Objects Made by Living Artists
Baskets, beadwork, cradleboards and clothing are often the first things people associate with Apache material culture, and museum cases sometimes make them look like relics of a closed chapter. They are not. Apache artists in several nations make these things today, teach them to younger relatives, and adapt them to new uses and materials. This article looks at four categories of work in general terms. It cannot cover every group, and styles, names and techniques differ among the Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan and Plains Apache.
Basketry
Basketry is among the most widely recognized Apache arts. Two broad techniques are commonly described: coiled baskets, built up in spiral rows, and twined baskets, made with crossing weft elements. Which techniques and designs are used, and by whom, depends on the group. Western Apache coiled baskets are often discussed by collectors and scholars, while Jicarilla basketry is another distinct tradition with its own forms and designs. Twined burden baskets, sometimes with hanging fringes, are associated with several groups and were used for carrying and storing goods.
Materials come from the land. Basketry plant materials commonly mentioned include willow, sumac, cottonwood and yucca, among others, but which plants are used depends on the region and the maker. Gathering the right plants at the right time is a skill in itself, and access to gathering places has been affected by land loss and changing land management. Some makers have spoken publicly about the difficulty of finding enough material, though this varies from place to place.
Baskets served practical purposes in daily life, such as carrying, storing and cooking, and some were also made for ceremonial use. Today many are made for sale or display as well. A basket may be both an everyday object and a work of art, and these purposes are not in conflict.
Beadwork
Glass beads came to the Southwest through trade and became part of Apache design, particularly on moccasins, bags, clothing and ceremonial items. Beadwork styles vary by group, family and individual. Apache beadwork today ranges from small items like earrings and hatbands to elaborate regalia, and makers may combine older patterns with their own designs. The meaning of particular colors or shapes differs between makers, and a pattern cannot be reliably “read” by an outsider, so generalizations about symbolism are best treated cautiously.
Beadwork has also been shaped by the market. Because beaded goods sell, they are sometimes imitated, and mass-produced items labeled as “Native style” can undercut real artists. Buying from named Apache artists, or from the nation’s own enterprises and galleries, is the clearest way to support makers.
Cradleboards
The cradleboard is a carrier for infants used in many Native American communities, including several Apache nations. Descriptions commonly mention a wooden frame, a hide or cloth covering and, in some cases, decorative elements such as beadwork or fringe. Details differ by group and by family, and some cradleboards are made with a particular child in mind.
Cradleboards are still made, and some families use them for infants or keep them as heirlooms or gifts. Their role should be described plainly: a practical carrier and a way for families to express care, not a symbol to be reduced to a single meaning. It is also worth noting that cradleboards are sometimes shown in museums and photographs from the 19th and early 20th centuries, which can give the false impression that they belong only to that period.
Clothing and Footwear
Traditional Apache clothing before and during the early reservation era is known mostly from historical descriptions, photographs and museum collections, and from the knowledge of descendants. It generally involved deerskin and other hides, with cotton cloth becoming common after trade increased. Women’s dress in some Western Apache communities, for example, shifted over time to include calico-style cloth in a layered, full-skirted form that many families still wear on special occasions. Men’s and women’s footwear included high-topped moccasins in several groups, and Apache moccasins are among the most recognizable items, though the style differed between nations.
Preparing hides for clothing and footwear is a demanding craft, and Apache hide tanning is practiced by some artists who learned it from relatives. Clothing also changes: many people wear everyday modern clothes, and traditional dress is worn for ceremonies, feast days, graduations and photographs.
Teaching and Continuity
Skills are generally passed along through family and community: a grandmother who weaves baskets, an aunt who beads, a father who makes a cradleboard. Some nations also support classes and workshops, and teaching Apache crafts to young people is a stated goal at many cultural centers. Elders and master makers can have large roles in this, but the details of any given program change, so the nation’s official site is the best place to check.
Collections and Return
Many historic Apache objects are in museum collections. The status of those collections and the return of certain objects, including sacred items and ancestral remains, are matters involving communities, institutions and federal law. Questions about how items were obtained, and whether they should be returned, are part of Apache museum collections debates today. Objects that are sacred are generally not discussed or displayed publicly by the communities concerned, and respectful institutions may restrict their display.
Looking Without Romanticizing
It is tempting to describe these arts as a window onto an unchanged past. A more accurate view is that they have always changed, with new materials, tools and ideas incorporated, and that artists today are making choices, not merely repeating a tradition. Referring to Apache artists by name, to their nation and to their own descriptions of their work, is more accurate than generalizing about what “Apache art” looks like.