Many nations under one outside name
“The Apache Nation” is a convenient phrase, but it can mislead. There has never been a single Apache government, a single Apache territory or a single Apache language. The name “Apache” was applied from outside to a number of related peoples who spoke closely related languages, and who today are separate, separately governed nations. The old idea of one tribe is the single tribe myth, and this article gives the broader picture of how the groups relate.
That does not mean the groups had nothing in common. They share a linguistic ancestry, many broad cultural patterns such as the importance of extended family and a close knowledge of land, and a long history of being grouped together by Spain, Mexico and the United States. Those shared threads are real. So are the differences.
The main groups
Scholars and the nations themselves usually distinguish the following peoples. Names and spellings vary, and many nations use their own names in their own languages.
- Western Apache. Living mainly in what is now central and eastern Arizona, they include groups such as the White Mountain, San Carlos, Cibecue and Tonto peoples. They were not one band but several regional groups made up of smaller local groups. Together they make up the Western Apache peoples.
- Chiricahua. Traditionally associated with southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and northern Mexico, and generally described as comprising several bands, including the Chihenne, Chokonen, Nednhi and Bedonkohe. Their descendants are now mainly part of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe in Oklahoma and the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico.
- Mescalero. Associated with the mountains and basins of southern New Mexico and nearby areas, and today centered on a reservation in the Sacramento Mountains region.
- Jicarilla. Associated with northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, with a reservation in northern New Mexico today.
- Lipan. Historically living in parts of what is now Texas and northern Mexico. Lipan descendants live in several places, and recognition questions are part of their modern story.
- Plains Apache. Long known in older writing as the Kiowa Apache, a name whose origin is the Kiowa Apache name. They are centered in Oklahoma and have a long association with the Kiowa.
The Eastern Apache nations are the other main branch, and the Navajo, who speak a closely related language, are best understood through the idea of Navajo as separate nation: related, but not counted as Apache.
Languages that are related but not the same
The Apache languages belong to the Southern Athabaskan language family, which is part of the wider Athabaskan family that stretches north to Canada and Alaska. Within the southern branch, the languages of the groups above are related in the way that, for example, Spanish and Portuguese are related: there is a visible family resemblance, but speakers do not necessarily understand one another without effort. Some pairs, such as Chiricahua and Mescalero, are close; others are further apart. The Plains Apache language, for instance, developed in a different setting and shows significant divergence.
The range of Apache languages and dialects is wide, and linguists also describe a Western and Eastern split, which has limits of its own. The key point here is that language, more than any other single marker, shows how separate these peoples have been for a long time.
How the Apache came to be where they are
Scholars generally agree that the Apachean peoples are Athabaskan speakers whose ancestors came from the north, but the timing and routes of that movement are debated, and no single date is settled. Apache oral traditions give their own accounts of origins. By the time Spanish records describe the region in the 1500s and later, Apachean groups were already living across a wide area, from the southern Plains to the mountains of Arizona. Over the following centuries, contact with Spain, Mexico and the United States, along with pressure from other native nations, shaped where each group lived.
Cooperation was real but limited
Apache groups did cooperate, but usually in specific situations and rarely on a lasting, formal basis.
- Family ties. Marriage connected bands and sometimes different groups. These ties could bring people together for visits, trade or shared defense.
- Local alliances. Neighboring bands sometimes joined forces for a raid, a defense or a campaign. Such arrangements were typically temporary and depended on leaders and on circumstances.
- Shared hardship. The pressures of the 1800s sometimes pushed groups toward cooperation, although they could also push them apart. Apache cooperation in wartime was uneven, and the broader Apache Wars involved many separate groups.
There was no standing council or army speaking for all Apache peoples. Decisions generally rested with local groups and respected leaders, and a leader’s influence depended on persuasion rather than command. For this reason, the picture sometimes offered in popular accounts of a united Apache force is not supported by the historical record.
Relations with neighbors
Apache peoples also had a range of relationships with other nations, including alliance, trade, intermarriage and conflict. These varied by group and by period. Apache relations with Comanche were often hostile, while Jicarilla and Pueblo trade shows that exchange with neighbors was as important as conflict.
Forced togetherness and what followed
From the 1860s onward, United States policy placed different Apache groups, and sometimes non-Apache neighbors, on shared reservations. The history of Apache reservation consolidation shows how people who had distinct homelands and sometimes difficult relations were forced into proximity. Over time, new bonds formed through marriage and shared experience, while distinct identities remained.
Separate nations today
Today, the Apache peoples are living nations with their own governments, including several federally recognized Apache tribes in Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The list of Apache tribes is short, and the legal and political side is a matter of Apache tribal sovereignty. Each nation makes its own decisions, though they sometimes cooperate on shared interests such as language, the return of ancestors and objects, and gatherings. That topic is the subject of the article on inter-Apache cooperation today.
Information on current governments, programs and enrollment should be taken from each nation’s official website, since this site is independent and does not speak for any tribe.