Jicarilla Apache
Encyclopedia
Jicarilla Apache refers to the members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation currently living in New Mexico
and speaking a Southern Athabaskan language
. The term jicarilla comes from Mexican Spanish
meaning "little basket." Their autonym is Ndee, meaning "the People." To neighboring Apache bands like the Mescalero
and Lipan they were known as Kinya-Inde ("People who live in fixed houses").
The Jicarilla Apache lived in a semi-nomadic
existence in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
and plains of southern Colorado
, northern New Mexico
and ranged into the Great Plains
starting before 1525 CE. They lived a relatively peaceful life for years, traveling seasonally to traditional hunting, gathering
and cultivation
along river beds. The Jicarilla learned about farming and pottery from the Puebloan peoples and learned about survival on the plains from the Plains Indians
and had a rich and varied diet and lifestyle. Starting in the 1700s Colonial New Spain
, pressure from other Native American
tribes, like the Comanches, and later westward expansion of the United States
resulted in significant loss of property, removal from their sacred lands, and relocation to lands not suited for survival.
The mid 1800s until the mid 1900s were particularly difficult as tribal bands were displaced, treaties made and broken, subject to significant loss of death due to tuberculosis
and other diseases, and lack of opportunities for survival. By 1887 they received their reservation, which was expanded in 1907 to include land more conducive to ranching and agriculture, and within several decades realized the rich natural resources
of the San Juan Basin
under the reservation land.
Tribal members transitioned from a semi-nomadic lifestyle and are now supported by their oil and gas
, casino
gaming, forestry
, ranch
ing and tourism
industries on the reservation. The Jicarilla continue to be known for their pottery
, basketry and beadwork
.
groups that migrated out of Canada
, by 1525 CE, and possibly several hundred or more years earlier, and lived in what they considered their land bounded by four sacred Rivers in northern New Mexico
and southern Colorado
: the Rio Grande
, Pecos River
, Arkansas River
, and the Canadian River
containing sacred mountain peaks and ranges. They also ranged out into the plains of northwestern Texas
and the western portions of Oklahoma
and Kansas
. They were found to be in the Chama Valley, New Mexico and points east by the 1600s. Prior to that time, and the arrival of the Spanish, the Jicarilla lived a relatively peaceful existence.
In the 1600s, the Jicarillas were semi-nomads
, practicing seasonal agriculture
that they learned from the Pueblo people and Spanish of New Spain
along the rivers that flow through their territory.
The Apache are linked to the Dismal River culture
of the western Plains, generally attributed to the Paloma and Quartelejo (also Cuartelejo) Apaches. Jicarilla Apache pottery has also been found in some of the Dismal River complex sites. Some of the people of the Dismal River culture joined the Kiowa Apache
in the Black Hills
of South Dakota
. Due to pressure from the Comanche
from the west and Pawnee and French
from the east, the Kiowa and remaining people of Dismal River culture migrated south where they later joined the Lipan Apache and Jicarilla Apache nations.
By the 1800s they were planting along the rivers, especially along the upper Arkansas River
and its tributaries, a variety of crops, sometimes using irrigation
to aid in growing squash, beans, pumpkins, melons, peas, wheat, and corn. They found farming in the mountains safer than on the open plains. They primarily hunted buffalo into the 17th century and thereafter hunted antelope, deer, mountain sheep, elk, and buffalo. From the wild, women gathered berries, agave, honey, onions, potatoes, nuts and seeds.
rivers was provided to them by the Creator
, with select places for communicating with the Creator and spirits, sacred rivers and mountains to be respected and conserved, and very specific places for obtaining items for ceremonial
rituals, such as white clay
found 18 miles southeast of Taos
, red ochre
20 miles north of Taos and yellow ochre on a mountain near Picuris Pueblo. They believe the "heart of the world" is located near Taos.
Traditional Jicarilla stories of White Shell Woman, Killer of the Enemies, Child of the Water and others feature places and nearby people special to them, such as the Rio Grande Gorge
, Picuris Pueblo, the spring and marsh near El Prado
, Hopewell Lake
and particularly of the Taos Pueblo
and the four sacred rivers. The Jicarilla created shrines in sites that held spiritual meaning, sharing some of the Taos area sites with the Taos Pueblo.
