Who the Jicarilla are
The Jicarilla Apache are an Apache people whose historical homeland lies in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, between the Rio Grande and the edge of the Great Plains. Today the Jicarilla Apache Nation is a federally recognized nation with a reservation in northern New Mexico, and its members live there and in other places. Like the other eastern Apache nations, the Jicarilla speak a Southern Athabaskan language, and their language is closely related to that of the Lipan.
The name Jicarilla comes from Spanish and is usually translated as “little basket” or “little gourd cup”, and is generally connected with basket-making or with small drinking vessels. The Jicarilla have their own names for themselves and their divisions, which are best learned from the nation itself.
Two divisions
Accounts of the Jicarilla commonly describe two traditional divisions, often called the Llanero and the Olleros. The Spanish term Llanero relates to the plains (llanos) and describes people who were more oriented toward the Plains and the bison hunt. Olleros, from the Spanish for pot-makers, describes the mountain-oriented people who lived in the valleys and foothills and were linked with pottery and some farming.
These labels are outsiders’ terms and simplify a more flexible reality. Families moved between ways of life depending on season, resources and circumstance. The divisions are best understood as two broad patterns within one people rather than two separate groups.
Plains and mountain ways
The Jicarilla ranged over a landscape of high mountains, forested valleys and open grassland. On the Plains side, the Jicarilla joined bison hunts, and horses became increasingly important in the 1700s. Hunters used the animals for meat, hides and bone, and tents of hide could be moved when needed. This part of Jicarilla life belongs to the wider story of the Southern Plains horse era.
In the mountain valleys, the Jicarilla hunted deer and elk, gathered plants, and in some places tended small gardens. Seasonal movement tied the two ways together, as people moved to take advantage of different resources through the year. Food, shelter and tools came from many sources, and each family drew on those suited to its place and time.
Neighbours
The Jicarilla lived near the Pueblo peoples, including Taos and Picuris, and near Spanish and later Mexican settlements. Their relations with these neighbours included trade, and also conflict. The documented side of this exchange is explored in the account of Jicarilla and Pueblo neighbours. To the east and north, relations with the Ute and Comanche also shaped Jicarilla life, and in the 1700s Comanche pressure contributed to the Jicarilla’s concentration in the western part of their range.
Spanish and Mexican officials tried at times to settle the Jicarilla near towns or missions, and at other times fought them. Some Jicarilla families lived for periods in or near Hispanic villages in northern New Mexico, while others stayed in the mountains.
Under the United States
After the United States took control of New Mexico in 1846 to 1848, the Jicarilla faced a new wave of pressure. Settlers, soldiers and traders came into northern New Mexico, and conflicts occurred in the early 1850s. Treaties were negotiated but not ratified, and the Jicarilla remained without a secure homeland for years. Their eventual reservation was established in stages in the late 1800s, a story told in the article on the long road to a Jicarilla reservation.
During this period the Jicarilla population fell sharply, partly because of disease and hardship. Exact figures are uncertain and are not given here.
Culture and craft
Jicarilla culture includes ceremonies, stories, and craft traditions. Jicarilla basketry in particular is well known, and the Jicarilla also made pottery in the past. Some ceremonies are public, such as certain community gatherings, but many forms of knowledge are not shared with outsiders, and this site does not describe them. Visitors to the reservation should check the nation’s official website for any rules about visiting, photographing or attending events.
The Jicarilla today
The Jicarilla Apache Nation governs its own affairs and manages land and resources on its reservation. Like other nations, it runs services and enterprises that change over time. This article does not describe them in detail, since current information is best taken from the nation’s own sources.
Reading with care
Older sources often described the Jicarilla in terms of stereotypes or as a people on the brink of disappearing. Neither is accurate. The Jicarilla have persisted through a difficult history and are a living nation today, with a distinct identity within the larger group of Apache peoples. For the broader picture of how they relate to the Mescalero, Lipan and Plains Apache, see the overview of the Eastern Apache nations.