Based in theSouthern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehende (Mescalero), Lipan, Salinero,Plains, and Western Apache. Chiricahua historically shared a common area, language, customs, and intertwined family relations with their fellow Apaches. At the time of European contact, they had a territory of 15 million acres (61,000 km2) in SouthwesternNew Mexico and SoutheasternArizona in the United States and in NorthernSonora andChihuahua inMexico.
The Chiricahua Apache, also written asChiricagui,Apaches de Chiricahui,Chiricahues,Chilicague,Chilecagez, andChiricagua, were given that name by the Spanish. TheWhite Mountain Coyotero Apache, including theCibecue andBylas groups of theWestern Apache, referred to the Chiricahua by the nameHa'i’ą́há, while theSan Carlos Apache called themHák'ą́yé which means ″Eastern Sunrise″, or ″People in the East″. Sometimes they adapted this appellation and referred to themselves also asHa’ishu Na gukande ('Sunrise People'). TheMescalero Apache called the Western Apache and Chiricahua bands to their westShá'i'áõde ("Western Apache People", "The People of the Sunset", "The People of the West"), when referring only to Chiricahuas they usedCh'úk'ânéõde ("People of a ridge or mountainside [made of loose rocks]") or sometimesTã'aa'ji k'ee'déõkaa'õde ("The Ones who are Covered [with breech cloths]").Navajo refer to the Chiricahua asChíshí ("Southern People").
The Chiricahuaautonym, or name by which they refer to themselves, is simply (depending on dialect)Nde, Ne, Néndé, Héndé,Hen-de orõne ("The People, Men", "the People of"); they never called themselves ″Apaches". The Chiricahua referred to outsiders, such as Americans, Mexicans or other Indians, asEnee,ⁿdáa orIndah / N'daa. This word has two possible meanings, the first being "strange people, non-Apache people" or "enemy", but another being "eye". Sometimes it is said that all Apaches referred to the Americans and European settlers (with exception of the Mexicans) asBi'ndah-Li'ghi' / Bi'nda-li'ghi'o'yi ("White Eyes"), but this seems a name from Mescalero and Lipan Apache bands, as the Chiricahua bands called themDaadatlijende, meaning "Blue/green eye people" orIndaaɫigáí / Indaaɫigánde meaning "White skinned or pale colored people" or literally "Strange, non-Apache people, which are white-skinned").Łigáí means "it is white"[3] or it can be translate as "it is pale colored". The í on the end usually translates as "the one that is", but in the context of human beings, can mean "the group who are".
Several loosely affiliated bands of Apache came improperly to be usually known as the Chiricahuas. These included theChokonen (recte: Tsokanende), theChihenne (recte: Tchihende), theNednai (Nednhi) andBedonkohe (recte, both of them together: Ndendahe). Today, all are commonly referred to as Chiricahua, but they were not historically a single band nor the same Apache division, being more correctly identified, all together, as "Central Apaches".
Many other bands and groups ofApachean language-speakers ranged over eastern Arizona and the American Southwest. The bands that are grouped under the Chiricahua term today had much history together: they intermarried and lived alongside each other, and they also occasionally fought with each other. They formed short-term as well as longer alliances that have caused scholars to classify them as one people.[5]
The Apachean groups and the Navajo peoples were part of theAthabaskan migration into the North American continent from Asia, across theBering Strait fromSiberia.[6] As the people moved south and east into North America, groups splintered off and became differentiated by language and culture over time. Some anthropologists believe that theLipan Apache and theNavajo were pushed south and west into what is now New Mexico and Arizona by pressure from otherGreat Plains Indians, such as theComanche andKiowa. Among the last of such splits were those that resulted in the formation of the different Apachean bands whom the later Europeans encountered: the southwestern Apache groups and the Navajo. Although both speaking forms of Southern Athabaskan, the Navajo and Apache have become culturally distinct.
The "Chihenne (Tchihende)", "Nednai/Nednhi (Ndendahe)" and "Bedonkohe" intermarried sometimes with Mescalero Bands of New Mexico and Chihuahua and formed alliances with them; therefore their Mescalero kin did know the names of Chiricahua bands and local groups:Chíhéõde ("The People of Red Ceremonial Paint", "The Red Ceremonial Paint People"),Ndé'ndaa'õde / Ndé'ndaaõde ("The Apache People (who live among) Enemies") andBidáõ'kaõde / Bidáõ'kahéõde ("The People whom We Met", "The People whom We Came Upon"), The Mescalero use the term -õde, -éõde, -néõde, or -héõde ("the people of") instead of the Chiricahua Nde, Ne, Néndé, Héndé, Hen-de or õne ("the people of").