Of the connection to Taos, in 1865 Father Antonio José Martínez
, a New Mexican priest, commented that the Jicarilla had a long history living between the mountains and the villages and making pottery as an important source of income. Clay for the pottery came from the Taos and Picuris Pueblo areas.
, and Indian Wars
, the Apaches' traditional cultural and economic lifestyle became strained. Many people died due to famine, Indian Wars
, including the Battle of Cieneguilla
and diseases not indigenous to the American continent for which they had no resistance.
When the Comanche
with their close allies and kin, the Ute
, were pushing out onto the plains, they were pillaging the various eastern Apache
peoples (Jicarilla, Mescalero
and Lipan) occupying the southern plains for control. As they were pushed off the plain, the Jicarilla moved to the mountains and near the pueblos and Spanish missions where they sought alliance with the Puebloan peoples and the Spanish settlers. For instance, in 1724 several Apache bands were annihilated by the Comanches who forced them to "give up half their women and children, and then they burned several villages, killing all but sixty-nine men, two women, and three boys." The Jicarillas were forced to seek a refuge into the eastern Sangre de Cristo Mountains
north of the Taos Pueblo
in New Mexico. Some chose to move to the Pecos Pueblo
in New Mexico or joined the Mescalero
and Lipan bands in Texas.
was an engagement of a group of Jicarilla Apache
s, their Ute allies, and the American
1st Cavalry Regiment on March 30, 1854 near what is now Pilar, New Mexico
.
Background
By the mid-1800s tensions between the Spanish
, multiple Native American
nations and westward expanding United States
settlers erupted as all sought and laid claim to land in the southwest. Diseases to which Native Americans had no immunity
"decimated" their tribes, creating greater pressure for their lands to be taken from them. As tensions of Native Americans grew and numerous attempts to relocate them from their traditional hunting and gathering land and sacred homelands, the Jicarilla became increasingly hostile in their efforts to protect their lands. The United States military developed a defence system
of forts and troops to restrict attacks on westward travelers. The disruption and "mutual incomprehensions" of one another's culture led to warfare among the Spanish, Native American nations and Americans.
Leo E. Oliva, author of Fort Union and the Frontier Army in the Southwest, notes that: "The three cultural groups in the Southwest had different concepts of family life, personal values, social relations, religion, uses and ownership of land and other property, how best to obtain the provisions of life, and warfare."
Fort Union was established by Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner
who ordered Major James Henry Carleton
's Company K 1st Dragoon
s on August 2, 1851 to protect of westward travelers between Missouri
and New Mexico territory
on the Santa Fe Trail
. New Mexico Territory's Governor William Carr Lane
made treaties with the Jicarilla and other Native American tribes of New Mexico to relocate to reservations and peacefully take up agriculture on new lands and in agreed for payments to recompense for loss of access to their hunting, gathering and sacred homeland. The United States government, however, pulled the funding for this agreement, betraying the Native American tribal members. Further complicating the situation, all the crops planted by the tribal members failed and the people continued raiding for survival.
The battle and aftermath
On March 30, 1854, a combined force of about 250 Apaches and Utes
fought the U.S. dragoon
s, led by Lieutenant John Wynn Davidson
, near Pilar, New Mexico
, then known as Cieneguilla. The battle lasted for 2, or 4 hours according to surviving soldier James A. Bennett (aka James Bronson). The Jicarilla fought with flintlock rifles
and arrow
s, killing 22 and a wounding another 36 of 60 dragoon soldiers, who then retreated to Ranchos de Taos
lighter by 22 horses and most of the troops' supplies.
Lieutenant Colonel Philip St. George Cooke
of the Second Regiment of Dragoons at once organized an expedition to pursue the Jicarilla. With the help of Pueblo Indian and Mexican scouts under Captain James H. Quinn, with Kit Carson
as the principal guide. After a winter pursuit through the mountains, Cooke caught up with the Jicarilla, whose leader, Flechas Rayada
offered an agreement for peace in exchange for the horses and guns the Jicarilla acquired from the Battle, but the arrangement was not accepted. On April 8, Cooke Chief fought tribal members at their camp in the canyon of Ojo Caliente. Dispersing in small bands, the Jicarilla evaded further pursuit, but many died from the harsh cold weather.
