![]() ![]() The Western Apache and their Yavapai allies were subdued in the U.S. The Mescalero were subdued by 1868, and a reservation was established for them in 1873. ![]() Some Apache bands and the United States military authorities engaged in fierce wars until the Apache were pacified and moved to reservations. ![]() These displaced Apache then increased their raiding on the Pueblo Indians and non-Indian settlers for food and livestock.Īpache 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. Extending their depredations as far southward as Jalisco, Mexico, the Apache quickly became known for their warlike disposition.Īn 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. The Apache were not so numerous at the beginning of the 17th century however, their numbers were increased by captives from other tribes, particularly the Pueblo, Pima, Papago, other peaceful Indians, and white and Spanish peoples. Before long, the prowess of the Apache in battle became legend. The Apache, in turn, raided Spanish settlements to seize cattle, horses, firearms, and captives of their own. One source of the friction with the Spaniards was with the slave traders, who hunted down captives to serve as laborers in the silver mines of Chihuahua in northern Mexico. When New Mexico became a Spanish colony in 1598, hostilities increased between the Spaniards and Apache. They have dogs which they load to carry their tents, poles, and belongings.”Īpache prisoners were forced into mining in Chihuahua, Mexico. They dress in the skins of the cattle, with which all the people in this land clothe themselves, and they have very well-constructed tents, made with tanned and greased cowhides, in which they live and which they take along as they follow the cattle. They do not cultivate the land but eat raw meat and drink the blood of the cattle they kill. “After seventeen days of travel, I came upon a rancheria of the Indians who follow these cattle These natives are called Querechos. In April 1541, while traveling on the plains east of the Pueblo region, Francisco Coronado wrote: Arriving in the mid-1500s, the Spanish intruders drove northward into Apache territory, disrupting the Apache trade connections with neighboring tribes. The Apache and the Pueblo managed to maintain generally peaceful relations however, this changed with the appearance of the Spaniards. Trade was established between the long-established Pueblo peoples and the Southern Athabaskans by the mid-16th century, exchanging maize and woven goods for bison meat, hides, and material for stone tools. Men dressed elaborately to impersonate the ga’ns, wearing kilts, black masks, tall wooden-slat headdresses, body paint, and carrying wooden swords. 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. Religion was a fundamental part of Apache life. For centuries they were fierce warriors, adept in wilderness survival, who carried out raids on those who encroached on their territory. In traditional Apache culture, each band consisted of extended families with a headman chosen for leadership abilities and exploits in war. The Apache made little pottery and were known instead for their fine basketwork. Some families lived in buffalo-hide teepees, especially among the Kiowa-Apache and Jicarilla. Their dwellings were shelters of brush called wickiups, which were easily erected by the women and were well adapted to their arid environment and the constant shifting of the tribes. Polygamy was practiced when economic circumstances permitted, and marriage could be terminated easily by either party. Western Apache tribes were matrilineal, tracing descent through the mother other groups traced their descent through both parents. Men participated in hunting and raiding activities, while women gathered food, wood, and water.
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