Living nations, many experiences
Apache communities today are as varied as any other group of peoples. Some members live on reservation lands in Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma; others live in nearby towns, in large cities, or far from their home communities and return for family events and ceremonies. A single description cannot cover all of them. This article offers a general outline, and where it can, it names the nation involved. For details, the nations’ own official websites are the best source.
The main Apache nations in the United States include the San Carlos Apache and White Mountain Apache (Western Apache), the Tonto Apache, the Yavapai-Apache Nation, the Mescalero Apache, the Jicarilla Apache, the Fort Sill Apache Tribe and the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (Plains Apache). Lipan Apache descendants also maintain communities, and their recognition status is a continuing subject of discussion. Related Apache peoples also live in northern Mexico.
Government and community
Each federally recognized nation has its own tribal government, usually a council with an elected chairperson or president, and each manages services for its members, such as housing, schools, health programs, land management and law enforcement, to varying degrees. The details differ from nation to nation and change over time, which is one reason current information should come from the nation itself. The broader idea of Apache tribal sovereignty means these governments hold powers that are not simply those of a county or a private organization, though how those powers work in practice is shaped by federal law.
Work and livelihood
Apache people work in many fields. Depending on the community, these can include ranching and forestry, tribal government and administration, teaching, health care, construction, tourism, recreation and hospitality, and other tribal enterprises. Some nations operate businesses that provide jobs and income for programs. Others have relied more on a mix of public employment and work in neighboring towns. Many people also hold professional jobs in cities.
Rural reservations often face real economic difficulties, including long distances to services and limited local employment. These are conditions of history and geography, not features of a culture, and communities work on them in different ways.
Family life
Family remains central to many Apache communities. Households are often connected to wider networks of relatives, and extended family members commonly share in childcare, support and obligations. Among several Western Apache and other groups, kinship has traditionally been traced through the mother’s line, and that influence is still felt in how families describe who is related to whom. Elders are widely respected as holders of language and experience.
Families gather for birthdays, graduations, funerals, church services, sports games and seasonal events. Young people often juggle school, jobs, sports and community life, like others their age elsewhere in the country, with the added task in some places of learning an Apache language that their grandparents spoke more fully than their parents did.
Ceremony and religion
Ceremonial life continues in a number of Apache communities. One widely known example is the girls’ coming-of-age ceremony, often called the Sunrise Ceremony among Western Apache, which has been described in public sources as an important and community-wide event. The details are not for outsiders to retell, and each family and community handles it in its own way. Many ceremonies are not open to visitors, and photography and recording are often restricted. Anyone wishing to attend a public event should ask the host nation and follow its rules.
Religious life is also varied. Many Apache people belong to Christian churches, some of them led by Apache pastors, and some take part in both church and traditional practices. Others are involved in the Native American Church or in traditional ceremonial life, or in several of these. Religious choices are personal, and they are not a test of whether someone is “really” Apache.
Language and education
Apache languages are spoken to differing degrees. Some communities have a significant number of fluent speakers, while others have few, and the situation varies between nations and between generations. Many nations run Apache language programs, including classes, immersion programs or recording projects, and several have schools or colleges under tribal oversight. Parents, elders and teachers often work together on these. No general statement about numbers of speakers can be made here, since they change and differ by community.
Arts, events and public life
Apache artists work in basketry, beadwork, jewelry, painting, music, writing and film. Fairs, rodeos and gatherings are a regular part of the year in many places, and some include a powwow or other events. Some Apache musicians and writers are known well beyond their home communities, and many more are known mainly to their neighbors.
Avoiding old pictures
The image of Apache in popular culture has long been that of characters in Westerns, a stereotype that rarely matches real communities. Contemporary Apache life includes school board meetings, basketball tournaments, gardening, church suppers, and debates over land and water, as much as it includes anything shown in films. Reading about the present is the surest way to correct an image drawn from the past.