Western Apache people

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Seal of the San Carlos Apache tribe San Carlos Apache seal.png
Seal of the San Carlos Apache tribe

The Western Apache live primarily in east central Arizona, in the United States and north of Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Most live within reservations. The Fort Apache Indian Reservation, San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Tonto Apache, and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation are home to the majority of Western Apache and are the bases of their federally recognized tribes. In addition, there are numerous bands. The Western Apache bands call themselves Ndee (Indé) (“The People”). Because of dialectical differences, the Pinaleño/Pinal and Arivaipa/Aravaipa bands of the San Carlos Apache pronounce the word as Innee or Nnēē:. [1]

Contents

Language and culture

San Carlos Apache woman, c. 1883-1887, photographed by Randall, A. Frank San Carlos Apache woman (F24259 DPLW).jpg
San Carlos Apache woman, c. 1883–1887, photographed by Randall, A. Frank

The various dialects of Western Apache (which they refer to as Ndéé biyáti’ / Nnéé biyáti’) are a form of Apachean, a branch of the Southern Athabaskan language family. The Navajo speak a related Apachean language, but the peoples separated several hundred years ago and are considered culturally distinct. Other indigenous peoples who speak Athabaskan languages are located in Alaska and Canada.

The anthropologist Grenville Goodwin classified the Western Apache into five groups based on Apachean dialect and culture: [2] :2

Since Goodwin, other researchers have disputed his conclusion of five linguistic groups. They do agree that there are three main Apachean dialects, with several sub-groupings:

Some 20,000 Western Apache still speak their native language, and the tribes are working to preserve it. Bilingual teachers are often employed in the lower elementary grades to promote that goal, but many children tend to learn to speak only the widely spoken English, mingled with occasional Spanish, depending on their home languages.

In relation to culture, tribal schools offer classes in native handicrafts, such as basket weaving; making bows, arrows, spears, shields; and cradles for infants. Girls and young women at the elementary and secondary level are taught how to make native regalia from buckskin, in addition to making silver jewelry. In addition, young men often become jewelry makers and are taught skills in this area.

Western Apache bands and tribes

White Mountain Apache

The White Mountain Apache or Dził Łigai Si’án Ndéé "People of the White Mountains" (Spanish : Sierra Blanca Apache'), are centered in Fort Apache Indian Reservation. It is the most eastern band of the Western Apache group. The White Mountain Apache are a federally recognized tribe. Their traditional area ranged from the White Mountains near present-day Snowflake, Arizona, the Little Colorado River in the north over the Gila Mountains south to the Pinaleno Mountains near Safford (Ichʼįʼ Nahiłtį́į́)) and parts of Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico. [3] They lived near waterways, which they used for their crops, such as along the East Fork and North Fork of the White River, Willow Creek, Black River and the Gila River. [2] :12 [4]

Cibecue Apache

(Spanish derivation of the autonym of the Apache living in the Cibecue Creek Valley and Salt River Canyon known to them as Deshchíí Bikoh, Dishchíí Bikoh, or Deshchííkoh – “Horizontally Red Canyon” or “Red Ridge Valley”, therefore the Apache living there were called Deshchíí Bikoh Ndéé, Dishchíídn – “Horizonally Red Canyon People” – sometimes shortened to “People of the Red Canyon” or “Red Canyon People”, possibly of Navajo/Zuni ancestry, ranged north of the Salt River to well above the Mogollon Rim between Cherry Creek in the west to Cedar Creek in the east – sometimes they were found even further west on Tonto Creek, in the Sierra Ancha and the Mazatzal Mountains considered to be Southern Tonto Apache land), today all part of the federally recognized tribe of the White Mountain Apache of the Fort Apache Reservation

San Carlos Apache of the San Carlos Reservation

(Tsék’āādn – “Metate Stone People”, lived on both sides of the San Pedro River and in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson), a federally recognized tribe composed of the San Carlos Apache proper and several groups of the Cibecue Apache (excluding the Tsēē Hachīīdn (“Red Rock Strata People”) clan of the Carrizo band), some Tonto Apache, Lipan as well Chiricahua Apache peoples.

Tonto Apache

(autonym: Dilzhę́`é lived from the San Francisco Peaks, East Verde River and Oak Creek Canyon along the Verde River into the Mazatzal Mountains and to the Salt River in the SW and the Tonto Basin in the SE, extending eastward toward the Little Colorado River. They were the most westerly group of the Western Apache.

The Chiricahua called them Ben-et-dine – ‘wild’, ‘crazy’; neighboring Western Apache called them Koun`nde – ‘Those who you don’t understand’, ‘wild rough People’. The Spanish adapted the latter term, referring to the people as Tonto –meaning 'loose', 'foolish' in Spanish. The Dine called the Tonto Apache and neighboring Yavapai Dilzhʼíʼ dinéʼiʼ – ‘People with high-pitched voices’, distinguishing them by language.

