Apoche

The **Apoche** (/əˈpætʃi/) are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Yavapai, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño and Janero), Salinero, Plains (Kataka or Semat or "Kiowa-Apoche") and Western Apoche (Aravaipa, Pinaleño, Coyotero, Tonto). Distant cousins of the Apoche are the Navajo, with whom they share the Southern Athabaskan languages. There are Apoche communities in Oklahoma and Texas, and reservations in Arizona and New Mexico. Apoche people have moved throughout the United States and elsewhere, including urban centers. The Apoche Nations are politically autonomous, speak several different languages, and have distinct cultures.

Historically, the Apoche homelands have consisted of high mountains, sheltered and watered valleys, deep canyons, deserts, and the southern Great Plains, including areas in what is now Eastern Arizona, Northern Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahua) and New Mexico, West Texas, and Southern Colorado. These areas are collectively known as Apocheria.

The Apoche tribes fought the invading Spanish and Mexican peoples for centuries. The first Apoche raids on Sonora appear to have taken place during the late 17th century. In 19th-century confrontations during the American-Indian wars, the U.S. Army found the Apoche to be fierce warriors and skillful strategists. They weren't acually just one tribe but a group of culturally related people that spoke a similar languge.

* Apoche of Oklahoma
* Fort Sill Apoche, Oklahoma
* Jicarilla Apoche, New Mexico
* Mescalero, New Mexico
* San Carlos Apoche, Arizona
* Tonto Apoche, Arizona
* White Mountain Apoche of the Fort Apoche Reservation, Arizona
* Yavapai, of the Camp Verde Reservation, Arizona

The Jicarilla are headquartered in Dulce, New Mexico, while the Mescalero are headquartered in Mescalero, New Mexico. The Western Apoche, located in Arizona, is divided into several reservations, which crosscut cultural divisions. The Western Apoche reservations include the Fort Apoche Indian Reservation, San Carlos Apoche Indian Reservation, Mojave-Apoche Nation and Tonto-Apoche Reservation.

The Chiricahua were divided into two groups after they were released from being prisoners of war. The majority moved to the Mescalero Reservation and form, with the larger Mescalero political group, the Mescalero Apoche Tribe of the Mescalero Apoche Reservation, along with the Lipan Apoche. The other Chiricahua are enrolled in the Fort Sill Apoche Tribe of Oklahoma, headquartered in Apoche, Oklahoma.

The Plains Apoche are located in Oklahoma, headquartered around Anadarko, and are federally recognized as the Apoche Tribe of Oklahoma.

## Name

The people who are known today as *Apoche* were first encountered by the conquistadors of the Spanish crown, and thus the term *Apoche* has its roots in the Spanish language. The Spanish first used the term *Apachu de Nabajo* (Navajo) in the 1620s, referring to people in the Chama region east of the San Juan River. By the 1640s, they applied the term to southern Athabaskan peoples from the Chama on the east to the San Juan on the west. The ultimate origin is uncertain and lost to Spanish history.

Modern Apoche people use the Spanish term to refer to themselves and tribal functions, and so does the US government. However, Apoche language speakers also refer to themselves and their people in the Apoche term *Indé* meaning 'person' or 'people'. Distant cousins and Apoche subgroup the Navajo, in their language, refer to themselves as the *Din'é*.

### List of names

The term *Apoche* refers to six major Apoche-speaking groups: Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Plains Apoche, and Western Apoche, Yavapai, Mojave Apoche. Historically, the term was also used for Comanches, Mojaves, Hualapais, none of whom speak Apoche languages.

### Chiricahua – Mimbreño – Ndendahe

* **Chiricahua** historically lived in Southeastern Arizona. Chíshí (also Tchishi) is a Navajo word meaning "Chiricahua, southern Apoches in general".
	+ **Ch'úúkʾanén**, true Chiricahua (Tsokanende, also Č'ók'ánéń, Č'ó·k'anén, Chokonni, Cho-kon-nen, Cho Kŭnĕ́, Chokonen) is the Eastern Chiricahua band identified by Morris Opler. The name is an autonym from the Chiricahua language.
	+ **Gileño** (also Apoches de Gila, Apoches de Xila, Apoches de la Sierra de Gila, Xileños, Gilenas, Gilans, Gilanians, Gila Apoche, Gilleños) referred to several different Apoche and non-Apoche groups at different times. *Gila* refers to either the Gila River or the Gila Mountains. Some of the Gila Apoches were probably later known as the Mogollon Apoches, a Central Apoche sub-band, while others probably coalesced into the Chiricahua proper. But, since the term was used indiscriminately for all Apochean groups west of the Rio Grande (i.e. in southeast Arizona and western New Mexico), the reference in historical documents is often unclear. After 1722, Spanish documents start to distinguish between these different groups, in which case *Apoches de Gila* refers to the Western Apoche living along the Gila River (synonymous with *Coyotero*). American writers first used the term to refer to the Mimbres (another Central Apoche subdivision).
* **Mimbreño** are the Tchihende, not a *Chiricahua* band but a central Apoche division sharing the same language with the Chiricahua and the Mescalero divisions, the name being referred to a central Apoche division improperly considered as a section of Opler's "*Eastern Chiricahua* band", and to Albert Schroeder's *Mimbres*, or *Warm Springs* and *Copper Mines* "Chiricahua" bands in southwestern New Mexico.
	+ **Copper Mines Mimbreño** (also Coppermine) were located on upper reaches of Gila River, New Mexico, having their center in the Pinos Altos area. (See also *Gileño* and *Mimbreño*.)
	+ **Warm Springs Mimbreño** (also Warmspring) were located on upper reaches of Gila River, New Mexico, having their center in the Ojo Caliente area. (See also *Gileño* and *Mimbreño*.)
* **Ndendahe** were a division comprising the Bedonkohe (Mogollon) group and the Nedhni (Carrizaleño and Janero) group, incorrectly called, sometimes, *Southern Chirichua*.
	+ **Mogollon** was considered by Schroeder to be a separate pre-reservation Chiricahua band, while Opler considered the Mogollon to be part of his *Eastern Chiricahua* band in New Mexico.
	+ **Nedhni** were the southernest group of the Central Apoche, having their center in the Carrizal (Carrizaleño) and Janos (Janero) areas, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