Chiricahuas from Mexico participate every year in theFiesta de los Remedios inComonfort,Guanajuato representing and performing their traditional dances and other ceremonies.[7]
The major Chiricahuan deity is called Ussen, an all-powerful creator figure. Other figures in Chiricahuan mythology include White Painted Woman, a virgin who offered herself in sacrifice to end a drought, and her son, Child of the Waters.[6]
Hoddentin, ceremonially preparedcattail pollen, is used in many Chiricahuan rituals.John Gregory Bourke recorded that the Chiricahua offeredhoddentin to the sun, threw it after snakes, and used it in medicine dances and around dying people.[6]
Other traditional practices include death rituals and puberty ceremonies for young women. Caves, waterways, and birthplaces hold special spiritual significance.[6]
The Athabaskan ancestors of the Chiricahua people migrated south from Canada along theRocky Mountains. Historians disagree on the exact dates of the migration, with estimates ranging from the early 1100s to about 1500. HistorianJack D. Forbes speculates that there may have been two or more mass migrations during this time period.[6]
From the beginning of European-Apache relations, there was conflict between them. The two groups contested the control of land and trade routes inApacheria, and their cultural differences made it oftentimes difficult to negotiate treaties and policies between. Their encounters were preceded by more than 100 years of Spanish colonial and Mexican incursions and settlement on the Apache lands, which pushed Apache tribes northward and exacerbated the martial nature of their society.[9] The United States settlers were newcomers to the competition for land and resources in theSouthwest, but they inherited its complex history, and brought their own attitudes with them about American Indians and how to use the land. By theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, the US took on the responsibility to prevent and punish cross-border incursions by Apache who were raiding in Mexico.[10]
The Apache viewed the United States colonists with ambivalence, and in some cases enlisted them as allies in the early years against the Mexicans. In 1852, the US and some of the Chiricahua signed a treaty, but it had little lasting effect.[11] During the 1850s, American miners and settlers began moving into Chiricahua territory, beginning encroachment that had been renewed in the migration to the Southwest of the previous two decades.
This forced the Apachean people to change their lives as nomads, free on the land. The US Army defeated them and forced them into the confinement of reservation life, on lands ill-suited for subsistence farming, which the US proffered as the model of civilization. Today, the Chiricahua are preserving their culture as much as possible, while forging new relationships with the peoples around them. The Chiricahua are a living and vibrant culture,[12] a part of the greater American whole and yet distinct based on their history and culture.
Although they had lived peaceably with most Americans in theNew Mexico Territory up to about 1860,[13] the Chiricahua became increasingly hostile to American encroachment in the Southwest after a number of provocations had occurred between them.
In 1835, Mexico had placed a bounty on Apache scalps which further inflamed the situation. In 1837Warm Springs Mimbreños' head chief and famed raider,Soldado Fiero also known as Fuerte was killed by Mexican soldiers of the garrison atJanos (only two days' travel from Santa Rita del Cobre), and his son Cuchillo Negro succeeded him as head chief and went to war against Chihuahua for revenge. In the same 1837, the American John (also known as James) Johnson invited theCoppermine Mimbreños in the Pinos Altos area to trade with his party (near the mines atSanta Rita del Cobre, New Mexico) and, when they gathered around a blanket on whichpinole (a ground corn flour) had been placed for them, Johnson and his men opened fire on the Chihenne with rifles and a concealed cannon loaded with scrap iron, glass, and a length of chain. They killed about 20 Apache, including the chiefJuan José Compá.[14]Mangas Coloradas is said to have witnessed this attack, which inflamed his and other Apache warriors' desires for vengeance for many years; he led the survivors to safety and subsequently, together withCuchillo Negro, took Mimbreño revenge. The historian Rex W. Strickland argued that the Apache had come to the meeting with their own intentions of attacking Johnson's party, but were taken by surprise.[15] In 1839 scalp-hunterJames Kirker was employed by Robert McKnight to re-open the road to Santa Rita del Cobre.
After the conclusion of the US/Mexican War (1848) and theGadsden Purchase (1853), Americans began to enter the territory in greater numbers. This increased the opportunities for incidents and misunderstandings. The Apaches, including Mangas Coloradas and Cuchillo Negro, were not at first hostile to the Americans, considering them enemies of their own Mexican enemies.
Cuchillo Negro, with Ponce,Delgadito,Victorio and other Mimbreño chiefs, signed a treaty at Fort Webster in April 1853, but, during the spring of 1857 the U.S. Army set out on a campaign, led by Col. Benjamin L.E. deBonneville, Col. Dixon S. Miles (3°Cavalry from Fort Thorn) and Col. William W. Loring (commanding a Mounted Rifles Regiment from Albuquerque), against Mogollon and Coyotero Apaches: Loring's Pueblo Indian scouts found and attacked an Apache rancheria in the Canyon de Los Muertos Carneros (May 25, 1857), where Cuchillo Negro and some Mimbreño Apache were resting after a raid against the Navahos. Some Apaches, including Cuchillo Negro himself, were killed.