Following westward expansion of the United States and the resulting impacts to their livelihoods, attempts began in the mid 1850s to relocate
the Jicarilla Apache, who became increasingly hostile to these pressures. In addition, relations with the Spanish also became hostile when the Spanish captured and sold Apache tribal members into slavery. After years of war fare, broken treaties, relocation and being the only southwestern tribe without a reservation, the two Jicarilla Llanero and Ollero bands united in 1873 and sent a delegation to Washington, D.C.
to appeal for a reservation
. Eventually United States President Grover Cleveland
created the Jicarilla Apache Reservation through a United States executive order
signed on February 11, 1887.
Although they had finally obtained a reservation, it was spiritually disheartening to realize that they would no longer roam on their traditional holy lands and have access to the sacred places.
The land on the reservation, except that held by non-tribal members, was not suitable for agriculture
. As a means of survival, timber from the reservation was sold. In 1907 additional land was secured for the reservation, for a total of 742,315 acres, that was suitable for sheep ranching which became profitable in the 1920s. Until that time, many people suffered from malnutrition
and up to 90% of the tribe members had tuberculosis
in 1914; By the 1920s it seemed likely that the Jicarilla Apache nation may become extinct due to trachoma
, tuberculosis, and other diseases. After several difficult ranching periods, many of the previous sheep herders
relocated to the tribal headquarters in Dulce, New Mexico
. The Jicarilla suffered due to lack of economic opportunities for decades.
Oil and gas development began on the reservation after World War II resulting in up to $1 million annually, some of which was set aside for a tribal scholarship
fund and to develop the Stone Lake Lodge facility. In 1982, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe
, that the tribe had the authority to impose severance taxes on oil companies that were drilling for oil and natural gas on reservation land.
As a means of repayment for lost tribal lands, the Jicarilla received a settlement in the 1970s for $9 million.
. Traditional tribal leaders were elected as their first tribal council
members. In 2000 the tribe officially changed their name to the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
Veronica E. Velarde Tiller, author of Culture and Customs of the Apache Indians writes: "All the powers of the tribal governments reflected the traditional values of the Apache people. The protection, preservation, and conservation of the bounty of "Mother Earth," and all its inhabitants is sacred value shared by all Indian people, and the Apaches were most eager to have this concept incorporated into their tribal constitution."
An important value of sharing was integrated into the constitution, whereby the Apache Indians declare that the resources of the reservation are "held for the benefit of the entire tribe." Further, all land on the reservation is held by the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, one of only two reservations in the United States where land is not owned by individuals but by the tribal nation as a whole. Tribal members are individuals that are at least 3/8ths Jicarilla Apache.
The government is made up of the following branches:
Its capital is Dulce
, which comprises over 95 percent of the reservation's population, near the extreme north end. Most tribal offices are located in Dulce.
counties:
from the Colorado border south to Cuba, New Mexico
. The reservation sits along U.S. Route 64
and N.M. 537.
The reservation has a land area of 1,364.046 sq mi (3,532.864 km²) and had a population of 2,755 as of the 2000 census
.
The southern half of the reservation is open plains and the northern portion resides in the treed Rocky Mountains. Mammals and birds
migratory paths cross the reservation seasonally, including mountain lion, black bear, elk, Canadian Geese and turkey. Rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout are stocked in seven lakes on the reservation, but annual conditions such as low precipitation
result in high pH
-levels. From 1995 to 2000 the lake levels were severely low due to drought
; As a result most of the fish were killed off during those years. The reservation sits on the San Juan Basin
, which is rich in fossil fuel
s. The basin is the largest producer of oil along the Rocky Mountains
and the second largest producer of natural gas
in the United States.
neighbors into their own traditions. They are renowned for their fine basket making of distinctive diamond, cross or zig-zag designs or representations of deer, horses or other animals. They are known for their beadwork and keeping Apache fiddle
-making alive.
As of 2000, about 70% of the tribe practice an organized religion, many of whom are Christians
. Jicarilla is spoken by about one half of the tribal members, most by older men and women.
