The Apache & Navajo tribal groups of the North American Southwest speak related languages from the Athabaskan language family. Other Athabaskan-speaking people in North America continue to reside in Alaska, western Canada, & the Northwest Pacific Coast. Anthropologists suggest that the Apache & Navajo peoples lived in these same northern locales before migrating to the Southwest sometime between AD 1200 & 1500.
In April 1541, while traveling on the plains east of the Pueblo region, Francisco Coronado referred to the people as "dog nomads." He wrote: After seventeen days of travel, I came upon a 'rancheria' of the Indians who follow these cattle (bison). These natives are called Querechos. They do not cultivate the land, but eat raw meat & drink the blood of the cattle they kill. They dress in the skins of the cattle, with which all the people in this land clothe themselves, & they have very well-constructed tents, made with tanned & greased cowhides, in which they live & which they take along as they follow the cattle. They have dogs which they load to carry their tents, poles, & belongings.
When the Spanish arrived in the area, trade between the Pueblo peoples & the Southern Athabaskan was well established. They reported the Pueblo exchanged maize & woven cotton goods for bison meat, & hides & materials for stone tools. Coronado observed the Plains people wintering near the Pueblo in established camps. Later Spanish sovereignty over the area disrupted trade between the Pueblo & the Apache & Navajo groups. The Apache quickly acquired horses, improving their mobility for quick raids on settlements. In addition, the Pueblo were forced to work Spanish mission lands & care for mission flocks; they had fewer surplus goods to trade with their neighbors.
In 1540, Coronado reported that the modern Western Apache area was uninhabited, although some scholars suggest, that he simply did not see the American Indians. Other Spanish explorers first mention "Querechos" living west of the Rio Grande in the 1580s. In general, the recent Spanish colonists, who settled in villages, & the Apache bands developed a pattern of uneasy interaction over a few centuries. Both raided & traded with each other. Records of the period seem to indicate that relationships depended upon the specific villages & specific bands that were involved with each other. For example, one band might be friends with one village & raid another. When war happened, the Spanish would send troops; after a battle both sides would "sign a treaty," & both sides would go home.
These traditional & sometimes treacherous relationships continued between the villages & bands with the independence of Mexico in 1821. By 1835, Mexico had placed a bounty on Apache scalps, but certain Spanish villages were still trading with some Native bands. When the United States went to war against Mexico in 1846, many Apache bands promised U.S. soldiers safe passage through their lands. When the U.S. claimed former territories of Mexico in 1846, leader Mangas Coloradas signed a peace treaty with the nation, respecting them as conquerors of the Mexicans' land. An uneasy peace between the Apache & the new citizens of the United States held until the 1850s. An influx of gold miners into the Santa Rita Mountains led to conflict with the Apache. This period is sometimes called the Apache Wars.
In 1875, United States military forced the removal of an estimated 1500 Yavapai & Dilzhe'e Apache (better known as Tonto Apache) from the Rio Verde Indian Reserve & the several thousand acres of treaty lands promised to them by the United States government. At the orders of the Indian Commissioner, L.E. Dudley, U.S. Army troops made the people, young & old, walk through winter-flooded rivers, mountain passes, & narrow canyon trails to get to the Indian Agency at San Carlos, 180 miles away. The trek resulted in the loss of several hundred lives of Native Americans. The people were held there in internment for 25 years, while white settlers took over their lands.
Generally Apache peoples lived in extended family units (or family clusters); they usually lived close together, with each nuclear family in separate dwellings. An extended family generally consisted of a husband & wife, their unmarried children, their married daughters, their married daughters' husbands, & their married daughters' children. Thus, the extended family is connected through a lineage of women who live together, into which a man may enter upon marriage (leaving behind his parents' family). When a daughter married, a new dwelling was built nearby for her & her husband. Among the Navajo, residence rights are ultimately derived from a head mother. Although the Western Apache usually practiced matrilocal residence, sometimes the eldest son chose to bring his wife to live with his parents after marriage.
Several extended families worked together as a "local group," which carried out certain ceremonies, & economic & military activities. Political control was mostly present at the local group level. Local groups were headed by a chief, a male who had considerable influence over others in the group due to his effectiveness & reputation. The chief was the closest societal role to a leader in Apache cultures. The office was not hereditary, & the position was often filled by members of different extended families.
Many Apache peoples joined together several local groups into "bands." Band organization was strongest among the Chiricahua & Western Apache, while among the Lipan & Mescalero, it was weak. The Navajo did not organize local groups into bands, perhaps because of the requirements of the sheep-herding economy. However, the Navajo did have "the outfit," a group of relatives that was larger than the extended family, but not as large as a local group community or a band.
All people in the Apache tribe lived in one of 3 types of houses. The first of which is the teepee, for those who lived in the plains. Another was the wickiup, an 8-foot-tall frame of wood held together with yucca fibers & covered in brush usually used in the Apache groups in the highlands. If a family member lived in a wickiup & they died, their wickiup would be burned. The final housing type was the hogan, an earthen structure in the desert area that was good for cool keeping in the hot weather of northern Mexico.
Apache people obtained food from 4 main sources:
hunting wild animals,
gathering wild plants,
growing domesticated plants
trading with or raiding neighboring tribes for livestock & agricultural products.
The most common hunting weapon, generally used by men, before the introduction of European guns, was the bow & arrow. Various hunting strategies were used. Some techniques involved using animal head masks worn as a disguise. Whistles were sometimes used to lure animals closer. Another technique was the relay method where hunters positioned at various points would chase the prey in turns in order to tire the animal. A similar method involved chasing the prey down a steep cliff.
The gathering of plants & other foods was primarily accomplished by women. However, in certain activities, such as the gathering of heavy agave crowns, men helped, although the men's job was usually to hunt deer, buffalo, & small game. Numerous plants were used for medicine & religious ceremonies in addition their nutritional usage. Other plants were utilized for only their religious or medicinal value. Plants utilized by the Plains Apache include: chokecherries, blackberries, grapes, prairie turnips, wild onions, & wild plums. Numerous other fruits, vegetables, & tuberous roots were also used.
The Apaches participate in many religious dances, including the rain dance, dances for the crop & harvest, & a spirit dance. These dances were mostly for influencing the weather & enriching their food resources.
