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
BY THE 20TH CEN TURY PUEBLOAN TRIBES HAD BECOME WELL KNOWN FOR THEIR ARTISTRY WITH CLAY POTTERY moved into these different regions the Athapaskans began to break into separate tribes Each tribe settled in its own geographic area and adopted its own customs and way of life One group of Athapaskans the Navajo settled in northern New Mexico and adopted a lifestyle so different from the other tribes that they be came known as a separate people The remain ing Athapaskans became the Apache They were divided into six tribes the Mescalero Jicarilla hee kuh REE ya Chiricahua chee ree Ka wul Lipan Kiowa Apache and Western Apache The Mescalero Jicarilla Chiricahua Lipan and Kiowa Apache were known as Eastern Apache tribes because they lived in the eastern part of the Apache homeland Many of these tribes remained for a time on the Great Plains before being pushed south by other Indian peoples such as the Comanche As a result they were influenced by the culture of the Plains Indians and relied heavily on bison hunting Some of the tribes such as the Jicarilla also farmed To the west the Western Apache tribe was divided into five subtribes Northern Tonto Southern Tonto Cibecue White Mountain and San Carlos The farming techniques of their PUEBLOAN neighbors influenced the Western Apache Of all the Apache tribes the Western Apache farmed most extensively While some of the Apache tribes and bands regularly interacted with one another others had very little contact However most Apache tribes traded and fought with other Indian peoples When they first reached the Southwest the Apache established friendly relationships with the Puebloan peoples who had lived in the region for centuries They offered animal skins meat and salt to the Pueblos in return for foods such as corn and squash as well as
behave αρκείο O BEST BEHAVIOR e Apache parents taught their children to respect and obey their elders A disobedient child was usually ignored until he behaved Or his mother might splash his face with cold water If he continued to act out his grandfa ther dressed up like an evil ogre and scared the child while he was sleeping at night Since the child had heard many times that ogres took naughty children away to their underground lairs he quickly agreed to