Ceremonial practices consist of:
Annual events include:
, forestry
, gaming
, tourism
, retail
and agriculture
, including:
Although the mid twentieth century brought additional economic opportunities, high unemployment
and a low standard of living
prevails for tribal members. From the Tiller's Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Reservations, 2005 edition:
The Jicarilla people live in houses with a lifestyle similar to other Americans. The cost of food at local grocery stores is higher than found near larger U.S. cities. They have access to all modern conveniences
and avail themselves according to their desires and financial ability. High unemployment and poverty level income rates have resulted in high crime rates
, greatly contributed by a high incidence of methamphetamine
abuse, averaging 1.7% of the United States Native American population and as high as 30% in some rural areas or reservations.
educational programs and the Chester A. Faris scholarship
programs from oil and gas revenues since the 1960s provide opportunities for higher education
. In the 1970s some tribal members obtained graduate degrees
. Educational assistance offices were created by Apache tribes in the 1980s to help students navigate their educational career.
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and speaking a Southern Athabaskan language
Southern Athabaskan languages
Southern Athabaskan is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the North American Southwest with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas...
. The term jicarilla comes from Mexican Spanish
Mexican Spanish
Mexican Spanish is a version of the Spanish language, as spoken in Mexico and in various places of Canada and the United States of America, where there are communities of Mexican origin....
meaning "little basket." Their autonym is Ndee, meaning "the People." To neighboring Apache bands like the Mescalero
Mescalero
Mescalero is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation in southcentral New Mexico...
and Lipan they were known as Kinya-Inde ("People who live in fixed houses").
The Jicarilla Apache lived in a semi-nomadic
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
existence in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Sangre de Cristo Mountains
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States...
and plains of southern Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, northern New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and ranged into the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
starting before 1525 CE. They lived a relatively peaceful life for years, traveling seasonally to traditional hunting, gathering
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
and cultivation
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
along river beds. The Jicarilla learned about farming and pottery from the Puebloan peoples and learned about survival on the plains from the Plains Indians
Plains Indians
The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...
and had a rich and varied diet and lifestyle. Starting in the 1700s Colonial New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
, pressure from other Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes, like the Comanches, and later westward expansion of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
resulted in significant loss of property, removal from their sacred lands, and relocation to lands not suited for survival.
The mid 1800s until the mid 1900s were particularly difficult as tribal bands were displaced, treaties made and broken, subject to significant loss of death due to tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and other diseases, and lack of opportunities for survival. By 1887 they received their reservation, which was expanded in 1907 to include land more conducive to ranching and agriculture, and within several decades realized the rich natural resources
Natural Resources
Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...
of the San Juan Basin
San Juan Basin
The San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin in the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States; its main portion covers around , encompassing much of northwestern New Mexico, southwest Colorado, and parts of Arizona and Utah....
under the reservation land.
Tribal members transitioned from a semi-nomadic lifestyle and are now supported by their oil and gas
Petroleum industry
The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...
, casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
gaming, forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
ing and tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
industries on the reservation. The Jicarilla continue to be known for their pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, basketry and beadwork
Beadwork
Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another or to cloth, usually by the use of a needle and thread or soft, flexible wire. Most beadwork takes the form of jewelry or other personal adornment, but beads are also used in wall hangings and sculpture.Beadwork techniques are broadly...
.
Early history
The Jicarilla Apaches are one of the Athabaskan linguisticAthabaskan languages
Athabaskan or Athabascan is a large group of indigenous peoples of North America, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family...
groups that migrated out of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, by 1525 CE, and possibly several hundred or more years earlier, and lived in what they considered their land bounded by four sacred Rivers in northern New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and southern Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
: the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
, Pecos River
Pecos River
The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
, Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
, and the Canadian River
Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and most of Oklahoma....
containing sacred mountain peaks and ranges. They also ranged out into the plains of northwestern Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and the western portions of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. They were found to be in the Chama Valley, New Mexico and points east by the 1600s. Prior to that time, and the arrival of the Spanish, the Jicarilla lived a relatively peaceful existence.
In the 1600s, the Jicarillas were semi-nomads
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
, practicing seasonal agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
that they learned from the Pueblo people and Spanish of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
along the rivers that flow through their territory.
