Lifeways

The Apache were primarily nomadic hunters and gatherers, seeking whatever game, especially deer and rabbits, and whatever wild plant foods, especially cactus and mesquite seeds, found within their territory. (The Mescalero band was named after a kind of cactus important in the Apache diet, mescal.) When they could not find enough food to eat in their rugged lands, much of which was desert country, Apache raided the farming villages of the PUEBLO INDIANS, as well as, in later years, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American settlements.

The various Apache groups adopted lifeways from other Indians with whom they came into contact. For instance, some of the Western Apache, living close to the Indians of the Rio Grande pueblos, took up farming. The Jicarilla Apache borrowed cultural traits from the PLAINS INDIANS. On acquiring horses in the late 1600s through raids on the Spanish and on Pueblo Indians, mounted Jicarilla often rode in pursuit of the great buffalo herds. The Kiowa-Apache lived close to the KIOWA, a Plains tribe, and their culture was closer to that of the

Kiowa than to their own Apache kin. Similarly, the Lipan shared some traits with Mexican tribes to their south, such as raising dogs to eat.

Apache fiddle

The most common type of dwelling for most Apache bands was the wickiup, a domed or cone-shaped hut with a pole framework covered with brush, grass, or reed mats. Wickiups frequently had central fire pits and a smokehole. The Jicarilla and Kiowa-Apache used hide tipis.

Apache wickiup

The Apache originally wore deerskin clothing. They never grew or wove cotton as many Southwest peoples did, nor did they become sheepherders as the Navajo did, preferring to eat the sheep instead. But Apache acquired cotton and wool clothing through trade or raids.

The Apache made little pottery. Yet they were master basketmakers, crafting coiled baskets of many shapes and sizes and with intricate designs. After the coming of non-Indians, the Apache became known for an instrument called the Apache fiddle. The painted sound box was crafted from a yucca stalk and held a single string of sinew attached to a tuning peg. The instrument was played with a bow made of wood and sinew.

Apache bands had a loose social and political organization. Each band, which was made up of extended families, had a headman who was chosen informally for his leadership abilities and military prowess. But other warriors could launch raids without the headman’s permission.

Shamans presided over religious rituals. The Apache believed in many supernatural beings. They considered Ussen (also spelled Yusn), the Giver of Life, the most powerful of the supernatural beings. The Gans, or Mountain Spirits, who supposedly brought agriculture to the people and who are the guardians of wildlife, were especially important in Apache ceremonies. Men dressed up in elaborate costumes to impersonate the Gans in dances, wearing kilts, black masks, tall wooden-slat headdresses, and body paint, and carrying wooden swords. The headdresses of the dancers show four colors symbolizing the Gans: the white of pollen, the black of eagle feathers, the yellow of deerskin, and the blue of turquoise.