The Apache Tribe

New post!

In today's post we are going to tell you a little bit more about some of the most important american tribes and how they used to live. There were over 45 different tribes! 
We are pretty sure that you have already heard about some of these tribes that we are going to tell you but we wanted to let you know a little bit more. We also decided to split up all the information in a couple of posts, this way it will be easier for you, readers.

Keep on reading!

THE APACHE

They were a tribe who lived in a place known as the Great Apacheria. It is located from Western Arizona to Eastern Texas and also from Northern Colorado to Mexico. It is said that they also lived in Alaska. 

The name Apache was used by other tribes like The Pueblo or also by the Spanish people to describe them as the 'enemy' but they called themselves 'Inde' or 'Nide', which means 'the people'.
They were such a big group of inhabitants so they were divided in two different groups and the Rio Grande was used as a frontier between them: 

• The Eastern
• The Western

Moreover, inside of those two big groups they were also divided in family groups and each one used to live independently and those groups were led by the most important member of the family (only men). It is said that the Apache were never organized as a political union.

One of the most important characteristic is that their were typically nomadic, which means that they used to travel from one place to another due to their dependence on the buffalo because it was the only way for them to stay alive by eating their meat, using their skin for clothes or for buildind tends or even the bones could work into tools such as needles and scrapers. Also, while they were traveling from camp to camp, they used to collect roots and berries. Sometimes they also planted seeds on their way so, later, when they returned, they could harvest them.
Also, they learnt very quickly to ride horses, this way, they could hunt the buffalo more easily.

Regarding trading, the Apache used to be really good at it and, usually, they traded with another tribe called The Pueblo but this trade was broken after the Spaniards came to this territory.
After the year 1730 the Apache and the Spaniards started a battle because of the invasion of the Apache's territory, which lasted a long period of time and there were a great number of deaths. Thirtheen years later, the Spaniards accepted to give the Apache a small territory of Texas where they could live peacefully.
Nonetheless, many years later, the Apache tribe created a bond with the white men. It made them feel more protected but it was not for a long period of time; raids started to take place soon.
The Apache had many celebration days through the year and they had two important dances:

• Sunrise dance
• Mountain Spirit dance

Most of these celebrations were religious and it was presided by the medicine-man of the group.

In this video you can see how they celebrated the Mountain Spirit dance, the music and the outfits.


Bibliography:
http://www.kidport.com/reflib/socialstudies/nativeamericans/Apache.htm
http://www.bigorrin.org/apache_kids.htm
http://www.indians.org/articles/apache-indians.html
http://native-american-indian-facts.com/Southwest-American-Indian-Facts/Apache-Indian-Tribe-Facts.shtml