The Apache

            A people who share unstoppable resistance, prowess, skill and dexterity, intelligence, character, and a degree of confidence beyond all others is, in fact, a humble way to describe the Apache Indians. Known as warriors, the Apache never intend to sit back and let strangers rob them of everything they know and own; they are determined to fight until there is an end, one way or another. Their perseverance and strength is not only in there blood but can also be accredited to their unique lifestyle and upbringing. Even in today's society they are a united people who value, honor, and practice their undying traditions.
             The Apache, or Athapaskans, as they were first called, moved from the Alaskan Canadian area down to what we now know as Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico around A.D 1000. The Apache tribe was made up of smaller groups. Each of these groups had their own characteristics, language, customs, and organization. Even though they lived in separate groups, "The Apache viewed themselves as a single, related people superior to all other humans, whom they regarded as members of an inferior species."" (Melody 21) Today they are known by the names given to them by the first white people that they encountered. The Kiowa-Apache resided in Kansas and Oklahoma; the Lipan in the Rio Grande valley in New Mexico; the Jicarilla in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado; the Mesacalero in New Mexico; the Chiricahua in Western New Mexico; and the Western Apache in the East-Central Arizona. Although they mostly lived in one area they had to move every season in order to survive.
             Little vegetation grew on their lands due to water deprivation; therefore, the Apache had to hunt. The men did all of the hunting and used bow and arrows as their weapons. Their game consisted of buffalo, antelope, deer, hare, and rodents. The women, on the other hand, were in charge of gathering any vegetation that they could find.