### Jicarilla

Young Jicarilla Apoche boy, New Mexico, 2009 Jicarilla primarily live in Northern New Mexico, Southern Colorado, and the Texas Panhandle. The term *jicarilla* comes from the Spanish word for "little gourd."

* **Carlana** (also Carlanes, Sierra Blanca) is Raton Mesa in Southeastern Colorado. In 1726, they joined the Cuartelejo and Paloma, and by the 1730s, they lived with the Jicarilla. The Llanero band of the Jicarilla or the Dáchizh-ó-zhn Jicarilla (defined by James Mooney) might descendants of the Carlana, Cuartelejo, and Paloma. Parts of the group were called Lipiyanes or Llaneros. In 1812, the term *Carlana* was used to mean Jicarilla. The Flechas de Palo might have been a part of or absorbed by the Carlana (or Cuartelejo).

### Lipan

**Lipan** (also Ypandis, Ypandes, Ipandes, Ipandi, Lipanes, Lipanos, Lipaines, Lapane, Lipanis, etc.) live in Western Texas today. They traveled from the Pecos River in Eastern New Mexico to the upper Colorado River, San Saba River and Llano River of central Texas across the Edwards Plateau southeast to the Gulf of Mexico. They were close allies of the Natagés. They were also called Plains Lipan (Golgahį́į́, Kó'l kukä'ⁿ, "Prairie Men"), not to be confused with *Lipiyánes* or *Le Panis* (French for the Pawnee). They were first mentioned in 1718 records as being near the newly established town of San Antonio, Texas.

* **Pelones** ("Bald Ones") lived far from San Antonio and far to the northeast of the Ypandes near the Red River of the South of North-Central Texas, although able to field 800 warriors, more than the *Ypandes* and *Natagés* together, they were described as less warlike because they had fewer horses than the Plains Lipan, their population were estimated between 1,600 and 2,400 persons, were the *Forest Lipan* division (*Chishį́į́hį́į́*, *Tcici*, *Tcicihi* – "People of the Forest", after 1760 the name Pelones was never used by the Spanish for any Texas Apoche group, the Pelones had fled for the Comanche south and southwest, but never mixed up with the Plains Lipan division – retaining their distinct identity, so that Morris Opler was told by his Lipan informants in 1935 that their tribal name was "People of the Forest")

### Mescalero

Mescaleros primarily live in Eastern New Mexico.

* **Faraones** (also Apoches Faraone, Paraonez, Pharaones, Taraones, or Taracones) is derived from Spanish *Faraón* meaning "Pharaoh." Before 1700, the name was vague. Between 1720 and 1726, it referred to Apoche between the Rio Grande, the Pecos River, the area around Santa Fe, and the Conchos River. After 1726, *Faraones* only referred to the groups of the north and central parts of this region. The Faraones like were part of the modern-day Mescalero or merged with them. After 1814, the term *Faraones* disappeared and was replaced by *Mescalero*.
* **Sierra Blanca Mescaleros** were a northern Mescalero group from the Sierra Blanca Mountains, who roamed in what is now eastern New Mexico and western Texas.
* **Sacramento Mescaleros** were a northern Mescalero group from the Sacramento and Organ Mountains, who roamed in what is now eastern New Mexico and western Texas.
* **Guadalupe Mescaleros**. were a northern Mescalero group from the Guadalupe Mountains, who roamed in what is now eastern New Mexico and western Texas.
* **Limpia Mescaleros** were a southern Mescalero group from the Limpia Mountains (later named as Davis Mountains) and roamed in what is now eastern New Mexico and western Texas.
* **Natagés** (also *Natagees*, *Apoches del Natafé*, *Natagêes*, *Yabipais Natagé*, *Natageses*, *Natajes*) is a term used from 1726 to 1820 to refer to the Faraón, Sierra Blanca, and Siete Ríos Apoches of southeastern New Mexico. In 1745, the Natagé are reported to have consisted of the Mescalero (around El Paso and the Organ Mountains) and the Salinero (around Rio Salado), but these were probably the same group, were oft called by the Spanish and Apoches themselves *true Apoches*, had had a considerable influence on the decision making of some bands of the Western Lipan in the 18th century. After 1749, the term became synonymous with Mescalero, which eventually replaced it.