In December 1860, after several bad incidents provoked by the miners led by James H. Tevis in the Pinos Altos area,Mangas Coloradas went toPinos Altos, New Mexico to try to convince the miners to move away from the area he loved and to go to the Sierra Madre and seek gold there, but they tied him to a tree and whipped him badly.[16] His Mimbreño and Ndendahe followers and related Chiricahua bands were incensed by the treatment of their respected chief. Mangas had been just as great a chief in his prime (during the 1830s and 1840s), along with Cuchillo Negro, as Cochise was then becoming.[17]
In 1861, the US Army seized and killed some of Cochise's relatives nearApache Pass, in what became known as theBascom Affair. Remembering how Cochise had escaped, the Chiricahua called the incident "cut the tent."[18] In 1863, Gen. James H. Carleton set out leading a new campaign against the Mescalero Apache, and Capt. Edmund Shirland (10°California Cavalry) invitedMangas Coloradas for a "parley" but, after he entered the U.S. camp to negotiate a peace, the great Mimbreño chief was arrested and convicted inFort McLane, where, probably on Gen. Joseph R. West's orders, Mangas Coloradas was killed by American soldiers (Jan. 18, 1863). His body was mutilated by the soldiers, and his people were enraged by his murder. The Chiricahuas began to consider the Americans as "enemies we go against them." From that time, they waged almost constant war against US settlers and the Army for the next 23 years.Cochise, his brother-in-lawNahilzay (war chief of Cochise's people),Chihuahua,Skinya,Pionsenay,Ulzana and other warring chiefs became a nightmare to settlers and military garrisons and patrols. In the meantime, the greatVictorio,Delgadito (soon killed in 1864),Nana,Loco, youngMangus (last son of Mangas Coloradas) and other minor chiefs led on the warpath the Mimbreños, Chiricahuas' cousins and allies, andJuh led the Ndendahe (Nednhi and Bedonkohe together).
In 1872, GeneralOliver O. Howard, with the help ofThomas Jeffords, succeeded in negotiating a peace withCochise. On December 14, 1872, PresidentUlysses Grant issued anExecutive Order establishing the Chiricahua Reservation in the southeastArizona Territory encompassing the Chiricahua Mountains,Mexico–United States border, andNew Mexico Territory border.[19][20] Jeffords andJohn Clum were designated as theU.S. Indian Agents for the Chiricahua Reservation residing near Apache Pass, Arizona andFort Bowie. It remained open for about 4 years, during which the chief Cochise died (from natural causes).[21] In 1876, about two years after Cochise's death, the US moved the Chiricahua and some other Apache bands to theSan Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, still in Arizona.[22] This was in response to public outcry after the killings ofOrizoba Spence and Nicholas Rogers at Sulpher Springs.[23] Themountain people hated the desert environment of San Carlos, and some frequently began to leave the reservation and sometimes raided neighboring settlers.
They surrendered to GeneralNelson Miles in 1886. The best-known warrior leader of the "renegades", although he was not considered a 'chief', was the forceful and influentialGeronimo. He andNaiche (the son of Cochise and hereditary leader after Tahzay's death) together led many of the resisters during those last few years of freedom.
They made a stronghold in theChiricahua Mountains, part of which is now insideChiricahua National Monument, and across the interveningWillcox Playa to the northeast, in theDragoon Mountains (all in southeastern Arizona). In late frontier times, the Chiricahua ranged from San Carlos and the White Mountains of Arizona, to the adjacent mountains of southwestern New Mexico around what is now Silver City, and down into the mountain sanctuaries of the Sierra Madre (of northern Mexico). There they often joined with theirNednai Apache kin.
GeneralGeorge Crook, then General Miles' troops, aided by Apache scouts from other groups, pursued the exiles until they gave up. Mexico and the United States had negotiated an agreement allowing their troops in pursuit of the Apache to continue into each other's territories.[24] This prevented the Chiricahua groups from using the border as an escape route, and as they could gain little time to rest and consider their next move, the fatigue, attrition and demoralization of the constant hunt led to their surrender.
The final 34 hold-outs, including Geronimo and Naiche, surrendered to units of General Miles' forces in September 1886. From Bowie Station, Arizona, they were entrained, along with most of the other remaining Chiricahua (as well as the Army's Apache scouts), and exiled toFort Marion,Florida. At least two Apache warriors,Massai and Gray Lizard, escaped from their prison car and made their way back to San Carlos Arizona in a 1,200-mile (1,900 km) journey to their ancestral lands.