Other bands and groups

Often groups of Wi:pukba (Wipukepa) and Guwevkabaya (Kwevkepaya) of the Yavapai lived together with the Tonto Apache (as well as bands of the San Carlos Apache) in bilingual rancherias, and could not be distinguished by outsiders (Spaniards, Americans, or Mexicans) except on the basis of their first language. The Yavapai and Apache together were often referred to as Tonto or Tonto Apaches. Therefore, it is not always easy to find out whether it is now exclusively dealing with Yavapai or Apache, or those mixed bands. The Wi:pukba (Wipukepa) and Guwevkabaya (Kwevkepaya) were therefore, because of their ancestral and cultural proximity to the Tonto and San Carlos Apaches, often incorrectly called Yavapai Apaches or Yuma Apaches. The Ɖo:lkabaya (Tolkepaya), the southwestern group of Yavapai, and the Hualapai (also belonging to the Upland Yuma Peoples) were also referred as Yuma Apaches or Mohave Apaches. [12]

Notable Western Apache

White Mountain Apaches

Cibecue Apache

San Carlos Apaches

Tonto Apaches

See also

Related Research Articles

The Apache are several Southern Athabaskan language–speaking peoples of the Southwest and the Southern Plains. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan homelands in the north into the Southwest between 1000 and 1500 CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt River (Arizona)</span> River in Gila and Maricopa counties in Arizona, United States

The Salt River is a river in Gila and Maricopa counties in Arizona, United States, that is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about 200 miles (320 km) long. Its drainage basin covers about 13,700 square miles (35,000 km2). The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the 195-mile (314 km) Verde River. The Salt's headwaters tributaries, the Black River and East Fork, increase the river's total length to about 300 miles (480 km). The name Salt River comes from the river's course over large salt deposits shortly after the merging of the White and Black Rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonto National Forest</span> Protected area in Arizona

The Tonto National Forest, encompassing 2,873,200 acres, is the largest of the six national forests in Arizona and is the ninth largest national forest in the United States. The forest has diverse scenery, with elevations ranging from 1,400 feet in the Sonoran Desert to 7,400 feet in the ponderosa pine forests of the Mogollon Rim. The Tonto National Forest is also the most visited "urban" forest in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yavapai–Apache Nation</span> Federally recognized Indian nation in Arizona

The Yavapai–Apache Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the Verde Valley of Arizona. Tribal members share two culturally distinct backgrounds and speak two indigenous languages, the Yavapai language and the Western Apache language. The Yavapai–Apache Nation Indian Reservation, at 34°37′10″N111°53′46″W, consists of five non-contiguous parcels of land located in three separate communities in eastern Yavapai County. The two largest sections, 576 acres (233 ha) together – almost 90 percent of the reservation's territory, are in the town of Camp Verde. Smaller sections are located in the town of Clarkdale 60.17 acres (24.35 ha), and the unincorporated community of Lake Montezuma. The reservation's total land area is 642 acres (260 ha). The total resident population of the reservation was 743 persons as of the 2000 census. The 2010 Census reported 1,615 people on the reservation. Of these, 512 lived in Camp Verde, 218 in Clarkdale, and only 13 in Lake Montezuma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apache Wars</span> Conflicts between the U.S. Army and native Apache tribe (1849–1924)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonto Apache</span> Western Apache Indigenous people

The Tonto Apache is one of the groups of Western Apache people and a federally recognized tribe, the Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona. The term is also used for their dialect, one of the three dialects of the Western Apache language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation</span> Indian reservation in Arizona, United States

The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, in southeastern Arizona, United States, was established in 1872 as a reservation for the Chiricahua Apache tribe as well as surrounding Yavapai and Apache bands removed from their original homelands under a strategy devised by General George Crook of setting the various Apache tribes against one another. Once nicknamed "Hell's Forty Acres" during the late 19th century due to poor health and environmental conditions, today's San Carlos Apaches successfully operate a Chamber of Commerce, the Apache Gold and Apache Sky Casinos, a Language Preservation program, a Culture Center, and a Tribal College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Apache Indian Reservation</span> Native American nation in Arizona

The Fort Apache Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation on the border of New Mexico and Arizona, United States, encompassing parts of Navajo, Gila, and Apache counties. It is home to the federally recognized White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, a Western Apache tribe. It has a land area of 1.6 million acres and a population of 12,429 people as of the 2000 census. The largest community is in Whiteriver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Grant massacre</span> Part of the Apache Wars

The Camp Grant massacre, on April 30, 1871, was an attack on Pinal and Aravaipa Apaches who surrendered to the United States Army at Camp Grant, Arizona, along the San Pedro River. The massacre led to a series of battles and campaigns fought between the Americans, the Apache, and their Yavapai allies, which continued into 1875, the most notable being General George Crook's Tonto Basin Campaign of 1872 and 1873.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apache Scouts</span> Military unit

The Apache Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts. Most of their service was during the Apache Wars, between 1849 and 1886, though the last scout retired in 1947. The Apache scouts were the eyes and ears of the United States military and sometimes the cultural translators for the various Apache bands and the Americans. Apache scouts also served in the Navajo War, the Yavapai War, the Mexican Border War and they saw stateside duty during World War II. There has been a great deal written about Apache scouts, both as part of United States Army reports from the field and more colorful accounts written after the events by non-Apaches in newspapers and books. Men such as Al Sieber and Tom Horn were sometimes the commanding officers of small groups of Apache Scouts. As was the custom in the United States military, scouts were generally enlisted with Anglo nicknames or single names. Many Apache Scouts received citations for bravery.