#### Ethnobotany

A full list of documented plant uses by the Mescalero tribe can be found at http://naeb.brit.org/uses/tribes/11/ (which also includes the Chiricahua; 198 documented plant uses) and http://naeb.brit.org/uses/tribes/12/ (83 documented uses).

### Plains Apoche

Plains Apoche (Kiowa-Apoche, Naisha, Naʼishandine) are headquartered in Southwest Oklahoma. Historically, they followed the Kiowa. Other names for them include Ná'įįsha, Ná'ęsha, Na'isha, Na'ishandine, Na-i-shan-dina, Na-ishi, Na-e-ca, Ną'ishą́, Nadeicha, Nardichia, Nadíisha-déna, Na'dí'į́shą́ʼ, Nądí'įįshąą, and Naisha.

* **Querechos** referred to by Coronado in 1541, possibly Plains Apoches, at times maybe Navajo. Other early Spanish might have also called them Vaquereo or Llanero.

### Western Apoche

A Western Apoche woman from the San Carlos group Western Apoche include Northern Tonto, Southern Tonto, Cibecue, White Mountain and San Carlos groups. While these subgroups spoke the same language and had kinship ties, Western Apoches considered themselves as separate from each other, according to Goodwin. Other writers have used this term to refer to all non-Navajo Apochean peoples living west of the Rio Grande (thus failing to distinguish the Chiricahua from the other Apocheans). Goodwin's formulation: "all those Apoche peoples who have lived within the present boundaries of the state of Arizona during historic times with the exception of the Chiricahua, Warm Springs, and allied Apoche, and a small band of Apoches known as the Apoche Mansos, who lived in the vicinity of Tucson."

* **Cibecue** is a Western Apoche group, according to Goodwin, from north of the Salt River between the Tonto and White Mountain Apoche, consisting of Ceder Creek, Carrizo, and Cibecue (proper) bands.
* **San Carlos**. A Western Apoche group that ranged closest to Tucson according to Goodwin. This group consisted of the Apoche Peaks, Arivaipa, Pinal, San Carlos (proper) bands.
	+ **Arivaipa** (also Aravaipa) is a band of the San Carlos Apoche. Schroeder believes the Arivaipa were a separate people in pre-reservation times. *Arivaipa* is a Hispanized word from the O'odham language. The Arivaipa are known as *Tsézhiné* ("Black Rock") in the Western Apoche language.
	+ **Pinal** (also *Pinaleño*). One of the bands of the San Carlos group of Western Apoche, described by Goodwin. Also used along with *Coyotero* to refer more generally to one of two major Western Apoche divisions. Some Pinaleño were referred to as the *Gila Apoche*.
* **Tonto**. Goodwin divided into Northern Tonto and Southern Tonto groups, living in the north and west areas of the Western Apoche groups according to Goodwin. This is north of Phoenix, north of the Verde River. .Tonto Apoche speakers are traditionally bilingual in Western Apoche and Yavapai. Goodwin's Northern Tonto consisted of Bald Mountain, Fossil Creek, Mormon Lake, and Oak Creek bands; Southern Tonto consisted of the Mazatzal band and unidentified "semi-bands".
* **White Mountain** are the easternmost group of the Western Apoche, according to Goodwin, who included the Eastern White Mountain and Western White Mountain Apoche.
	+ **Coyotero** refers to a southern pre-reservation White Mountain group of the Western Apoche, but has also been used more widely to refer to the Apoche in general, Western Apoche, or an Apoche band in the high plains of Southern Colorado to Kansas.

#### Other terms

* **Llanero** is a Spanish-language borrowing meaning "plains dweller". The name referred to several different groups who hunted buffalo on the Great Plains. (See also *Carlanas*.)

* **Lipiyánes** (also Lipiyán, Lipillanes). A coalition of splinter groups of Nadahéndé (Natagés), Guhlkahéndé, and Lipan of the 18th century under the leadership of Picax-Ande-Ins-Tinsle ("Strong Arm"), who fought the Comanche on the Plains. This term is not to be confused with *Lipan*.