The Apache are linked to the Dismal River culture
Dismal River culture
The Dismal River culture refers to a set of cultural attributes first seen in the Dismal River area of Nebraska in the 1930s by archaeologists William Duncan Strong, Waldo Rudolph Wedel and A. T. Hill...
of the western Plains, generally attributed to the Paloma and Quartelejo (also Cuartelejo) Apaches. Jicarilla Apache pottery has also been found in some of the Dismal River complex sites. Some of the people of the Dismal River culture joined the Kiowa Apache
Plains Apache
The Plains Apache are a Southern Athabaskan group that traditionally live on the Southern Plains of North America and today are centered in Southwestern Oklahoma...
in the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
of South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. Due to pressure from the Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
from the west and Pawnee and French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
from the east, the Kiowa and remaining people of Dismal River culture migrated south where they later joined the Lipan Apache and Jicarilla Apache nations.
By the 1800s they were planting along the rivers, especially along the upper Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
and its tributaries, a variety of crops, sometimes using irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
to aid in growing squash, beans, pumpkins, melons, peas, wheat, and corn. They found farming in the mountains safer than on the open plains. They primarily hunted buffalo into the 17th century and thereafter hunted antelope, deer, mountain sheep, elk, and buffalo. From the wild, women gathered berries, agave, honey, onions, potatoes, nuts and seeds.
Sacred land and creation story
From the Jicarilla creation story, the land bounded by the four sacredSacred
Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
rivers was provided to them by the Creator
Creator deity
A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the world . In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities...
, with select places for communicating with the Creator and spirits, sacred rivers and mountains to be respected and conserved, and very specific places for obtaining items for ceremonial
Ceremony
A ceremony is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin.-Ceremonial occasions:A ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a human life, marking the significance of, for example:* birth...
rituals, such as white clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
found 18 miles southeast of Taos
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
, red ochre
Ochre
Ochre is the term for both a golden-yellow or light yellow brown color and for a form of earth pigment which produces the color. The pigment can also be used to create a reddish tint known as "red ochre". The more rarely used terms "purple ochre" and "brown ochre" also exist for variant hues...
20 miles north of Taos and yellow ochre on a mountain near Picuris Pueblo. They believe the "heart of the world" is located near Taos.
Traditional Jicarilla stories of White Shell Woman, Killer of the Enemies, Child of the Water and others feature places and nearby people special to them, such as the Rio Grande Gorge
Rio Grande Gorge
The Rio Grande Gorge runs from northwest to southeast of Taos, New Mexico, through the basalt flows of the Taos Plateau volcanic field. The gorge depth is 800 feet just south of the Gorge Bridge, which spans the gorge ten miles northwest of Taos....
, Picuris Pueblo, the spring and marsh near El Prado
El Prado, New Mexico
El Prado is an unincorporated suburb of Taos, in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. El Prado is located at latitude 36.449 and longitude 105.576. It is bounded on the east by the town of Taos, and to the north by Taos Pueblo lands. The elevation is 7,123 feet.El Prado has a post office, with...
, Hopewell Lake
Hopewell, New Mexico
Hopewell is a former unincorporated community in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. It is located in the Tusas Mountains just above Hopewell Lake, about ½ mile south of U.S. Route 64. It was named for rancher and promoter Willard S. Hopewell and had a U.S...
and particularly of the Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
and the four sacred rivers. The Jicarilla created shrines in sites that held spiritual meaning, sharing some of the Taos area sites with the Taos Pueblo.
Of the connection to Taos, in 1865 Father Antonio José Martínez
Antonio José Martínez
Father Antonio José Martínez was a New Mexican priest, educator, publisher, rancher, farmer, community leader, and politician. He lived through and influenced three distinct periods of New Mexico's history: the Spanish period, the Mexican period, and the American occupation and subsequent...
, a New Mexican priest, commented that the Jicarilla had a long history living between the mountains and the villages and making pottery as an important source of income. Clay for the pottery came from the Taos and Picuris Pueblo areas.
Pressures for Jicarilla Apache land
Due to increase in other populations, Manifest DestinyManifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
, and Indian Wars
Indian Wars
American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...
, the Apaches' traditional cultural and economic lifestyle became strained. Many people died due to famine, Indian Wars
Indian Wars
American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...