Grenville Goodwin, born Greenville Goodwin (1907–1940), is best known for his participant-observer ethnology work among the Western Apache in the 1930s in the American Southwest. Largely self-taught as an anthropologist, he lived among the Apache for nearly a decade, and learned their stories and rituals. His monograph The Social Organization of the Western Apache was considered a major contribution to American ethnology. It was published in 1941 after his death at age 32, when his promising career was cut short.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yavapai</span> Ethnic Group

The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai – literally “people of the sun” – were divided into four geographical bands who identified as separate, independent peoples: the Ɖulv G’paaya, or Western Yavapai; the Yaavpe', or Northwestern Yavapai; the Gwev G’paaya, or Southeastern Yavapai; and the Wiipukpaa, or Northeastern Yavapai – Verde Valley Yavapai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Salt River Canyon</span> Part of the Yavapai War in 1872

The Battle of Salt River Canyon, the Battle of Skeleton Cave, or the Skeleton Cave Massacre was the first principal engagement during the 1872 Tonto Basin Campaign under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Crook. It was part of the Yavapai War from 1871 to 1875 against the Yavapai people, a Native American tribe in Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonto Basin</span> Landform in Gila County, Arizona

The Tonto Basin, also known as Pleasant Valley, covers the main drainage basin of Tonto Creek and its tributaries in central Arizona, at the southwest of the Mogollon Rim, the higher elevation transition zone across central and eastern Arizona. Although the word tonto means silly or foolish in Spanish, this place name is derived from the Apache word, Koun’nde, which means wild, rough people and refers to the indigenous Dilzhe’e Tonto Apache.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aravaipa Creek</span> Creek in Graham County, Arizona

Aravaipa Creek is a drainage between three mountain ranges in southwest Graham County, Arizona – the Galiuro Mountains, the Santa Teresa Mountains and the Pinaleno Mountains. These mountains are part of the high altitude Madrean Sky Islands located in southern Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, and northern Sonora and Chihuahua states in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation</span> American Indian Reservation

The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, formerly the Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Community of the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe and Indian reservation in Maricopa County, Arizona about 23 miles (37 km) northeast of Phoenix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yavapai Wars</span> Part of the Apache Wars

The Yavapai Wars, or the Tonto Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between the Yavapai and Tonto tribes against the United States in the Arizona Territory. The period began no later than 1861, with the arrival of American settlers on Yavapai and Tonto land. At the time, the Yavapai were considered a band of the Western Apache people due to their close relationship with tribes such as the Tonto and Pinal. The war culminated with the Yavapai's removal from the Camp Verde Reservation to San Carlos on February 27, 1875, an event now known as Exodus Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hualapai War</span> 1865–1870, United States v. Natives

The Hualapai War, or Walapai War, was an armed conflict fought from 1865 to 1870 between the Hualapai native Americans and the United States in Arizona Territory. The Yavapai also participated on the side of the Hualapai and Mohave scouts were employed by the United States Army. Following the death of the prominent Yavapai leader Anasa in April 1865, the natives began raiding American settlements which provoked a response by the United States Army forces stationed in the area. By the spring of 1869 disease forced the majority of the Hualapais to surrender though some skirmishing continued for almost two more years.

References

  1. Shadows at Dawn – The Peoples – Nnēē / Apache / 'O:b
  2. 1 2 Goodwin, Greenville (1969) [1942]. The Social Organization of the Western Apache. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press. LCCN   76-75453. OCLC   17996.
  3. "Historia de la lengua y cultura n'dee/n'nee/ndé".
  4. Ian W. Record: Big Sycamore Stands Alone: The Western Apaches, Aravaipa, and the Struggle for Place, p. 56, ISBN   978-0-8061-3972-2, 2008, University of Oklahoma Press
  5. 1 2 Yavapai and Nde Apache
  6. Fort Apache History
  7. 1 2 3 Palmer, Jessica Dawn (2013). The Apache Peoples: A History of All Bands and Tribes Through the 1880s. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN   978-0-7864-4551-6.
  8. The Pinal Mountains
  9. The Apaches of the Aravaipa Canyon
  10. the Guwevkabaya/Kwevkepaya were the only Yavapai who had clans, the clans were probably taken over through contact with their Southern Tonto and San Carlos Apache neighbors and kin
  11. The Rye Creek Projekt Archeology in the Upper Tonto Basin
  12. Timothy Braatz: Surviving Conquest: A History of the Yavapai Peoples, 2003, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN   978-0-8032-2242-7
  13. the Cháchíídn (“red rock strata people”) of Pedro were limited almost exclusively to the Carrizo band of the Cibecue Apaches, and were the only people on the Fort Apache Reservation who were not forced to go to San Carlos in 1875

Further reading