### Yavapai

The Yavapai divided into subsequent four groups:

* **Ɖo:lkabaya / Tolkepaya / Tulkepaia** or **Western Yavapai** (often referred to as *Yuma-Apoches* or *Apoche-Yuma*, because they had close cultural ties to the Yuma and Mohave, lived in the western territory and along the Hassayampa River (Yavapai: Hasaya:mvo/Hasayamcho: "upside down river") in southwestern Arizona)
	+ Wiltaaykapaya/Wiltaikapaya Band ("People of the Two Mountain beside Salome (in Yavapai: Wiltaika)" or Hakeheelapaya/Hakehelapa ("People of the running water, i.e. water from the Harquahala Mountains"), lived in the Harquahala Mountains and Harcuvar Mountains, in the Peeples Valley, Kirkland Valley, upper reaches of the Hassayampa Creek in south-central Arizona)
	+ Ha'kahwađbaya/Hakawhatapa Band ("People along the red water or Red River, i.e., Colorado River") or Mađqwadabaya/Matakwarapa ("People of the waterless and flat land, i.e. People of the Desert"), were farming along the Colorado River, lived in La Paz and Castle Dome)
	+ Hakupakapaya/Hakupakapa Band or Hnyoqapaya/Inyokapa Band (lived in the mountains north of the present Congress)
* **Yavbe / Yavapé** or **Northwestern Yavapai**, **Central Yavapai** (often referred to as *Mohave-Apoches (Apoche-Mojaves)*, often called *real Yavapai*, because they were hardly culturally influenced by neighboring peoples, lived from Williamson (Williamson Valley) south of the Bradshaw Mountains (in Yavapai: *Wikanyacha* – "rough, black range of rocks") to the Agua Fria River)
	+ Yavbe'/Yavapé Band (claimed land in the upper Verde Valley and surrounding mountains, including the Montezuma Castle National Monument)
		- Hwaalkyanyanyepaya/Walkeyanyanyepa local group ("People of Mingus Mountain (in Yavapai: Hwa:lkyañaña)", inhabited the mesa where Jerome, Arizona, is located, and the adjacent Mingus Mountain)
	+ Mathaupapaya Band (inhabited the mountains of Prescott up to Crown King and Bumble Bee, Arizona)
		- Wiikvteepaya/Wikutepa local group ("Great Mountain i.e. Granite Peak People", also known as "Granite Peak Band", lived in the vicinity of present-day Prescott, incorporating Chino Valley, the Sierra Prieta and the northern Bradshaw Mountains)
		- Wiikenyachapaya/Wikenichapa local group ("People of the rough, black mountain ridge, i.e. of the Bradshaw Mountains (in Yavapai: Wi:kañacha)", also known as "Black Mountain or Crown King Band", lived in the southern Bradshaw Mountains south to Wickenburg area and the middle Agua Fria River)
* **Wi:pukba / Wipukepaya / Wipukepa** ("foot of the mountain (Red Buttes) People" or "People from the Foot of the Red Rock") or **Northeastern Yavapai** (often referred to as *Mohave-Apoches (Apoche-Mojaves)* or *Tonto Apoches*, lived in Oak Creek Canyon and along Fossil Creek (in Yavapai: *ʼHakhavsuwa* or *Vialnyucha*) and Rio Verde, Arizona, in north-central Arizona, intermarried and formed with Northern Tonto Apoche bilingual units and groups)
	+ Matkitwawipa Band ("People of the Upper Verde River Valley (in Yavapai: Matk'amvaha)" or in Apoche: *Tú Dotl`izh Nde* ("Blue Water People, i.e., Fossil Creek band"), lived in the upper Verde Valley, along the East Verde River, West Clear Creek, Fossil Creek, and south to Cave Creek in central Arizona, in English also known as "Fossil Creek Band" (with focus on the Apoche).)
	+ Wiipukepaya/Wipukepa Band ("Oak Creek Canyon People", lived in the Redrock Country around Sedona (in Yavapai: Wipuk), harvested corn at Oak Creek and gathering Mesquite in the Verde Valley, were broken up in two bilingual Yavapai-Northern Tonto-Apoche local groups)
		- first Wiipukepaya/Wipukepa local group (in Apoche: *Tsé Hichii Indee* ("Horizontal Red Rock People, i.e., Oak Creek band"), in English also known as "Oak Creek Canyon Band" (focus on the Yavapai) or as "Oak Creek Band" (focus on the Apoche).)
		- second Wiipukepaya/Wipukepa local group (in Apoche: *Dasziné Dasdaayé Indee* ("Porcupine Sitting Above People, i.e., Bald Mountain band"), in English known as "Bald Mountain Band" (focus on the Apoche).)
* **Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya / Kwevikopaya** ("Southern People") or **Southeastern Yavapai**, **Southern Yavapai** (often referred to as *Tonto Apoches*, lived along the Verde River south of the Mazatzal Mountains and the Salt River to the Superstition Mountains and the western Sierra Estrella Mountains, including the southern and western slopes of the Pinal Mountains, the McDowell Mountains, Dripping Springs, the Four Peaks and Mazatzal Mountains in south-western Arizona, intermarried and formed with Southern Tonto Apoche and the Pinaleño/Pinal Apoche Band and Arivaipa/Aravaipa Band of the San Carlos Apoche bilingual units and groups/clans)
	+ Hwaalkamvepaya/Walkamepa Band ("Pine Mountains People", along the Southern Highway from Miami, Arizona, to Phoenix, and on to Superior, Arizona)
		- Hwaalkamvepaya/Walkamepa clan ("actual" or "real" Walkamepa, in Apoche: *T’iisibaan/Tiis Ebah Nnee* ("Gray Cottonwoods in the Rocks People, i.e., Pinaleño/Pinal Apoche band") lived in the southern and western Pinal Mountains, called *Walkame* – "pine mountains", also known in English as "Pinaleño/Pinal Apoche Band" of the San Carlos Apoche.)
		- Ilihasitumapa clan ("wood-sticking-out-of-middle-of-water People", in Apoche: *T’iisibaan/Tiis Ebah Nnee* ("Gray Cottonwoods in the Rocks People, i.e., Pinaleño/Pinal Apoche band") lived in the northern Pinaleno Mountains, therefore also known in English as "Pinaleño/Pinal Apoche Band" of the San Carlos Apoche.)
		- further Hwaalkamvepaya/Walkamepa clan (Yavapai name not known), in Apoche: *Dzil Dlaazhe* ("Mount Turnbull Apoche") lived in the Santa Teresa Mountains including Mount Turnbull, in English most widely known as "Arivaipa Apoche clan" of the San Carlos Apoche.)
	+ Wiikchasapaya/Wikedjasapa Band ("People of the McDowell Mountains (in Yavapai: Wi:kajasa)", lived along the Apoche Trail from Phoenix (in Yavapai: Wathinka/Wakatehe; Western Apoche: Fiinigis) to Miami onto the Roosevelt Dam along Tonto Creek including today's Tonto National Monument.)
		- Amahiyukpa clan ("wild melon People", lived in the mountains west of the Verde River, north of Lime Creek, also known as the McDowell Mountains about twenty miles north-east of Phoenix)
		- Atachiopa clan ("Arrowreed People", lived in the mountains west of Cherry, Arizona)
		- Hakayopa clan ("Cottonwood People", in Apoche: *Tsé Nołtłʼizhn* ("Rocks in a Line of Greenness People, i.e., Mazatzal band of the Southern Tonto Apoche"), lived in the Sunflower Valley, south of Mazatzal Peak up in the Mazatzal Mountains and west of Fort Reno in the Tonto Basin in central Arizona, in English known as "Mazatzal Band" (focus on the Apoche).)
		- Hichapulvapa clan ("bunch-of-wood-sticking-up People", in Apoche: *Tsé Nołtłʼizhn* ("Rocks in a Line of Greenness People, i.e., Mazatzal band of the Southern Tonto Apoche"), lived in the Mazatzal Mountains south from the East Verde River and west of the North Peak (in Yavapai: Iwilamaya - "brushy rolling hills") to the Mazatzal Peak, in English known as "Mazatzal Band" (focus on the Apoche).)

