Many nations, many traditions
There is no single “Apache art.” The Apache peoples include the Western Apache (with groups such as the White Mountain Apache, San Carlos Apache, Tonto and Cibecue), the Chiricahua, the Mescalero, the Jicarilla, the Lipan and the Plains Apache. Their languages are related, and some art forms have shared roots, but each nation has its own history, homeland, materials and neighbors. Those differences show up in what people sing, how they dance, what they make and what they choose to share with outsiders.
This page is a general map, not an official statement from any nation. The cultural departments, museums and official websites of the nations themselves are the best places to learn what is current and what is open to visitors.
Song and instruments
Song accompanies many parts of Apache life, from social gatherings to ceremonies. Singers are usually accompanied by a drum, and in many Apache communities the water drum, a vessel partly filled with water and covered with a wet hide, is especially associated with ceremonial music. Rattles, hand drums and, among the Western Apache, a one-stringed fiddle made from an agave stalk also have a place. The instruments and their uses vary by group and by occasion.
Some songs are meant for public settings, and some belong to ceremonies that are not documented for outsiders. Much of the traditional Apache song repertoire is sacred, so what can be said in public is limited, and that restraint is deliberate. Several other pages on this site take up the instruments, drum rhythms and song forms in more detail.
Dance
Apache dance includes sacred dances, social dances and, in recent generations, dances borrowed from the wider powwow circuit. Among several Apache groups, the Crown Dancers are the best known to the public. They are described as embodying Mountain Spirits and appear in the context of the Sunrise Ceremony, a girl’s coming-of-age ceremony held by Western Apache, Mescalero and Chiricahua communities. Their meaning is spiritual, not theatrical, which is why the details are not treated here.
Plains Apache communities in Oklahoma share more of the dance and regalia traditions of the southern Plains, and Apache people of many nations take part in the Apache powwow circuit alongside other Native dancers. Social dances are generally open to the community and differ in tone from ceremonial ones.
Basketry
Basketry is one of the best documented Apache arts. Western Apache basket makers are known for coiled baskets, typically built on a foundation of willow or cottonwood rods and stitched with split willow or sumac. Designs are often made with dark devil’s claw and reddish yucca root. They also made burden baskets, often fringed with buckskin and hung with metal tinklers, and water jars sealed with pitch.
Jicarilla basketry is its own tradition, with different forms and decoration, and the Mescalero also made baskets. Many weavers learned from relatives, and several nations now run classes so that the skills continue. Materials such as the plants used in baskets are also tied to plant knowledge, some of which is kept private.
Beadwork, hide and regalia
Glass seed beads came through trade and were adopted into Apache work, appearing on moccasins, bags, cradleboards and necklaces. Apache beadwork varies by nation and period, and Plains Apache beadwork looks closer to neighboring Plains styles than to Western Apache work. Buckskin and rawhide work, including Apache hide tanning, supports clothing, containers and drums. Regalia worn in dances can combine hide, beads, feathers, fringe and metal, and Apache ceremonial regalia for sacred roles is handled with care and is not displayed as costume.
Pottery
Pottery was made by some Apache groups, notably the Jicarilla, who made utilitarian vessels, and it has had revivals in recent decades. Its history is less well documented than basketry, and sources differ on how widespread it was among other groups.
Painting and sculpture
Apache visual art in the gallery sense reaches back to the early twentieth century. The best known figure is Allan Houser (Haozous), a Chiricahua Apache artist born in Oklahoma in 1914 to a family from the Chiricahua community that had been held as prisoners of war. He trained as a painter, later became a widely recognized sculptor in stone and bronze, taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and received the National Medal of Arts in 1992. His son Bob Haozous is also a sculptor, known for large metal works that often comment on contemporary life.
Houser’s career is also part of the story of the Native American art market Apache artists work within, where collectors, galleries, juried markets and museums shape how work is valued. Many Apache artists work in several media at once, mixing painting, beadwork, jewelry, photography and digital work.
What is shared and what is not
Not all Apache art is made for display. Some objects and designs have ceremonial purposes, and the nations decide what may be photographed, recorded, sold or exhibited. Visitors who buy work are best served by buying directly from artists or tribal enterprises and by respecting any rules at events.
Learning to read Apache art also means avoiding assumptions. A design that looks symbolic may be purely decorative, and a symbol in one nation may mean nothing in another. Apache cultural preservation work, including language and craft classes, is carried out by the communities themselves and varies widely.