After a number of Chiricahua deaths at theFort Marion prison nearSt. Augustine, Florida, the survivors were moved, first toAlabama, and later toFort Sill, Oklahoma. Geronimo's surrender ended the Indian Wars in the United States.[25] However, another group of Chiricahua (also known as theNameless Ones orBronco Apache) were not captured by U.S. forces and refused to surrender. They escaped over the border to Mexico, and settled in the remoteSierra Madre mountains. There they built hidden camps, raided homes for cattle and other food supplies, and engaged in periodic firefights with units of the Mexican Army and police. Most were eventually captured or killed by soldiers or by private ranchers armed and deputized by the Mexican government.[26]
Eventually, the surviving Chiricahua prisoners were moved to theFort Sill military reservation in Oklahoma. In August 1912, by an act of the U.S. Congress, they were released from their prisoner of war status as they were thought to be no further threat. Although promised land at Fort Sill, they met resistance from local non-Apache. They were given the choice to remain at Fort Sill or to relocate to the Mescalero reservation near Ruidoso, New Mexico. Two-thirds of the group, 183 people, elected to go to New Mexico, while 78 remained in Oklahoma.[27] Their descendants still reside in these places. At the time, they were not permitted to return to Arizona because of hostility from the long wars.in 1912 many different Apache bands returned to San Carlos Apache lands after their release from Fort Sill Apache Reservation.
Chiricahua Apaches as they arrived at theCarlisle Indian School in PennsylvaniaGoyaałé (Geronimo), in native garbKa-e-te-nay [fi], Head Chief, Warm Springs ApachesLoco, Warm Springs Apache chiefBonito, Chiricahua chiefViola and Agnes Chihuahua, Chiricahuas, photographed at theMescalero Apache Reservation in 1916.Hattie Tom, Chiricahua Apache, photographed byFrank Rinehart
In the Chiricahua culture, the "band" as a unit was much more important than theAmerican or European concept of "tribe". The Chiricahua had no name for themselves (autonym) as a people. The name Chiricahua is most likely the Spanish rendering of theOpata wordChihuicahui or Chiguicagui ('mountain of the wild turkey') for theChiricahua Mountains, later corrupted into Chiricahui/Chiricahua. The Chiricahua tribal territory encompassed today's SE Arizona, SW New Mexico, NE Sonora and NW Chihuahua. The Chiricahua range extended to the east as far as the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico and to the west as far as theSan Pedro River Valley in Arizona, north ofMagdalena just below present day Hwy I-40 corridor in New Mexico and with the townCiudad Madera (276 km northwest of the state capital,Chihuahua, and 536 km southwest ofCiudad Juárez (formerly known asPaso del Norte) on theMexico–United States border), as their southernmost range.[28]
According toMorris E. Opler (1941), the Chiricahuas consisted of three bands:
Ch'úk'ánéń orCh'uuk'anén ‘Ridge of the Mountainside People’ (also known as Central Chiricahua,Ch'ók'ánéń, Cochise Apache,Chiricahua proper, Chiricaguis,Tcokanene), or the Sunrise People;
Ndé'indaaí orNédnaa'í 'Enemy People' or 'The Apache People (who live among) Enemies'[29] known as the Southern Chiricahua, Pinery Apache, Bronco Apache,Ne'na'i), or "those ahead at the end".
Schroeder (1947) lists five bands:
Mogollon
Copper Mine
Mimbres
Warm Spring
Chiricahua proper
TheChiricahua-Warm Springs Fort Sill Apache tribe in Oklahoma say they have four bands in Fort Sill: (some of the Arizona Apaches did not return to San Carlos or Fort Apache, White Mountain Apache warrior Eyelash is buried in Fort Sill cememtry, Southern Tonto Apache Chief/Scout Hosay is buried in Fort Apache cememtery, Hosay has family in Fort Sill and San Carlos today)
Chíhéne (recteTchi-he-nde, more correctly known as the Warm Springs and Coppermine Mimbreño bands,Chinde),
Chukunen (recteTsoka-ne-nde, also known as the Chiricahua band, Chokonende),
Bidánku (recteBedonkohe Ndendahe, also known as Bidanku, Bronco),
Ndéndai (recteNednhi Ndendahe, also known as Ndénai, Nednai).
Today they use the wordChidikáágu (derived from the Spanish wordChiricahua) to refer to the Chiricahua in general, and the wordIndé, to refer to the Apache in general.
Other sources list these and additional bands (only the Chokonen and Chihuicahui local groups of the Chokonen band were considered by Chiricahua tribal members to bethe real Chiricahua people):
Chokonen,Chukunende orTsokanende[30] (also known asCh’ók’ánéń, Tsoka-ne-nde, Tcokanene, Chu-ku-nde, Chukunen, Ch’úk’ánéń, Ch’uuk’anén, Chuukonende orCh'úk'ânéõne – ‘Ridge of the Mountainside People’,proper or Central Chiricahua)[31]
Chokonen local group (lived west ofSafford, Arizona, along the upper reaches of theGila River, along theSan Francisco River in the north to theMogollon Mountains in New Mexico in the east and theSan Simon Valley to the southwest, northeastern local group – headed by Chief Chihuahua (Kla-esh) and his segundo (war chief) and brotherUlzana)
Chihuicahui group (lived in SE Arizona in theHuachuca Mountains ("Wa-CHOO-ka" Mountains; Apache name meaning "thunder mountain") west of theSan Pedro River, in the northwest along a line of today'sBenson, Johnson,Willcox, and north along the San Simon River to east of SW New Mexico, controlled the southernPinaleño,Winchester,Dos Cabezas, Chiricahua, Dragoon andMule Mountains, also known asHuachuca Mountains Apache or by the Apache nameShaiahene ("Western People", "Sunset People"), southwestern local group – headed byCochise (Kùù'chish) ("[oak]wood") and after him by his sons, therefore known asChishhéõne ("The People of Wood", "The Wood People") orCochise Apache.)