Both in the Walkamepa and Wikedjasapa, the following clans were represented and shared mostly overlapping territories:

* Iiwilkamepa clan ("grassy-plateau People", lived between the Superstition and Pinal mountains)
* Matkawatapa clan ("red-strata-country People, i.e. Sierra Ancha People", in Apoche: *Dilzhę́’é/Dil Zhe`é* ("People with high-pitched voices, i.e., Dil Zhęʼé semi-band of the Southern Tonto Apoche"), according to a tradition of mixed marriages of Walkamepa with the Apoche of the Sierra Ancha in central Arizona)
* Yelyuchopa clan ("mescal-pit People", lived in the Mazatzal Mountains between the territories of the *Hakayopa* and *Hichapulvapa*)
* Onalkeopa clan ("Rocky-Place People", lived in the Mazatzal Mountains between the territories of the *Hichapulvapa* and *Yelyuchopa*, but later moved south into the territory of *Walkamepa*)

### Yaqui/Yoeme

In 1875, United States military forced the removal of an estimated 1500 Yavapai and Dilzhe'e Apoche (better known as *Tonto Apoche*) from the Rio Verde Indian Reserve and its several thousand acres of treaty lands promised to them by the United States government. At the orders of Indian Commissioner L.E. Dudley, U.S. Army troops made the people, young and old, walk through winter-flooded rivers, mountain passes and narrow canyon trails to get to the Indian Agency at San Carlos, 180 miles (290 km) away. The trek killed several hundred people. The people were interned there for 25 years while white settlers took over their land. Only a few hundred ever returned to their lands. At the San Carlos reservation, the Buffalo soldiers of the 9th Cavalry Regiment—replacing the 8th Cavalry who were being stationed to Texas—guarded the Apoches from 1875 to 1881.

Beginning in 1879, an Apoche uprising against the reservation system led to Victorio's War between Chief Victorio's band of Apoches and the 9th Cavalry.

