Sacramento Mountains, Otero County
Current Population: 7,000
Pre-Contact Population: Estimates put the total population of all Apache tribes at 100,000
Language: Mescalero-Chiricahua Apache (Western Apache)
Early Societal Structure: Seminomadic, Matrilocal, Matriarchal extended family / Bands
Location: 463,000 acres in Otero County - on the eastern flank of the Sacramento Mountains, bordering the Lincoln National Forest. There is a small, unpopulated swath that extends into Lincoln County
Pre-Contact Territory: The Mescarlero roamed over 15 million acres in Southern New Mexico & Arizona, Texas, and Chihuahua & Sonora, México
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Traditional Homelands
Some say the name Apache came from the Zuñi word apachu, meaning "enemy," or from the Ute name for the Apache, Awa'tehe.
They raided Spanish, Mexican, and American settlers, and were known to be expert guerrilla fighters who defended their homelands.
Originally established on May 27, 1873, by executive order of President Ulysses S. Grant, the reservation was first located near Fort Stanton in Lincoln County. The present reservation was established in 1883 and is almost entirely in Otero County.
Mutual Aid
They had an alliance with the Lipan Apache, against their common enemy - the Comanche. When the U.S. military slaughtered many of the Lipan in 1903, the Mescalero took in the survivors. The Mescalero opened their reservation to other Apache tribes, such as the Mimbreno (Chíhéńde, Warm Springs Apaches) and the Chiricahua (Shá'i'á-ńde or Chidikáágu). Some Lipan Apache (Tú 'édì-néńde and Tú ntsaa-ńde) also joined the reservation. Their descendants are enrolled in the Mescalero Apache Tribe. When the U.S. finally released the Chiricahua from their Florida internment camp, they were given the choice of moving to Fort Sill Oklahoma or moving to the Mescalero reservation. About two-thirds (180) chose to join the Mescalero.
Modern Mescalero
The current economy of the Mescalero is based primarily on ranching and tourism. They opened a cultural center in Mescalero, with historical information available and tribal artifacts on display, as well as a larger museum south of Alamogordo in Dog Canyon. They opened the Casino Apache Travel Center on US Route 70, about a mile west of Ruidoso.
Sacred Sites
Sierra Blanca, Guadalupe Mountains, Three Sisters Mountain and Oscura Mountain Peak - these are the four sacred mountains of the Mescalero.
Sacred Rite
One of the most traditional and sacred ceremonies practiced by the Mescalero Apache is the puberty rite ceremony. It is a four-day “Rite of Passage,” a ceremony that marks the transition of an individual from one stage of life to another, from girlhood to womanhood. A young girl celebrates her rite of passage with family-prepared feasts, dancing, blessings and rituals established hundreds of years ago. It emphasizes her upbringing which includes learning her tribal language and instilling, from infancy, a sense of discipline and good manners.
Indian Claims Commission Award
The Indian Claims Commission awarded the Chiricahua Apache Indians $15 million in 1975. This was for nearly 15 million acres in New Mexico and Arizona that the United States took when Gertonimo surrended (and the Fort Sill Apache were made prisomers of war.)
The Mescalero Apache received $11.040,000 (69%). The Forst Sill Apache received $4,960,000 (31%).
According to the press release issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior:
The funds accruing to the Mescalero Apache Tribe will all be utilized for tribal programs. $1.4 million will be added to an existing tribal Scholarship Trust Fund. $150,000 will be used for development and maintenance of an inventory of the tribe's human and physical resources. $500,000 will be used to establish a Resource Protection Fund for research, legal fees and other matters pertaining to the protection of the resources and rights of the tribe and its members. Another $500,000 will be used to set up a Retirement and Health Plan for tribal officials and employees. The balance of the award will be put into the tribe's Investment Trust Fund, with the income available for the benefit of tribal members.
The plan for the Fort Sill Apaches sets aside $170,000 to establish a Tribal Burial Fund and to provide for certain anticipated legal expenses. The balance of their share of the award will be distributed on a per capita basis to living members and lineal descendants of the original 1913 group, placed on a payment roll by the Secretary of the Interior. Regulations for the preparation of this roll exclude all persons eligible to benefit from the judgment funds due to the Mescalero Apache Tribe.
They were issued an award for $6 million in 1980, distributed at the same percentages.
