Neighbors, not strangers
The Pueblo peoples of the Southwest, including those living along the Rio Grande and in communities to the west, had lived in permanent villages and farmed for many centuries before Apachean groups became prominent in the region. When ancestors of the Apache peoples moved into the area, the timing of which is debated, they entered a landscape already shaped by Pueblo farming, trade routes and political relationships. The repeated word in this article’s title is a quirk of the title itself; the subject is the relationship between the two groups of peoples.
It is useful to avoid reading this contact as a single story. Different Apachean groups, in different places and times, had different dealings with different Pueblos. Some Pueblo communities are named in the sources as trading partners of the Plains-oriented Apachean groups; others, in different periods, were targets or allies in conflict. The sources are mostly Spanish and mostly describe later centuries, so they cannot be projected back to the first meetings.
Trade as a main link
Trade is the best-documented form of contact. As a general pattern described by historians, Apachean groups who hunted bison and deer on the Plains and in the mountains offered meat, hides and other products, while Pueblo communities offered farm produce such as corn and cotton goods, and sometimes pottery and other crafted items. Pueblos on the eastern edge of the Pueblo world, such as Pecos and Taos, are often described as important meeting places for this exchange, where Plains peoples came to trade. The connections between the Jicarilla and their Pueblo neighbors are discussed in the article on Jicarilla and Pueblo trade, and the wider subject of early Apache trade relations and Apache trade networks history is covered in the economy articles.
Trade was not only about goods. It created relationships: people came to know each other, sometimes camped near each other and sometimes intermarried. Visitors could exchange news and ideas, and such contacts are one way that technologies and practices spread.
Possible influences in both directions
Scholars discuss several ways contact may have shaped both sides, though specifics are often uncertain.
- Farming. Some Apachean groups, notably the Western Apache and Jicarilla in particular periods, practiced farming, and Pueblo and other neighbors are commonly considered possible sources of crops or techniques, among other influences. The extent and sources of Apache farming are debated.
- Pottery and crafts. Apachean peoples made their own pottery and basketry. Scholars discuss whether certain styles were influenced by neighbors and where they were developed independently.
- Words and names. Contact left traces in language, including the name “Apache” itself, which according to one widely cited suggestion came into Spanish through a Pueblo language, though its exact origin is uncertain.
- Pueblo communities. Apachean trade supplied Pueblo communities with products from the Plains, and some communities adjusted routines around trade fairs.
Conflict and shelter
The relationship was not always peaceful. Both raiding and refuge occurred. Over time, as Spanish colonization began in the late 1500s and 1600s, new pressures changed the relations between Apachean groups and Pueblos, with Spanish authorities asking Pueblo communities for labor and tribute and, at times, seeking Pueblo help against Apachean groups. In 1680, the Pueblo Revolt drove the Spanish out of New Mexico for over a decade, and relations among Pueblo communities, Apachean groups and Spanish colonists shifted again afterward. These events are covered in the context of Spanish colonial contact and the Apache and Spanish contact.
Some Pueblo communities also sheltered people from other nations at times. Sources describe movement of refugees in various directions during droughts and conflicts, and these cases show how connected the region was.
Reading the evidence with care
Several limits apply to what can be said about early contact.
First, most Spanish documents were written by outsiders with their own purposes, and they use names such as “Apache” and “Querecho” inconsistently. Second, Pueblo and Apache oral histories carry their own memories of these relationships, but they are held by the communities concerned and are not always publicly shared. Third, archaeology can show trade goods, such as pottery found far from where it was made, but it is often difficult to say which group carried them.
Together, these limits mean that general statements about “Apache and Pueblo relations” are best read as informed summaries, not as a complete history. The wider theme appears also in the overview of Apache and Pueblo relations.
Why it matters
The contact between Apachean groups and Pueblo peoples was one of the formative relationships of the early Southwest. It illustrates that Apache peoples did not live in isolation, but were part of a regional network of exchange, language and politics, and that they shaped and were shaped by their neighbors. Today, Pueblo and Apache nations are separate nations with their own governments and histories, and for current information, each nation’s own sources are the best guide.