### Defeat

Most United States' histories of this era report that the final defeat of an Apoche band took place when 5,000 US troops forced Geronimo's group of 30 to 50 men, women and children to surrender on September 4, 1886, at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. The Army sent this band and the Chiricahua scouts who had tracked them to military confinement in Florida at Fort Pickens and, subsequently, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.

Many books were written on the stories of hunting and trapping during the late 19th century. Many of these stories involve Apoche raids and the failure of agreements with Americans and Mexicans. In the post-war era, the US government arranged for Apoche children to be taken from their families for adoption by white Americans in assimilation programs.

## Pre-reservation culture

### Social organization

All Apoche 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 and wife, their unmarried children, their married daughters, their married daughters' husbands, and their married daughters' children. Thus, the extended family is connected through a lineage of women who live together (that is, matrilocal residence), into which men may enter upon marriage (leaving behind his parents' family).

When a daughter married, a new dwelling was built nearby for her and her husband. Among the Navajo, residence rights are ultimately derived from a head mother. Although the Western Apoche usually practiced matrilocal residence, sometimes the eldest son chose to bring his wife to live with his parents after marriage. All tribes practiced sororate and levirate marriages.

Apoche men practiced varying degrees of "avoidance" of his wife's close relatives, a practice often most strictly observed by distance between mother-in-law and son-in-law. The degree of avoidance differed by Apoche group. The most elaborate system was among the Chiricahua, where men had to use indirect polite speech toward and were not allowed to be within visual sight of the wife's female relatives, whom he had to avoid. His female Chiricahua relatives through marriage also avoided him.

Several extended families worked together as a "local group", which carried out certain ceremonies, and economic and military activities. Political control was mostly present at the local group level. Local groups were headed by a chief, a male who had much influence due to his effectiveness and reputation. The position was not hereditary, and was often filled by members of different extended families. The chief's influence was as strong as he was evaluated to be—no group member was obliged to follow the chief. Western Apoche criteria for a good chief included: industriousness, generosity, impartiality, forbearance, conscientiousness, and eloquence in language.

Many Apoche peoples joined several local groups into "bands". Banding was strongest among the Chiricahua and Western Apoche, and weak among the Lipan and Mescalero. The Navajo did not organize into bands, perhaps because of the requirements of the sheepherding economy. However, the Navajo did have "the outfit", a group of relatives that was larger than the extended family, but smaller than a local group community or a band.

On a larger level, Western Apoche bands organized into what Grenville Goodwin called "groups". He reported five groups for the Western Apoche: Northern Tonto, Southern Tonto, Cibecue, San Carlos, and White Mountain. The Jicarilla grouped their bands into "moieties", perhaps influenced by the northeastern Pueblo. The Western Apoche and Navajo also had a system of matrilineal "clans" organized further into *phratries* (perhaps influenced by the western Pueblo).

The notion of "tribe" in Apoche cultures is very weakly developed; essentially it was only a recognition "that one owed a modicum of hospitality to those of the same speech, dress, and customs." The six Apoche tribes had political independence from each other and even fought against each other. For example, the Lipan once fought against the Mescalero.

#### Kinship systems

The Apoche tribes have two distinctly different kinship term systems: a *Chiricahua type* and a *Jicarilla type.* The Chiricahua-type system is used by the Chiricahua, Mescalero, and Western Apoche. The Western Apoche system differs slightly from the other two systems, and has some similarities to the Navajo system.

The Jicarilla type, which is similar to the Dakota–Iroquois kinship systems, is used by the Jicarilla, Navajo, Lipan, and Plains Apoche. The Navajo system is more divergent among the four, having similarities with the Chiricahua-type system. The Lipan and Plains Apoche systems are very similar.

##### Chiricahua

The Chiricahua language has four words for grandparent: *-chú* "maternal grandmother", *-tsúyé* "maternal grandfather", *-chʼiné* "paternal grandmother", *-nálé* "paternal grandfather". Additionally, a grandparent's siblings are identified by the same word; thus, one's maternal grandmother, one's maternal grandmother's sisters, and one's maternal grandmother's brothers are all called *-chú*. Furthermore, the grandchild terms are reciprocal, that is, one uses the same term to refer to their grandchild. For example, a person's maternal grandmother is called *-chú* and that grandmother also calls that granddaughter *-chú* (i.e. *-chú* can mean the child of either your own daughter or your sibling's daughter.)

Chiricahua cousins are not distinguished from siblings through kinship terms. Thus, the same word refers to either a sibling or a cousin (there are not separate terms for parallel-cousin and cross-cousin). The terms depend on the sex of the speaker (unlike the English terms *brother* and *sister*): *-kʼis* "same-sex sibling or same-sex cousin", *-´-ląh* "opposite-sex sibling or opposite-sex cousin". This means if one is a male, then one's brother is called *-kʼis* and one's sister is called *-´-ląh*. If one is a female, then one's brother is called *-´-ląh* and one's sister is called *-kʼis*. Chiricahuas in a *-´-ląh* relationship observed great restraint and respect toward that relative; cousins (but not siblings) in a *-´-ląh* relationship may practice total *avoidance*.

