There are six main Apache groups, each of
which speaks a different dialect: (1) the Kiowa-Apache living near the Kiowa on
the Southern Plains, (2) the Lipan of eastern New Mexico and western Texas, (3)
the Jicarilla of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, (4) the Mescalero
of central New Mexico, (5) the Chiricahua of southern Arizona and southwestern
New Mexico, and (6) the Western Apache (or Coyotero) of central Arizona. In
historic times, various subgroups formed with their own tribal identities. The
Chiricahua were subdivided into the Chiricahua, Mimbreno, Mogollon (a name also
applied to a prehistoric culture), and Warm Springs (Ojo Caliente), and the
Western Apache included the San Carlos, White Mountain, Cibecue, and Tonto
subgroups.
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II
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HISTORY
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Early Apache were a nomadic people, ranging
over a wide area of what is now the United States; some groups roamed into
Mexico as well. They were primarily hunter-gatherers, with some bands hunting
buffalo (American bison) and some practicing limited farming. For centuries
they were fierce warriors, adept in wilderness survival, who carried out raids
on those who encroached on their territory.
The first intruders were the Spanish, who drove
northward into Apache territory in the late 1500s. The Spanish penetration
disrupted Apache trade connections with neighboring tribes. When New Mexico
became a Spanish colony in 1598, hostilities increased between Spaniards and
Apache. An influx of Comanche into traditional Apache territory in the early
1700s forced the Lipan and other Apache to move south of their main food
source, the buffalo. These displaced Apache began raiding Pueblo Indians and
non-Indian settlers for food.
Apache raids on settlers and migrants crossing
their lands continued into the period of American westward expansion and the
United States acquisition of New Mexico in 1848. Some Apache bands and the
United States military authorities engaged in fierce wars until the Apache were
pacified and moved to reservations. The Mescalero were subdued by 1868 and
placed on a reservation at Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico with the Navajo.
The Western Apache and their Yavapai allies were subdued in the U.S. military’s
Tonto Basin Campaign of 1872-1873. The Chiricahua chief Cochise signed a treaty
with the U.S. government in 1872 and moved with his band to an Apache
reservation in Arizona. But Apache resistance continued under the Mimbreno
chief Victorio from 1877 to 1880. The last band of Apache raiders, led in
ensuing years by the Chiricahua warrior Geronimo, was hunted down in 1886 and
sent first to Florida, then to Alabama, and finally to the Oklahoma Territory,
where they settled among the Kiowa-Apache.
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CUSTOMS AND RELIGION
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In traditional Apache culture, each band was made up of
extended families with a headman chosen for leadership abilities and exploits
in war. Men participated in hunting and raiding activities, while women
gathered food, wood, and water. Western Apache tribes were matrilineal, tracing
descent through the mother; other groups traced their descent through both
parents. Polygamy was practiced when economic circumstances permitted; marriage
could be terminated easily by either party. Most family units lived in
wickiups, dome-shaped brush huts erected by the women. Some families lived in
buffalo-hide tipis, especially among the Kiowa-Apache and Jicarilla. The Apache
made little pottery, and were known instead for their fine basketwork.
Religion was a fundamental part of Apache life.
Their pantheon of supernatural beings included Ussen (or Yusn), the Giver of
Life, and the ga’ns, or mountain spirits, who were represented in
religious rites such as healing and puberty ceremonies. Men dressed elaborately
to impersonate the ga’ns, wearing kilts, black masks, tall wooden-slat
headdresses, and body paint, and carrying wooden swords.
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CONTEMPORARY LIFE
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In the 2000 U.S. census about 57,000 people
identified themselves as Apache only; an additional 40,000 people reported
being part Apache. Many Apache live on reservations in Arizona and New Mexico.
Farming, cattle herding, and tourist-related businesses are important economic
activities. The modern Apache way of life is a mixture of traditional beliefs
and rituals, such as mountain spirit dances, and contemporary American culture.
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