Cai-a-he-ne local group (′Sun Goes Down People, i.e. People of the West′, were the westernmost of all Chihuicahui, western local group)
Tse-ga-ta-hen-de / Tséghát'ahéõne local group (′Rock Pocket People′, 'The People beside the Rocks', 'The People on the side of the Rocks', lived in theChiricahua Mountains)
Dzil-dun-as-le-n / Tsétáguãgáõne local group (′Rocks at Foot of Grass-Expanse′, 'The People of the Plains among the Rocks', 'The People of Rocky Plains', 'The People among White Rocks', lived in theDragoon Mountains – according to Christian Naiche Jr. this was Cochise's local group.)
Animas local group (lived south of the Rio Gila, and west of the San Simon Valley in thePeloncillo Mountains (called by ApacheDziltilcil – "Black Mountain") along the Arizona–New Mexico border south to theGuadalupe Canyon and eastward in theAnimas Valley andAnimas Mountains in SW New Mexico,southern local group)
Bedonkohe,Bidánku orBidankande (Bi-dan-ku – 'In Front of the End People',Bi-da-a-naka-enda orBedonkohe Ndendahe – 'Standing in front of the enemy', lived in West New Mexico between theSan Francisco River in the West and theGila River to the southeast, lived in theTularosa Mountains and in their stronghold, theMogollon Mountains, therefore often calledMogollon Apaches, were also known – together with other Apache local groups living along the Gila River and in theGila Mountains – asGileños / Gila Apaches, Northeastern Chiricahua –Geronimo, a prominent leader andmedicine man (but not a chief) belonged to this band)
local group (today no longer known by name) (lived in the Mogollon Mountains)
local group (today no longer known by name) (lived also in the Mogollon Mountains)
local group (today no longer known by name) (lived in the Tularosa Mountains)
Chihenne,Chihende orTchihende (also known asChi-he-nde, Tci-he-nde, Chíhéne, Chííhénee’, Chiende – 'Red Painted People', their autonym could relate to the mineral red coloration of thecopper-containing tribal area, often calledCopper Mine, Ojo Caliente / Warm Springs, Mimbreños / Mimbres andGileños / Gila Apaches, improperly Eastern Chiricahua)
Warm Springs Apache (The vicinity of a southern New Mexico hot spring known as Ojo Caliente (Spanish for Hot Spring) was their favourite retreat and was known to the Apache asTih-go-tel – ′four broad plains′)
southern Warm Springs local group (Warm Springs proper, settled around a warm spring known as Ojo Caliente near present-dayMonticello, New Mexico[33] along theCañada Alamosa, between the Cuchillo Negro Creek and the Animas Creek, controlled theSan Mateo as well as theBlack Range (Dził Diłhił) west of the Rio Grande to the Rio Gila, used the warm springs in the vicinity ofTruth or Consequences – hence called Warm Springs or Ojo Caliente Apaches, southern local group – headed byCuchillo Negro)
Gileños / Gila Apache (often used as a collective name for different Apache groups living along the Gila River; sometimes for all Chiricahua local groups and sometimes for the Aravaipa / Arivaipa Apache and Pinaleño / Pinal Apache of theWestern Apache)
Ne-be-ke-yen-de local group (′Country of People′ or ′Earth They Own It People′, presumably a mixed Chihenne-Bedonkohe local group, lived southwest of the Gila River, centered around theSanta Lucia Springs in theLittle Burro andBig Burro Mountains, controlled the Pinos Altos Mountains,Pyramid Mountains and the vicinity ofSanta Rita del Cobre along the Mimbres River in the east, then calledGileños / Gila Apaches, after discovering profitablecopper mines at Santa Rita del Cobre they were calledCopper Mine Apaches, western local group – headed byMangas Coloradas, an Bedonkohe by birth, and later byLoco)[34]
Mimbreño / Mimbres local group (lived in southeast-central New Mexico, between theMimbres River and the Rio Grande up in theMimbres Mountains and theCook's Range, hence calledMimbreño / Mimbres Apaches, eastern local group; often the name Mimbreños is used to identify the whole Chihenne people, sometimes it is just thought of simply as an aggregation of some families belonging to the Chihenne people around the Mimbres Agency established by temporary Indian agent James M. Smith in 1853)
local group (today no longer known by name) (lived in southern New Mexico in thePyramid Mountains andFlorida Mountains (called by the Chihenne Dzilnokone – Long Hanging Mountain) moved to the Rio Grande in the east and south to the Mexican border, southern group)
Nednhi,Nde’ndai orNdendahe (also known asNdéndai, Nde-nda-i, Nédnaa’í, Ndé’indaaí, Ndé’indaande, Ndaandénde – 'Enemy People', 'People who make trouble', the Mexicans adopted it asBronco Apaches – ′Wild, Untamed Apaches′, lived inSierra Madre Occidental anddeserts of NW Chihuahua, NO Sonora and SE Arizona, therefore often calledSierre Madre Apaches, Southern Chiricahua)[35]
