Apache, Plains (Native Americans of the Great Plains)

Plains Apache have also been known to non-natives as Kiowa Apaches, Prairie Apaches, Plains Lipans, and possibly Catakas, Palomas, Wetapahatos, and Paducas. Their self-designation is Na-i-shan Dine, "Our People." See also Kiowa.

Location In the late eighteenth century the Plains Apache were located along the upper Missouri River.

Today, most live near the towns of Apache and Fort Cobb, Oklahoma.

Population The 1780 population was about 400. That number had declined to about 150 in 1900. By the early 1990s, there were about 1,400 people calling themselves Plains Apaches.

Language Plains Apaches spoke an Athapaskan language.

Historical Information

History Tribal tradition notes a northern Plains origin. Ancestors of the historic Plains Apache may have lived in northeastern Wyoming and western South Dakota as early as the twelfth century. They may also have entered the Yellowstone Valley from Canada by 1600. The Kiowa, located just to their west, joined them in the early eighteenth century, having been displaced by the mounted Shoshone.

In the early eighteenth century, the Comanches on the west and the Pawnee on the east forced Apaches living on the central Plains south and southwest. Cut off from their fellow Apacheans around 1720, the people known as Plains Apaches may have joined the Kiowa for protection. Although they functioned effectively as a Kiowa band and were a Plains tribe in all senses, they maintained a separate language and never came under the jurisdiction of the Kiowa Tribal Council.


Kiowas and Kiowa Apaches, pressed by the Crow and the Wind River Shoshone, soon left Yellowstone Valley for the Black Hills, where they remained until about the end of the century. At the same time, some Kiowa moved south while others remained near the Black Hills with the Plains Apache. The northern group finally moved south, under pressure from the Teton Dakota, to join the larger group around 1805 in western Kansas.

Plains Apaches are probably the "Apaches del Norte" named in the historical record as that group of Apaches who arrived in New Mexico by the late eighteenth century. They moved back and forth between New Mexico and the upper Missouri area during the early nineteenth century, serving as trade intermediaries between New Mexico and upper Missouri tribes such as the Mandans and Arikaras.

With the Kiowa, Plains Apaches moved south to the Arkansas River area in the early nineteenth century. In the early 1850s, they were part of an unsuccessful effort of Arkansas River tribes to defeat a number of tribes encroaching from the east. By then they and the Kiowa were spending more time south rather than north of the Arkansas. They settled on the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation in 1868. In 1901, this reservation was allotted in 160-acre parcels to individual tribal members, with the "surplus" opened to non-native settlement.

Religion With their associated ceremonies, sacred bundles were a focus of Kiowa religious practice. Plains Apaches adopted the Sun Dance in the eighteenth century, although they did not incorporate elements of self-mutilation into the ceremony. Young men also fasted to produce guardian spirit visions.

Government From the early eighteenth century on, the Plains Apaches functioned as a band of the Kiowa. As such they had their own peace and war chiefs. They joined the Kiowa as part of their summer camp.

Customs From the nineteenth century on, there were four named categories of social rank. The highest was held by those who had attained war honors and were skilled horsemen, generous, and wealthy. Then came those men who met all the preceding criteria except war honors. The third group was people without property. At the bottom were men with neither property nor skills. War captives remained outside this ranking system. In general wealth remained in the family through inheritance.

Corpses were buried or left in a tipi on a hill. Former possessions were given away. Mourners cut their hair and mutilated themselves. A mourning family lived apart from the rest of the group.

Dwellings Women built and owned skin tipis.

Diet Before the people acquired horses, they hunted some nearby buffalo and ate local roots, berries, seeds, and bulbs. Buffalo became a staple after the mid-eighteenth century.

Men also hunted other large and small game. They did not eat bear or, usually, fish. Women gathered a variety of wild potatoes and other vegetables, fruits, nuts, and berries. Plains Apaches ate dried, pounded acorns and also made them into a drink. Cornmeal and dried fruit were acquired by trade.

Key Technology The buffalo and other animals provided the usual material items such as parfleches and other containers. Points for bird arrows came from prickly pear thorns. The cradle board was a bead-covered skin case attached to a V-shaped frame. Women made shallow coiled basketry gambling trays.

Trade During the eighteenth century, Plains Apaches traded extensively with the upper Missouri tribes (Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras). There was also regular trade with New Mexico, where they exchanged meat, buffalo hides, and salt for cornmeal and dried fruit. During the nineteenth century they traded Comanche horses to the Osage and other tribes.

Notable Arts Calendric skins and beadwork were two important artistic traditions.

Transportation The people acquired horses by the early eighteenth century.

Dress Women dressed buffalo, elk, and deer hides to make robes, moccasins, leggings, shirts, breechclouts, skirts, and blouses.

War and Weapons Plains Apaches took part in the Plains war-and-raiding complex. There were numerous military societies. The tribe was allied with the Crow in the late seventeenth century and with the Comanche beginning around 1790. Enemies in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century included the Dakota, Cheyenne, and Osage.

Contemporary Information

Government/Reservations Because of their geographical location, contemporary Plains Apaches are sometimes referred to as the Cache Creek Apaches (located near Apache, Oklahoma) and the Washita Apaches (near Fort Cobb, Oklahoma). They organized a tribal government in the 1970s. The tribal administrative center is in Anadarko, Oklahoma.

Economy Chronic high unemployment is a function of the lack of local economic opportunity.

Legal Status The Apache Tribe of Oklahoma is a federally recognized tribal entity.

Daily Life Plains Apaches intermarry at a high rate with Indians of other tribes. Language classes and other educational and social programs are held in the administrative complex; ceremonials are held near Fort Cobb in June and August. The people are known for their extensive collection of traditional music, and their singers, drummers, and dancers are in demand at many tribal powwows. They have produced many excellent artists and craftspeople who work especially in beads, silver, wood, paints, and feathers.

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