By Keli Holt,
When most Americans think of the Apache, the image of their famous leader Geronimo often comes to mind. It is his surrender in 1886 that is used by historians to mark the end of the so-called Indian Wars. Although Geronimo is one of the few Apache known by name, he was but one of many who resisted first the Spanish, then the Mexicans, and finally the Americans who moved in succession into what is now the American Southwest.
In this column and in May, I’ll be spotlighting the Apache, one of the fiercest and probably most misunderstood Native Nations. While their story is filled with violence and heartache, the fact that the Apache are still here, spread across five reservations between New Mexico and Arizona, is a testament to Apache strength and endurance.
Like their close relatives, the Navajo and Ute, all of whom speak a related Southern Athabaskan language, the Apache migrated south from Alaska and Canada and arrived in the Southwest around 1500. While the Navajo settled around the Four Corners area and the Ute remained mostly north of New Mexico, the Apache continued south. They assumed control of the mountains of southern Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico.
Unlike the Navajo, who became semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers and farmers, moving with their herds at different times of the year and returning to other places to harvest crops, the Apache remained almost entirely stationary. They chased buffalo, gathered wild foods like mescal, and raided neighboring Nations when opportunities arose to supplement their supplies.
The word “Apache” derives from the Zuni word for “enemy,” as the Zuni were one of the Nations whose farms were often targeted by Apache raiders. The Apache call themselves the Nde (“the people”), reflecting the importance of their community and family. The Apache were not then, and are not today, a monolithic group. They are splintered into a variety of bands, not all of whom historically got along. Indeed, their enemies learned quickly to exploit the divisions among the Nde community. The Nde are matrilineal and matrilocal, meaning that when a man married, he left his band to settle with that of his wife.
When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, not long after the Nde and Navajo, the animals that accompanied them dramatically changed the Southwest. The horse greatly expanded the area in which hunter-gatherer Nations could range and the speed with which they could do so. While the more sedentary tribes, especially the Tohono O’Odham of Arizona (known as the Papago) and the variety of Puebloan Nations of New Mexico, adopted the large, domesticated animals like cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens, the Nde utilized their new skills as horsemen to perfect the art of stealing their neighbors’ livestock.
As a hunter-gather Nation it made sense that the Apache would target the new animals. Nde oral traditions hint that stealing penned livestock was viewed as just easier hunting. The Nde, however, were always careful to not steal the entire herd so as to ensure there would be livestock to raid the next season. The Tohono O’Odham and Puebloans, among other Nations, quickly learned to fear the artful Nde raiders. Even the Spanish, Mexicans and Americans, despite their advanced weaponry, were often powerless to end Nde attacks.
While raiding was often about gathering sufficient food to feed the band, it was not necessarily about material items, as any objects taken from an enemy were considered dangerous. The Apache believed that the foreigners’ items held enemy spirits inside. Most objects seized during raids were burned on site, and anything brought back to the Nde community would, like the warriors who had participated in the raid, need to be cleansed. After the appropriate purifying rituals, enemy items became powerful tokens, reflecting the strength of the vanquished.
Despite their reputation as a warlike tribe, the Nde seldom killed indiscriminately. While adult enemy males were often killed if they tried to protect against the raid, women and children were usually taken captive. They may have been incorporated into the band as full members or traded to the Spanish, and later, the Mexicans. Both maintained a prolific trade in Nde servants.
Captured Apache women and children were sold and used as slaves, called criados (from the Spanish “to raise,” as they were supposed to be Christianized and taken care of appropriately). While chattel slavery of the kind practiced on plantations in the American Southeast never made its way to the Southwest, the system of buying and selling Nde women and children was basically slavery by another name.
Next month, read here about how the Nde participated and survived in the fierce competition for both resources and political control of the Southwest.
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