Nednhi / Ndendahe Apache (they were subdivided in three local groups)
Janeros local group (also known asreal Nednhi, lived in NW Chihuahua and NE Sonora, south into theSierra San Luis,Sierra del Tigre, Sierra de Carcay, Sierra de Boca Grande, west beyond the Aros River to Bavispe, east along the Janos River andCasas Grandes River toward theLake Guzmán in the northern part of theGuzmán Basin, because they traded at the presidio ofJanos they were calledJaneros Apache, because they preferred living in the nearly inaccessible Sierra Madre Occidental, their autonym for themselves wasDzilthdaklizhénde orDził Dklishende – ′Blue Mountain People, i.e. People of the Sierra Madre′, northern local group – headed byJuh)
Tu-ntsa-nde local group (′Big Water People, i.e. People along the Aros River′, their stronghold calledGuaynopa was in the bend of the Papigochic River (Aros River) east of the border of Sonora in the vicinity of a mountain, which called the ApacheDzil-da-na-tal – ′Mountain Holding Head Up And Peering Out′, smallest local group)
Haiahende local group (′People of the Rising Sun, i.e. People of the East′, lived in the Peloncillo Mountains, Animas Mountains and Florida Mountains in SE Arizona and inNew Mexico Bootheel and south into the deserts and mountains of NE of Sonora and theMexican Plateau in NW Chihuahua, eastern local group)
Hakaye local group (were part of Sierra Madre Mountains of Sonora Mexico)
Carrizaleños local group (known by other Chiricahua asGol-ga-he-ne – ′Open Place People′ orGul-ga-ki – ′Prairie Dog People′, lived exclusively in Chihuahua, between thepresidios of Janos in the west and Carrizal andLake Santa Maria in the east, south toward Corralitos,Casas Grandes and Agua Nuevas 60 miles (97 km) north ofChihuahua, controlled the southern part of the Guzmán Basin, and the mountains along the Casas Grandes,Santa Maria andCarmen River, likely calledTsebekinéndé – 'Stone House People' or 'Rock House People', southeastern group)
The Chokonen, Chihenne, Nednhi, and Bedonkohe had probably up to three other groups, named respectively after their leaders or homelands. By the end of the 19th century, surviving Apache no longer identified these groups. They may have been wiped out (like the Pinaleño-Nednhi) or had joined more powerful groups. For instance, the remnant of the Carrizaleño-Nedhni camped together with their northern kin, the Janero-Nednhi.
The Carrizaleňo-Nednhi shared overlapping territory in the surroundings of Casas Grandes and Aguas Nuevas with theTsebekinéndé, a southernMescalero band (which was often calledAguas Nuevas by the Spanish). The Spanish referred to the Apache band by the same name of Tsebekinéndé. These two different Apache bands were often confused with each other. (Similar confusion arose over distinguishing the Janeros-Nednhi of the Chiricahua (Dzilthdaklizhéndé) and theDzithinahndé of the Mescalero.
Chato, also Bidayajislnl or Pedes-klinje (1854–1934), warrior, scout
Chihuahua, also Chewawa, Kla-esh, Tłá’í’ez (ca. 1825–1901)
Cochise, chief of the Chihuicahui local group of the Tsokanende people
Baishan, Cuchillo Negro, (ca. 1796–1857) war chief of the southern Warm Springs local group of the Tchihende people and principal chief of them after his own father's (Fuerte / Soldado Fiero) death
Dahteste (Tahdeste), woman warrior and Lozen's companion; sister of Ilth-goz-ay, the wife of Chihuahua,
Delgadito, (ca. 1810–1864), principal chief of the Copper Mine local group of the Tchihende people
Gouyen, (ca. 1857–1903), woman from the Warm Springs group of Tchihende people
Juh, (ca. 1825–1883), medicine man and chief of the Janero local group of Nednhi band
Lozen, "Dextrous Horse Thief" (ca. 1840–1890), woman warrior and prophet of the Tchihende people
Mangas Coloradas, (ca. 1793–1863) war chief of the Copper Mines local group of the Tchihende people and principal chief after Juan José Compà's death
Massai, also Mah–sii (ca. 1847–1906/1911), warrior of the Mimbres Tchihende band
Naiche (ca. 1857–1919), second son of Cochise, was the final hereditary chief of the Chihuicahui local group of the Tsokanende people
Nana, (ca. 1805/1810?–1896), war chief of the Warm Springs Tchihende people
Tahzay (ca. 1843–1876), son of Cochise and his successor as chief of the Chihuicahui local group of Tsokanende people
Tso-ay, also Panayotishn, Pe-nel-tishn, "Peaches," Scout for General Crook
Ulzana (ca. 1821–1909), war chief Chihuahua of the Chokonen local group of Tsokanende people
Victorio, also Bidu-ya, Beduiat (He who checks his horse) (ca. 1825–1880), chief of the Warm Springs Tchihende (Mimbreño) people
^abcdeStockel, Henrietta (15 September 2022).Salvation Through Slavery: Chiricahua Apaches and Priests on the Spanish Colonial Frontier. University of New Mexico Press. p. 16.ISBN978-0-8263-4327-7.
