Apache Tribe

The Apaches are a tribe of Native Americans, aboriginal inhabitants of North America, who speak the Athabascan language Apache. The Apache people migrated from the Northern Plains into the Southwest relatively recently. Noted leaders have included Cochise, Mangas Colorado, and Geronimo. The U.S. Army found them to be fierce warriors and skillful strategists.

The major Apache groups include the Jicarilla and Mescalero of New Mexico, the Chiricahua of the Arizona-New Mexico border area, and the Western Apache of Arizona. Other groups were the Lipan of south-western Texas and the Kiowa-Apache of Oklahoma.

The Chiricahua Apaches were removed from their reservation in 1876 and sent to prison in 1886. Subsequently, some Chiricahua relocated to Oklahoma and some joined the Mescalero Apaches.

Some Apaches live on or near the Camp Verde Yavapai-Apache Reservation southwest of Flagstaff, Arizona which they share with the Yavapai. There is a visitor center in Camp Verde, Arizona and at the end of February an Exodus Days celebration with an historic re-enactment and a pow wow.

The Tonto Apache Reservation was created in 1972 near Payson in southeastern Arizona. Within the Tonto National Forest about halfway between Tucson and Phoenix it consists of 85 acres and serves about 100 tribal members. The tribe operates a casino.