One name, several nations
“Apache” is a name used from outside for a set of related peoples, not for one tribe with one government or one way of life. Today there are several Apache nations, each with its own history, homeland and leadership. They share a broad linguistic heritage, which is explained in the articles on origins, but they have lived in different landscapes and followed different paths for a very long time. A claim that begins “the Apache did” something is usually safer to rewrite as “the Jicarilla did” or “the White Mountain Apache did”, and to say plainly when a practice varied.
This page offers a first orientation. It is not a complete account of any nation, and it does not speak for any of them. For current and authoritative information, the official websites of the nations are the best sources.
The main groups
Scholars commonly sort Apache peoples into a Western group and an Eastern group, and the Navajo, who are related but a separate nation, are discussed separately. The groups below are usually named in histories.
Western Apache. This label covers several groups in what is now central and eastern Arizona, including the White Mountain, San Carlos, Cibecue and Tonto groups. Their homelands include mountain and river country below the Mogollon Rim. A longer overview of the Western Apache peoples shows how much variety exists even inside this one label, with local groups and clans playing a central part in social life.
Chiricahua. The Chiricahua lived in the mountains and basins of southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and northern Mexico. Writers often divide them into smaller bands, such as the Chihenne, Chokonen, Nednhi and Bedonkohe. After 1886 the Chiricahua prisoners of war, a group that included many people who had taken no part in the fighting, were held for years, an experience that shaped the later history of their descendants, who today are associated mainly with the Fort Sill Apache Tribe in Oklahoma and the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico.
Mescalero. The Mescalero lived in the mountains and desert country of southern New Mexico and nearby areas. The Mescalero Apache people share a reservation today, and, as in some other cases, the community includes families from more than one historic group.
Jicarilla. The Jicarilla homeland lies in northern New Mexico and nearby parts of Colorado. The Jicarilla Apache people had long contact with Pueblo communities and with Plains peoples, and their ways combined elements of both mountain and plains life.
Lipan. Lipan Apache history centres on Texas and northern Mexico. Lipan communities faced intense pressure during the colonial and early national periods, and descendants today live in several places, including within other Apache nations.
Plains Apache. The Plains Apache people, whose nation is based in Oklahoma, were long called Kiowa Apache in the literature because of their close association with the Kiowa. They keep their own language and identity.
Why the differences matter
Differences were not minor. Homelands ranged from high forest and river valleys to desert basins and open plains, and people made their living accordingly. Some groups practised farming along with gathering and hunting, while others relied more heavily on bison hunting and trade. Languages and dialects within the Apachean family vary, and speakers of closely related varieties may understand each other more easily than speakers of more distant ones.
Social organisation also varied. Many Apache societies are described as organised around extended families and kin groups, with descent traced through the mother’s side in a number of cases, but the details differ and scholars note that sources do not always agree. Leadership was typically local and based on respect earned in a community rather than on a single ruler over all Apache people. That is one reason why the Apache story can seem confusing when told as one narrative.
Shared threads
There are also shared threads. Close language relationships, similar ideas of kinship, and the experience of Spanish, Mexican and then American expansion link many Apache nations. In the nineteenth century, outside governments often treated many different groups as one enemy, which flattened real differences and added to later stereotypes. Seeing the single tribe myth for what it is helps readers understand why historians now insist on naming groups.
Living nations
Each of these nations is present today, with its own government, community life and plans for the future. Some, such as the Jicarilla and Mescalero nations, hold reservation lands in New Mexico, while Western Apache nations hold lands in Arizona, and the Plains Apache and Fort Sill Apache are based in Oklahoma. Recognition status and community arrangements differ, and these are matters for the nations to describe. Readers who want to learn more should look first at what the nations say about themselves, and treat any single description of “the Apache” with caution.