^Grant, Ulysses S. (1912)."Chiricahua Reservation ~ December 14, 1872" [Executive Orders Relating to Indian Reserves, from May 14, 1855, to July 1, 1902].Internet Archive. United States Government Printing Office. pp. 5–6.LCCN34008449.
^three variants of Chiricahua band names are listed: First: i.e.Chokonen is now the common / usual form, Second:Chukunende is used by Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, Third:Tsokanende is anothertranscription
^Edwin R. Sweeney: Cochise:Chiricahua Apache Chief, University of Oklahoma Press 1995,ISBN978-0-8061-2606-7
^Kathleen P. Chamberlain,Victorio: Apache Warrior and Chief, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.ISBN978-0-8061-3843-5
^Monticello (originally namedCañada Alamosa, Spanish for "Cottonwood Canyon") was headquarters for the Southern Apache Agency before a post was established at nearby Ojo Caliente in 1874. About 500 Apaches lived at Cañada Alamosa in 1870. Cochise and his Chiricahuas visited the area in 1871. Most of the Apaches were gone by 1877. The Chiricahuas called itKegotoi – "Dilapidated Houses".
^Edwin R. Sweeney.Mangas Coloradas: Chief of the Chiricahua Apaches, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.ISBN978-0-8061-3063-7
^William B. Griffen:Apaches at War and Peace: The Janos Presidio 1750–1858, University of Oklahoma Press 1998,ISBN978-0-8061-3084-2
Castetter, Edward F. andOpler, Morris E. (1936).The ethnobiology of the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache: The use of plants for foods, beverages and narcotics. Ethnobiological studies in the American Southwest, (Vol. 3); Biological series (Vol. 4, No. 5); Bulletin, University of New Mexico, whole, (No. 297). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Hoijer, Harry and Opler, Morris E. (1938).Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache texts. The University of Chicago publications in anthropology; Linguistic series. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Reprinted 1964 by Chicago: University of Chicago Press; in 1970 by Chicago: University of Chicago Press; & in 1980 under H. Hoijer by New York: AMS Press,ISBN0-404-15783-1).
Opler, Morris E. (1933).An analysis of Mescalero and Chiricahua Apache social organization in the light of their systems of relationship. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago.
Opler, Morris E. (1935). The concept of supernatural power among the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apaches.American Anthropologist,37 (1), 65–70.
Opler, Morris E. (1936). The kinship systems of the Southern Athabaskan-speaking tribes.American Anthropologist,38 (4), 620–33.
Opler, Morris E. (1937). An outline of Chiricahua Apache social organization. In F. Egan (Ed.),Social anthropology of North American tribes (pp. 171–239). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Opler, Morris E. (1938). A Chiricahua Apache's account of the Geronimo campaign of 1886.New Mexico Historical Review,13 (4), 360–86.
Opler, Morris E. (1941).An Apache life-way: The economic, social, and religious institutions of the Chiricahua Indians. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. (Reprinted in 1962 by Chicago: University of Chicago Press; in 1965 by New York: Cooper Square Publishers; in 1965 by Chicago: University of Chicago Press; & in 1994 by Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,ISBN0-8032-8610-4).
Opler, Morris E. (1942). The identity of the Apache Mansos.American Anthropologist,44 (1), 725.
Opler, Morris E. (1946). Chiricahua Apache material relating to sorcery.Primitive Man,19 (3–4), 81–92.
Opler, Morris E. (1946). Mountain spirits of the Chiricahua Apache.Masterkey,20 (4), 125–31.
Opler, Morris E. (1947). Notes on Chiricahua Apache culture, I: Supernatural power and the shaman.Primitive Man,20 (1–2), 1–14.
Opler, Morris E. (1983). Chiricahua Apache. In A. Ortiz (Ed.),Southwest (pp. 401–18). Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 10). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
Opler, Morris E.; & French, David H. (1941).Myths and tales of the Chiricahua Apache Indians. Memoirs of the American folk-lore society, (Vol. 37). New York: American Folk-lore Society. (Reprinted in 1969 by New York: Kraus Reprint Co.; in 1970 by New York; in 1976 by Millwood, NY: Kraus Reprint Co.; & in 1994 under M. E. Opler, Morris by Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.ISBN0-8032-8602-3).
