Slike strani
PDF
ePub

sonian Institution, and the works of Captain John G. Bourke, J. Ross Browne, and the manuscript of Mike Burns, relating to the ranges of the Indians of Arizona in 1868 and 1869, and what is known of their previous history, legends and folklore:

APACHE (probably from apachu, "enemy," the Zuni name for the Navaho, who were designated "Apaches de Nabaju" by the early Spaniards in New Mexico). A number of tribes forming the most southerly group of the Athapascan family. The name has been applied also to some unrelated Yuman tribes, as the Apache-Mohave (Yavapai) and Apache-Yuma. The Apache call themselves N'de, Dine, Tinde or Inde, "people."

They were evidently not so numerous about the beginning of the 17th century as in recent times, their numbers apparently having been increased by captives from other tribes, particularly the Pueblo, Pima, Papago, and other peaceful Indians, as well as from the settlements of northern Mexico that were gradually established within the territory raided by them, although recent measurements by Hrdlicka seem to indicate unusual freedom from foreign admixtures. They were first mentioned as Apaches by Oñate in 1598, although Coronado, in 1541, met the Querechos (the Vaqueros of Benavides, and probably the Jicarillas and Mescaleros of modern times) on the plains of eastern New Mexico, and western Texas; but there is no evidence that the Apache reached as far west as Arizona until after the middle of the 16th century. From the time of the Spanish coloniza

tion of New Mexico until within twenty years they have been noted for their warlike disposition, raiding white and Indian settlements alike, extending their depredations as far southward as Jalisco, Mexico. No group of tribes has caused greater confusion to writers, from the fact that the popular names of the tribes are derived from some local or temporary habitat, owing to their shifting propensities, or were given by the Spaniards on account of some tribal characteristic; hence some of the common names of apparently different Apache tribes or bands are synonymous, or practically so; again, as employed by some writers, a name may include much more or much less than when employed by others. Although most of the Apache have been hostile since they have been known to history, the most serious modern outbreaks have been attributed to mismanagement on the part of civil authorities.

Being a nomadic people, the Apache practiced agriculture only to a limited extent before their permanent establishment on reservations. They subsisted chiefly on the products of the chase and on roots (especially that of the maguey) and berries. Although fish and bear were found in abundance in their country, they were not eaten, being rejected as food. They had few arts, but the women attained high skill in making baskets. Their dwellings were shelters of brush, which were easily erected by the women and were well adapted to their arid environment and constant shifting. In physical appearance the Apache vary greatly, but are rather above the medium height. They are good talkers, are not readily

deceived, and are honest in protecting property placed in their care, although they formerly obtained their chief support from plunder seized in their forays.

The Apaches were divided into a number of tribal groups which have been so differently named and defined that it is sometimes difficult to determine to which branch writers refer. The most commonly accepted divisions were the Querechos or Vaqueros, consisting of the Mescaleros, Jicarillas, Faraones, Llaneros, and probably the Lipan; the Chiricahua; the Pinaleños; the Coyoteros, comprising the White Mountain and Pinal divisions; the Aravaipa; the Gila Apache, including the Gilenos, Mimbrenos and Mogollons; and the Tontos.

Until 1904 there lived with the Apache of Arizona a number of Indians of Yuma stock, particularly "Mohave-Apache," or Yavapai, but these are now mostly established at old Camp McDowell. The forays and conquests of the Apache resulted in the absorption of a large foreign element, Piman, Yuman, and Spanish, although captives were treated with disrespect and marriages with them broke clan ties. The Pinal Coyoteros, and evidently also the Jicarillas, had some admixture of Pueblo blood. The Tontos were largely of mixed blood according to Corbusier, but Hrdlicka's observations show them to be pure Apache.

ARAVAIPA (Nevome Pima; aarivapa, "girls," possibly applied to these people on account of some unmanly act). An Apache tribe whose home was in the canyon of Aravaipa creek, a tributary of the Rio San Pedro, south

ern Arizona, although like the Chiricahua and other Apache of Arizona, they raided far southward, and were reputed to have laid waste every town in northern Mexico as far as the Gila, prior to the Gadsden purchase in 1853, and with having exterminated the Sobaipuri, a Piman tribe, in the latter part of the 18th century. A writer in Bulletin No. 30, of the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution, says: "In 1863 a company of California volunteers, aided by some friendly Apaches, at old Camp Grant, on the San Pedro, attacked an Aravaipa rancheria, at the head of the canyon, killing 58 of the 70 inhabitants, men, women, and children -the women and children being slain by the friendly Indians, the men by the Californiansin revenge for their atrocities. After this loss they sued for peace, and their depredations practically ceased." I have been unable to find any record of this raid, and am forced to believe that the writer has reference to the Camp Grant massacre, which occurred in 1871, a full description of which is given in Volume 2 of this History, at page 269, et seq. About 1872 they were removed to San Carlos Agency. The remnant of this tribe is now under the San Carlos and Fort Apache agencies on the White Mountain reservation.

CHIRICAHUA (Apache: "great mountain"). An important division of the Apache, so called from their former mountain home in southeastern Arizona. Their own name is Aiaha. The writer last above quoted, in regard to this tribe, says: "The Chiricahua were the most warlike of the Arizona Indians, their raids ex

tending into New Mexico, southern Arizona, and northern Sonora, among their most noted leaders being Cochise, Victorio, Loco, Chato, Nachi, Bonito, and Geronimo." This is evidently a mistake; Victorio, Loco and Geronimo were Mimbres Apaches, and some of the others belonged to other tribes, but were affiliated with the Chiricahuas by marriage. Physically they do not differ materially from the other Apache. The men are well built, muscular, with well developed chests, sound and regular teeth, and abundant hair. The women are even more vigorous and strongly built, with broad shoulders and hips and a tendency to corpulency in old age. They habitually wear a pleasant open expression of countenance, exhibiting uniform good nature, save when in anger, at which time their faces take on a savage cast. White thought their manner of life, general physique, and mental disposition seemed conducive to long life. Their characteristic long legged moccasins of deerskin had a stout sole turned up at the toes, and the legs of the moccasins, long enough to reach the thigh, were folded back below the knee, forming a pocket in which were carried paints and a knife. The women wore short skirts of buckskin, and the men used to display surplus skins folded about the waist. Their arrows were made of reed tipped with obsidian or iron, the shaft winged with three strips of feathers. They used in battle a long spear and when obtainable a sling shot made by inserting a stone into the green hide of a cow's tail, leaving a portion of the hair attached. They possessed no knowledge of weaving blankets. White supposed that

« PrejšnjaNaprej »