, including the Battle of Cieneguilla
Battle of Cieneguilla
The Battle of Cieneguilla was an engagement of the Jicarilla War involving a group of Jicarilla Apaches, their Ute allies, and the American 1st Cavalry Regiment on March 30, 1854 near what is now Pilar, New Mexico...
and diseases not indigenous to the American continent for which they had no resistance.
When the Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
with their close allies and kin, the Ute
Ute Tribe
The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...
, were pushing out onto the plains, they were pillaging the various eastern Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
peoples (Jicarilla, Mescalero
Mescalero
Mescalero is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation in southcentral New Mexico...
and Lipan) occupying the southern plains for control. As they were pushed off the plain, the Jicarilla moved to the mountains and near the pueblos and Spanish missions where they sought alliance with the Puebloan peoples and the Spanish settlers. For instance, in 1724 several Apache bands were annihilated by the Comanches who forced them to "give up half their women and children, and then they burned several villages, killing all but sixty-nine men, two women, and three boys." The Jicarillas were forced to seek a refuge into the eastern Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Sangre de Cristo Mountains
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States...
north of the Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
in New Mexico. Some chose to move to the Pecos Pueblo
Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos National Historical Park is a National Historical Park in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is located about east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The site was originally designated Pecos National Monument on June 28, 1965. In 1990 new lands were added to the park and the official designation was...
in New Mexico or joined the Mescalero
Mescalero
Mescalero is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation in southcentral New Mexico...
and Lipan bands in Texas.
Ollero and Llanero bands
Beginning in the 19th century, after being pushed out of the plains, the Jicarilla split into two bands:- The Olleros, the mountain people - potteryPotteryPottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
making clan, lived along the Chama River of New Mexico and Colorado, settled down as farmers, became potters and lived partly in PuebloPuebloPueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
-like villages (6 local groups). They began subsidizing their livelihood through sales of micaceousMicaThe mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
clay pottery and basketry and learned farming from their PuebloPuebloPueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
neighbors. Ollero is Spanish for "potters". Their autonym, or name for themselves, is Saidindê for Sand People or Mountain People; The Spanish rendering is Hoyeros meaning "mountain-valley people".
- The Llanero, the plains people clan, lived as nomads in tipis, called kozhan by the Jicarilla, followed and hunted buffalo on the plains. During the winter they camped and traded near Picuris Pueblo, New MexicoPicuris Pueblo, New MexicoPicuris Pueblo is a census-designated place in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 86 at the 2000 census. The Pueblo people are from the Tiwa ethnic group of Native Americans. Picurís Pueblo is a member of the Eight Northern Pueblos.Picuris village has occupied its present...
, Pecos, New MexicoPecos, New MexicoPecos is a village in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,441 at the 2000 census, growing much faster than in other parts of San Miguel County, partly because Pecos is within commuting distance of Santa Fe. The village is built along the Pecos River which flows from...
and Taos, New MexicoTaos, New MexicoTaos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
(8 local groups). Llanero is Spanish for "Plains People". The Spanish rendering of the autonym is gulgahén.
Battle of Cieneguilla
The Battle of CieneguillaBattle of Cieneguilla
The Battle of Cieneguilla was an engagement of the Jicarilla War involving a group of Jicarilla Apaches, their Ute allies, and the American 1st Cavalry Regiment on March 30, 1854 near what is now Pilar, New Mexico...
was an engagement of a group of Jicarilla Apache
Jicarilla Apache
Jicarilla Apache refers to the members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation currently living in New Mexico and speaking a Southern Athabaskan language...
s, their Ute allies, and the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
1st Cavalry Regiment on March 30, 1854 near what is now Pilar, New Mexico
Pilar, New Mexico
Pilar is a small unincorporated town in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is located on the Rio Grande....
.
Background
By the mid-1800s tensions between the Spanish
Spanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
, multiple Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
nations and westward expanding United States
Americans
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
settlers erupted as all sought and laid claim to land in the southwest. Diseases to which Native Americans had no immunity
Immunity (medical)
Immunity is a biological term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion. Immunity involves both specific and non-specific components. The non-specific components act either as barriers or as eliminators of wide...
