APACHE roduction E PEOPLES OF NORTH AMERICA or hundreds of years the American Southwest was known as Apachería the Spanish name for the home land of the Apache Indians It was a land of contrasts Steep MESAS and cliffs rose up from dry rocky deserts pierced by cacti and yucca In places deep canyons chiseled a path through the deserts Rivers lined with willow and cottonwood roared through the canyons in the spring but their flow slowed to a dribble at the height of summer Elsewhere bison and pronghorn wandered across arid plains that gave way to jagged snow capped mountains The mountainsides grew thick with pine piñon and juniper providing shelter for deer bears and turkeys Moving through this land of extremes with the seasons the Apache found everything they needed to survive wild plants to harvest animals to hunt and strongholds in which to hide when threatened The Apache called themselves Ndee or Tinneh meaning The People The name Apache is likely a Spanish interpretation of the Zuni Indian word apachu or enemy Although they were known by one name the Apache were never united as a single group Instead there were several Apache tribes linked by a common language and culture That culture was threatened as newcomers first the Spanish and then the Americans invaded Apachería But the Apache fought hard to defend their homeland carning a reputation for being some of the most fearsome Indians in North America Eventually though they were defeated and moved onto reservations where many continue the fight to retain their culture today MESCALERO APACHE LIVED FOR A TIME NEAR THE CHISOS MOUNTAINS Texas OF
APACHE Inta the Southwest HO PEOPLES of NORTH AMERICA C Ithough the Apache are known as a southwestern tribe they did not arrive in the Southwest until sometime between A D 1000 and 1500 Before that time the ancestors of the Apache lived in present day Alaska and western Canada There they hunted caribou moose and bears and made shelters from poles covered with branches or animal hides ANTHROPOLOGISTS call these ancestral Apache Athapaskans because the language they spoke belongs to the Athapaskan language family Many Athapaskan speaking peoples remained in the north But at some point groups of them began to move south possibly because of food shortages or hostilities waged against neighboring peoples Likely traveling in small family groups the people migrated slowly pos sibly over a period of hundreds of years They probably traveled along the plains east of the Rocky Mountains When they reached locations where food was plentiful they may have settled for a time before continuing their south ward journey Eventually the groups entered the American Southwest where they spread out across parts of present day Arizona Colorado New Mexico Texas Kansas and Oklahoma Some entered northern Mexico As they APACHE ANCESTORS MOVED FROM ALASKA S BROWN BEAR COUNTRY TO THE WARMER ENVIRONS OF Southwest THE