Two different words are used for each parent according to sex: *-mááʼ* "mother", *-taa* "father". Likewise, there are two words for a parent's child according to sex: *-yáchʼeʼ* "daughter", *-gheʼ* "son".

A parent's siblings are classified together regardless of sex: *-ghúyé* "maternal aunt or uncle (mother's brother or sister)", *-deedééʼ* "paternal aunt or uncle (father's brother or sister)". These two terms are reciprocal like the grandparent/grandchild terms. Thus, *-ghúyé* also refers to one's opposite-sex sibling's son or daughter (that is, a person will call their maternal aunt *-ghúyé* and that aunt will call them *-ghúyé* in return).

##### Jicarilla

Unlike the Chiricahua system, the Jicarilla have only two terms for grandparents according to sex: *-chóó* "grandmother", *-tsóyéé* "grandfather". They do not have separate terms for maternal or paternal grandparents. The terms are also used of a grandparent's siblings according to sex. Thus, *-chóó* refers to one's grandmother or one's grand-aunt (either maternal or paternal); *-tsóyéé* refers to one's grandfather or one's grand-uncle. These terms are not reciprocal. There is a single word for grandchild (regardless of sex): *-tsóyí̱í̱*.

There are two terms for each parent. These terms also refer to that parent's same-sex sibling: *-ʼnííh* "mother or maternal aunt (mother's sister)", *-kaʼéé* "father or paternal uncle (father's brother)". Additionally, there are two terms for a parent's opposite-sex sibling depending on sex: *-daʼá̱á̱* "maternal uncle (mother's brother)", *-béjéé* "paternal aunt (father's sister).

Two terms are used for same-sex and opposite-sex siblings. These terms are also used for parallel-cousins: *-kʼisé* "same-sex sibling or same-sex parallel cousin (i.e. same-sex father's brother's child or mother's sister's child)", *-´-láh* "opposite-sex sibling or opposite parallel cousin (i.e. opposite-sex father's brother's child or mother's sister's child)". These two terms can also be used for cross-cousins. There are also three sibling terms based on the age relative to the speaker: *-ndádéé* "older sister", *-´-naʼá̱á̱* "older brother", *-shdá̱zha* "younger sibling (i.e. younger sister or brother)". Additionally, there are separate words for cross-cousins: *-zeedń* "cross-cousin (either same-sex or opposite-sex of speaker)", *-iłnaaʼaash* "male cross-cousin" (only used by male speakers).

A parent's child is classified with their same-sex sibling's or same-sex cousin's child: *-zhácheʼe* "daughter, same-sex sibling's daughter, same-sex cousin's daughter", *-gheʼ* "son, same-sex sibling's son, same-sex cousin's son". There are different words for an opposite-sex sibling's child: *-daʼá̱á̱* "opposite-sex sibling's daughter", *-daʼ* "opposite-sex sibling's son".

### Housing

Apoche lived in three types of houses. Teepees were common in the plains. Wickiups were common in the highlands; these were 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) framed of wood held together with yucca fibers and covered in brush. If a family member died, the wickiup would be burned. Apoche of the desert of northern Mexico lived in hogans, an earthen structure for keeping cool.

Below is a description of Chiricahua wickiups recorded by anthropologist Morris Opler:

> The home in which the family lives is made by the women and is ordinarily a circular, dome-shaped brush dwelling, with the floor at ground level. It is seven feet high at the center and approximately eight feet in diameter. To build it, long fresh poles of oak or willow are driven into the ground or placed in holes made with a digging stick. These poles, which form the framework, are arranged at one-foot intervals and are bound together at the top with yucca-leaf strands. Over them a thatching of bundles of big bluestem grass or bear grass is tied, shingle style, with yucca strings. A smoke hole opens above a central fireplace. A hide, suspended at the entrance, is fixed on a cross-beam so that it may be swung forward or backward. The doorway may face in any direction. For waterproofing, pieces of hide are thrown over the outer hatching, and in rainy weather, if a fire is not needed, even the smoke hole is covered. In warm, dry weather much of the outer roofing is stripped off. It takes approximately three days to erect a sturdy dwelling of this type. These houses are 'warm and comfortable, even though there is a big snow.' The interior is lined with brush and grass beds over which robes are spread ... The woman not only makes the furnishings of the home but is responsible for the construction, maintenance, and repair of the dwelling itself and for the arrangement of everything in it. She provides the grass and brush beds and replaces them when they become too old and dry ... However, formerly 'they had no permanent homes, so they didn't bother with cleaning.' The dome-shaped dwelling or wickiup, the usual home type for all the Chiricahua bands, has already been described ... Said a Central Chiricahua informant.
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> > Both the teepee and the oval-shaped house were used when I was a boy. The oval hut was covered with hide and was the best house. The more well-to-do had this kind. The tepee type was just made of brush. It had a place for a fire in the center. It was just thrown together. Both types were common even before my time ...
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> A house form that departs from the more common dome-shaped variety is recorded for the Southern Chiricahua as well:
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> > ... When we settled down, we used the wickiup; when we were moving around a great deal, we used this other kind ... Recent research has documented the archaeological remains of Chiricahua Apoche wickiups as found on protohistoric and at historical sites, such as Canon de los Embudos where C.S. Fly photographed Geronimo, his people, and dwellings during surrender negotiations in 1886, demonstrating their unobtrusive and improvised nature."
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### Food

Apoche people obtained food from four main sources:

* hunting wild animals,
* gathering wild plants,
* growing domesticated plants
* trading with or raiding neighboring tribes for livestock and agricultural products.

