Table of Contents
For my report I have chosen the Apache tribe. In 1541 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado met the Apache Indians. Back then they were called the Querechos. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was the first spaniard to ever meet the Apache Indians. Today, there are over 30,000 Apache indians living in New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma. The Apache were broken up into many different small tribes. The Apache indians were nomadic, meaning that they never settled down, they kept traveling from place to place. The Apache live in wickiups, a wikiup is an oval hut that is covered in grass or straw. They used wickiups as temporary homes so they could move from place to place.
Geography and Environment
The Apache Indians were mostly known for being fierce warriors and knowledgeable strategists. Some people think that the Apache Indians were one of the first tribes to learn how to ride, and use horses. The Apache indians lived in a dry climate in the south of the United States and even the northern part of Mexico. The weather was almost always hot, except for the winter. The Apache Indians were not farming people, but hunters. The Apache men would hunt buffalo, deer, antelope, and small game. The women gathered nuts, seeds, fruit, berries, corn, and vegetables. The Apache would use their natural resources to get this food.
Natural Resources
The Apache’s natural resources were lakes, streams, rocks, minerals, timber, wildlife, and vegetation. The Apache relied heavily on lakes to build their homes on, fish, and the plants that lied on the shore. They would use the lakes to provide water and meat. The Apache would also use the lakes to hunt animals that would usually come to drink out of the water.
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Types of Home
The Apache lived in two different types of homes, a wikiup and a teepee. A wikiup is a more permanent home. Its frame was made from tree sap to form a dome, and it was covered with bark or grass. Teepees were a more temporary home that could be moved from place to place easily, while they were hunting buffalo. The teepees frame was made from long poles which join together at the top to form a cone shape. Then it would be covered in buffalo hide to keep them warm. Both homes were warm, cozy, and helpful for the Apache Indians.
Languages
There were two main languages that the Apache Indians spoke, Western Apache and Eastern Apache. Both of them have several smaller languages including, Jicarilla, Lipan, Kiowa-Apache, Chiricahua, and Mescalero. Those languages are spoken by over fifteen thousand people in Arizona and New Mexico. The Apache also had a written language, which had 44 letters.
Food, Clothing, Tools
The Apache were hunters and gatherers, they mainly ate, sheep, goats, buffalo, deer, and rabbits. The Apache would use bow and arrows to hunt these animals. There were not many farmers, but they would still trade their surplus of corn, sunflower seeds, beans, and squash with other Native Americans of the Southwest. They would also drink beer made from corn called tiswin. To make the tiswin they would use green corn sprouts or corn stalks, then they press the juices then heated. The Apache men would wear clothes made from animal skin and shirts made from leather. The women would wear cotton skirts or blouses.
Trade
The Apache would trade with other tribes of the southwest. They especially like to trade for corn with from other agricultural tribes, including the Navajo and the Pueblo. But more often than not, they would raid other neighboring tribes and steal their horses, corn, and other goods. That is what helped make the Apache Indians such a successful Native American tribe.
Leadership System
The Apache had a civilized leadership system. There were many different leaders such as Cochise, Victorio, and Taza. But Geronimo was the most famous. He was was born on June 16, 1829 and died on February 17, 1909. Geronimo fought against the U.S. expansion for many years, which was later called the Apache wars. Only men could be chosen as band leaders, but women held an important role in the tribe’s survival.