Opler, Morris E.; & Hoijer, Harry. (1940). The raid and war-path language of the Chiricahua Apache.American Anthropologist,42 (4), 617–34.
Schroeder, Albert H. (1974).A study of the Apache Indians: Parts IV and V. Apache Indians (No. 4), American Indian ethnohistory, Indians of the Southwest. New York: Garland.
Seymour, Deni J. (2002) Conquest and Concealment: After the El Paso Phase on Fort Bliss. Conservation Division, Directorate of Environment, Fort Bliss. Lone Mountain Report 525/528. This document can be obtained by contacting belinda.mollard@us.army.mil.
Seymour, Deni J. (2003) Protohistoric and Early Historic Temporal Resolution. Conservation Division, Directorate of Environment, Fort Bliss. Lone Mountain Report 560–003. This document can be obtained by contacting belinda.mollard@us.army.mil.
Seymour, Deni J. (2003) The Cerro Rojo Complex: A Unique Indigenous Assemblage in the El Paso Area and Its Implications For The Early Apache. Proceedings of the XII Jornada Mogollon Conference in 2001. Geo-Marine, El Paso.
Seymour, Deni J. (2004) A Ranchería in the Gran Apachería: Evidence of Intercultural Interaction at the Cerro Rojo Site. Plains Anthropologist 49(190):153–92.
Seymour, Deni J. (2004) Before the Spanish Chronicles: Early Apache in the Southern Southwest, pp. 120–42. In "Ancient and Historic Lifeways in North America’s Rocky Mountains." Proceedings of the 2003 Rocky Mountain Anthropological Conference, Estes Park, Colorado, edited by Robert H. Brunswig and William B. Butler. Department of Anthropology, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley.
Seymour, Deni J. (2007) Sexually Based War Crimes or Structured Conflict Strategies: An Archaeological Example from the American Southwest. In Texas and Points West: Papers in Honor of John A. Hedrick and Carol P. Hedrick, edited by Regge N. Wiseman, Thomas C. O’Laughlin, and Cordelia T. Snow, pp. 117–34. Papers of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico No. 33. Archaeological Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Seymour, Deni J. (2007) Apache, Spanish, and Protohistoric Archaeology on Fort Bliss. Conservation Division, Directorate of Environment, Fort Bliss. Lone Mountain Report 560–005. With Tim Church
Seymour, Deni J. (2007) An Archaeological Perspective on the Hohokam-Pima Continuum. Old Pueblo Archaeology Bulletin No. 51 (December 2007):1–7. (This discusses the early presence of Athapaskans.)
Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Despoblado or Athapaskan Heartland: A Methodological Perspective on Ancestral Apache Landscape Use in the Safford Area. Chapter 5 in Crossroads of the Southwest: Culture, Ethnicity, and Migration in Arizona's Safford Basin, pp. 121–62, edited by David E. Purcell, Cambridge Scholars Press, New York.
Seymour, Deni J. (2008) A Pledge of Peace: Evidence of the Cochise-Howard Treaty Campsite. Historical Archaeology 42(4):154–79. With George Robertson.
Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Apache Plain and Other Plainwares on Apache Sites in the Southern Southwest. In "Serendipity: Papers in Honor of Frances Joan Mathien," edited by R.N. Wiseman, T.C. O'Laughlin, C.T. Snow and C. Travis, pp. 163–86. Papers of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico No. 34. Archaeological Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Surfing Behind The Wave: A Counterpoint Discussion Relating To "A Ranchería In the Gran Apachería." Plains Anthropologist 53(206):241–62.
Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Pre-Differentiation Athapaskans (Proto-Apache) in the 13th and 14th Century Southern Southwest. Chapter in edited volume under preparation. Also paper in the symposium: The Earliest Athapaskans in Southern Southwest: Implications for Migration, organized and chaired by Deni Seymour, Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver.
Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Evaluating Eyewitness Accounts of Native Peoples along the Coronado Trail from the International Border to Cibola. New Mexico Historical Review 84(3):399–435.
Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Distinctive Places, Suitable Spaces: Conceptualizing Mobile Group Occupational Duration and Landscape Use. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 13(3): 255–81.
Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Nineteenth-Century Apache Wickiups: Historically Documented Models for Archaeological Signatures of the Dwellings of Mobile People. Antiquity 83(319):157–64.
Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Comments On Genetic Data Relating to Athapaskan Migrations: Implications of the Malhi et al. Study for the Apache and Navajo. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 139(3):281–83.
Seymour, Deni J. (2010) Cycles of Renewal, Transportable Assets: Aspects of the Ancestral Apache Housing Landscape. Accepted at Plains Anthropologist.
Seymour, Deni J. (2010) Contextual Incongruities, Statistical Outliers, and Anomalies: Targeting Inconspicuous Occupational Events. American Antiquity. (Winter, in press)
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