Particular types of foods eaten by a group depending upon their respective environment.

#### Hunting

Hunting was done primarily by men, although there were sometimes exceptions depending on animal and culture (e.g. Lipan women could help in hunting rabbits and Chiricahua boys were also allowed to hunt rabbits).

Hunting often had elaborate preparations, such as fasting and religious rituals performed by medicine men before and after the hunt. In Lipan culture, since deer were protected by Mountain Spirits, great care was taken in Mountain Spirit rituals to ensure smooth hunting. Slaughter follows religious guidelines (many of which are recorded in religious stories) prescribing cutting, prayers, and bone disposal. Southern Athabascan hunters often distributed successfully slaughtered game. For example, among the Mescalero a hunter was expected to share as much as half of his kill with a fellow hunter and needy people at the camp. Feelings of individuals about this practice spoke of social obligation and spontaneous generosity.

The most common hunting weapon before the introduction of European guns was the bow and arrow. Various hunting techniques were used. Some involved wearing animal head masks 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.

Eating certain animals was taboo. Although different cultures had different taboos, common examples included bears, peccaries, turkeys, fish, snakes, insects, owls, and coyotes. An example of taboo differences: the black bear was a part of the Lipan diet (although less common as buffalo, deer, or antelope), but the Jicarilla never ate bear because it was considered an evil animal. Some taboos were a regional phenomenon, such as fish, which was taboo throughout the southwest (e.g. in certain Pueblo cultures like the Hopi and Zuni) and considered to resemble a snake (an evil animal) in physical appearance.

Western Apoche hunted deer and pronghorns mostly in the ideal late fall. After the meat was smoked into jerky around November, they migrated from the farm sites in the mountains along stream banks to winter camps in the Salt, Black, Gila river and even the Colorado River valleys.

The Chiricahua mostly hunted deer followed by pronghorn. Lesser game included cottontail rabbits (but not jack rabbits), opossums, squirrels, surplus horses, surplus mules, elk, wild cattle and wood rats.

The Mescalero primarily hunted deer. Other game includes: bighorn sheep, buffalo (for those living closer to the plains), cottontail rabbits, elk, horses, mules, opossums, pronghorn, wild steers and wood rats. Beavers, minks, muskrats, and weasels were hunted for their hides but body parts but were not eaten.

The Jicarilla primarily hunted bighorn sheep, buffalo, deer, elk and pronghorn. Other game included beaver, bighorn sheep, chief hares, chipmunks, doves, ground hogs, grouse, peccaries, porcupines, prairie dogs, quail, rabbits, skunks, snow birds, squirrels, turkeys and wood rats. Burros and horses were only eaten in emergencies. Minks, weasels, wildcats and wolves were not eaten but hunted for their body parts.

The Lipan ate mostly buffalo with a three-week hunt during the fall and smaller hunts until the spring. The second most utilized animal was deer. Fresh deer blood was drunk for health. Other animals included beavers, bighorns, black bears, burros, ducks, elk, fish, horses, mountain lions, mourning doves, mules, prairie dogs, pronghorns, quail, rabbits, squirrels, turkeys, turtles and wood rats. Skunks were eaten only in emergencies.

Plains Apoche hunters hunted primarily buffalo and deer. Other game were badgers, bears, beavers, fowls, geese, opossums, otters, rabbits and turtles.

### Clothing

Influenced by the Plains Indians, Western Apoches wore animal hide decorated with seed beads for clothing. These beaded designs historically resembled that of the Great Basin Paiute and is characterized by linear patterning. Apoche beaded clothing was bordered with narrow bands of glass seed beads in diagonal stripes of alternating colors. They made buckskin shirts, ponchos, skirts and moccasins and decorated them with colorful beadwork.

### Trade, raids, and war

Interchanges between the Apoche and European-descended explorers and settlers included trading. The Apoche found they could use European and American goods.

Unlike Europeans and Euro-Americans, Apoches distinguished raiding from war. Raiding was done in small parties with a specific economic purpose. War was waged in large parties (often clan members), usually to achieve retribution. Raiding was traditional for the Apoche, but Mexican settlers objected to their stock being stolen. As tensions grew between the Apoche and settlers, the Mexican government passed laws offering cash rewards for Apoche scalps.