Preservation is led by the nations
Efforts to sustain Apache identity are carried out by Apache nations and families themselves. This site is independent and speaks for no tribe, so it can describe only the general shape of that work. The Western Apache nations, the Chiricahua and Fort Sill Apache, the Mescalero, the Jicarilla, the Lipan and the Plains Apache each have different circumstances and choices, and each decides how its own culture is taught, shared or kept private.
Pressures from outside
Across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Apache peoples faced a series of pressures that threatened their communities’ continuity. These included the loss of land and the move onto reservations, the removal of whole groups from their homelands, and the imprisonment of Chiricahua families as prisoners of war for decades. Federal policy also aimed at assimilation, including the boarding school system, in which children were separated from their families and often discouraged or punished for speaking their languages. Missionary activity, economic change and the spread of English added to the pressure.
These policies are covered in their own articles, such as the history of assimilation policy and Apache boarding school history. The relevant point here is that identity was not simply lost or kept: communities responded in many different ways, and those responses form part of the story.
What preservation looks like
Preservation is often imagined as museum work, but in Apache communities much of it is everyday and family-based. Several areas recur in public descriptions.
- Language. Apache languages are in different conditions in different communities, and many nations have language classes, recordings, dictionaries and teaching programs. The overall subject is Apache language revitalization, and the case for the work is stated in importance of Apache languages.
- Family and elders. Teaching often happens at home and through elders, who pass on knowledge, stories and values. This continues even where formal programs exist.
- Schools and education. Some nations operate or partner with schools that include language and culture in the curriculum, and tribal colleges and cultural departments play a role in some places.
- Cultural centers and museums. Some nations have cultural centers and museums that present their history from their own point of view, a subject covered under tribal museums and cultural centers.
- Arts and crafts. The making of baskets, beadwork and other traditional items keeps skills alive and links generations.
- Ceremonial life. Many ceremonies continue and remain central to community life. They are not public performances, and outsiders should follow any rules about attendance or photography that a community sets.
- Return of ancestors and objects. Some nations have worked to bring back human remains and sacred or cultural objects from museums under federal law, which is discussed under NAGPRA repatriation Apache.
Identity is more than tradition
Being Apache today involves family ties, community membership, language, history and sometimes formal enrollment. Enrollment rules are set by each nation and differ, and people who identify as Apache may have complex family histories. The question is treated in Apache tribal enrollment and Apache identity. It is also worth noting that many Apache people work, study and live in cities as well as on reservations, and that modern jobs, technology and mixed heritage are part of contemporary identity rather than a threat to it. Equating “authentic” culture with the past is itself a stereotype.
Challenges that continue
Communities describe ongoing difficulties, such as the decline in the number of fluent speakers of some languages, the fact that many young people grow up away from their home community, the cost of cultural programs, and public images of Apache people that come from films rather than reality. The effect of popular images is considered in Apache media stereotypes. Another continuing concern is protecting places that matter to Apache communities, a topic touched on under Apache sacred site protection.
Because circumstances change, this article does not give figures or name specific current programs. Readers who want accurate, current information should visit the official websites of the nations and, where appropriate, their cultural and language departments.
Why the framing of “struggle” is incomplete
Although the title emphasizes struggle, the record also shows creativity and persistence. Apache communities adapted institutions, adopted new tools and kept core relationships, language and values going through very hard decades. They are living nations, not remnants of a vanished past, and the work of preservation is best seen as part of an ongoing, forward-looking community life.