he said.

“I’ll never forget the time I got pulled over by a police car. Back in L.A. if a patrol car pulled me over, I’d be tense in anticipation and even fearful for my life,” he continued. “But these guys just wanted to warn me of the deer ahead and chat about the basketball team.”

He didn’t go on to coach another season at Alchesay High School but documented the experience and his friendship with Perry in his book, “A Season on the Reservation,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Their friendship was also referenced in January 1999 articles in The Washington Post and The Seattle Times. 

Abdul-Jabbar said he visited Perry a couple of times after leaving his coaching position. Perry also visited him at his home in Los Angeles while in town for the Rose Parade, he said. They talked, reminisced about Abdul-Jabbar’s coaching days in Whiteriver and then said goodbye.

“That was our last time together. But I thought of him often, of his generosity and his commitment to his community,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He’s inspired me to try to be the same.”

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @curtis_chels. 

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