The Apache people are generally thought to be consistent of a single tribe of Natives, but in actuality, the Apaches are an assimilation of various Apachean tribes that are thought to be a subgroup of Athabaskans, migrating south from Canada and Alaskan regions. While most of these bands of Apache tribes were influenced more by the Plains people than by the Puebloan people like the Navajo were, the Apaches eventually separated, developing their own territory and adapting to the conditions of the local climate and terrain by living off whatever available food sources that they found as they settled throughout the southwest region of the United States. Throughout this time, as they began to establish their own unique tribal belief system, the Apaches accumulated some of the Puebloan and Plains cultural traits into their own. The present-day Apache people include the Jicarilla, Mescalero, Chiricahua, Western Apache, Lipan-Apache, and Plains-Apache. According to various historical accounts, it seems very likely that other Apache groups existed in North America that are not as historically well-known or documented, so I will provide information from some of the commonalities that manage to reach across different these cultures. For example, the amount of complexity in the cultural division of these tribes can be can be shown by breaking down just one of these subgroups of Apaches, the Western-Apache. The Apache people residing in east central Arizona are known as Western Apache. Most of these Native Americans live within a conglomerate of reservations called the White Mountain, Fort Apache, San Carlos, Yavapai, Tonto, and Fort McDowell Mohave reservations. The Western Apaches are the only group, out of those previously mentioned, that remain within the state of Arizona. The Apache believe that there was once a time when their ancestors lived alongside with supernatural beings. The common belief, even today, is that there are spirits that live within certain mountains and underground realms. Part of the Apache creation story incorporates the belief that they are the blood relatives of the mountains, trees, rocks, and the wind. One of the most important and integral pieces to the beliefs of the Apache is a holy being sometimes referred to as White-Painted Woman, but she also is known as Changing Woman or White Shell Woman. In the beginning, she originally gave birth to two sons, Killer-of-Enemies and Child Born-of-Water and they were said to have ridden the world of evil by killing the evil incarnate monsters, thus making the world safe for the Apache people to live. So, these Mountain Spirit Dancers reflect that story by ensuring the well-being of the people to protect them from not just their enemies, but epidemic diseases as well. The Devil Dancers or Crown Dancers are not considered to be supernatural beings themselves, but simply posses the special ability of summoning these mountain spirits. They are a link between the supernatural and natural worlds and they often reflect this in a contradictory fashion. Part of their power is expressed as a paradox of life. In many Native American cultures, this notion of chaos and disorder is personified as the trickster, a destructive and simultaneously creative force. In Apache tribes, he is a boy amongst men, in some circles called Libaye, the ritual of clowning embodies the Apache beliefs underlying power.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 22:56:07 +0000
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