"decimated" their tribes, creating greater pressure for their lands to be taken from them. As tensions of Native Americans grew and numerous attempts to relocate them from their traditional hunting and gathering land and sacred homelands, the Jicarilla became increasingly hostile in their efforts to protect their lands. The United States military developed a defence system
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
of forts and troops to restrict attacks on westward travelers. The disruption and "mutual incomprehensions" of one another's culture led to warfare among the Spanish, Native American nations and Americans.
Leo E. Oliva, author of Fort Union and the Frontier Army in the Southwest, notes that: "The three cultural groups in the Southwest had different concepts of family life, personal values, social relations, religion, uses and ownership of land and other property, how best to obtain the provisions of life, and warfare."
Fort Union was established by Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner
Edwin Vose Sumner
Edwin Vose Sumner was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War...
who ordered Major James Henry Carleton
James Henry Carleton
James Henry Carleton was an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War. Carleton is most well known as an Indian fighter in the southwestern United States.-Biography:...
's Company K 1st Dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s on August 2, 1851 to protect of westward travelers between Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and New Mexico territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
on the Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1822 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880...
. New Mexico Territory's Governor William Carr Lane
William Carr Lane
William Carr Lane was a doctor and the first Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, serving from 1823 to 1829 and 1837 to 1840...
made treaties with the Jicarilla and other Native American tribes of New Mexico to relocate to reservations and peacefully take up agriculture on new lands and in agreed for payments to recompense for loss of access to their hunting, gathering and sacred homeland. The United States government, however, pulled the funding for this agreement, betraying the Native American tribal members. Further complicating the situation, all the crops planted by the tribal members failed and the people continued raiding for survival.
The battle and aftermath
Ute Tribe
The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...
fought the U.S. dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s, led by Lieutenant John Wynn Davidson
John Davidson (general)
John Wynn Davidson was a brigadier general in the United States Army during the American Civil War and an American Indian fighter. In 1866, he received brevet grade appointments as a major general of volunteers and in the regular U.S. Army for his Civil War service,-Biography:Davidson was born in...
, near Pilar, New Mexico
Pilar, New Mexico
Pilar is a small unincorporated town in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is located on the Rio Grande....
, then known as Cieneguilla. The battle lasted for 2, or 4 hours according to surviving soldier James A. Bennett (aka James Bronson). The Jicarilla fought with flintlock rifles
Flintlock
Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. The term may also apply to the mechanism itself. Introduced at the beginning of the 17th century, the flintlock rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the doglock, matchlock and wheellock...
and arrow
Arrow
An arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
s, killing 22 and a wounding another 36 of 60 dragoon soldiers, who then retreated to Ranchos de Taos
Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico
Ranchos de Taos is a census-designated place in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,390 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ranchos de Taos is located at ....
lighter by 22 horses and most of the troops' supplies.
Lieutenant Colonel Philip St. George Cooke
Philip St. George Cooke
Philip St. George Cooke was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War. He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual, and is sometimes called the "Father of the U.S...
of the Second Regiment of Dragoons at once organized an expedition to pursue the Jicarilla. With the help of Pueblo Indian and Mexican scouts under Captain James H. Quinn, with Kit Carson
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
as the principal guide. After a winter pursuit through the mountains, Cooke caught up with the Jicarilla, whose leader, Flechas Rayada
Flechas Rayada
Flechas Rayada or Stripped Arrows was a Jicarilla Apache chief that the band that defeated the First Regiment of Dragoons in the Battle of Cieneguilla.-References:...
offered an agreement for peace in exchange for the horses and guns the Jicarilla acquired from the Battle, but the arrangement was not accepted. On April 8, Cooke Chief fought tribal members at their camp in the canyon of Ojo Caliente. Dispersing in small bands, the Jicarilla evaded further pursuit, but many died from the harsh cold weather.
Jicarilla reservation
Population transfer
Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
the Jicarilla Apache, who became increasingly hostile to these pressures. In addition, relations with the Spanish also became hostile when the Spanish captured and sold Apache tribal members into slavery. After years of war fare, broken treaties, relocation and being the only southwestern tribe without a reservation, the two Jicarilla Llanero and Ollero bands united in 1873 and sent a delegation to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to appeal for a reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
. Eventually United States President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
created the Jicarilla Apache Reservation through a United States executive order
Executive order
An executive order in the United States is an order issued by the President, the head of the executive branch of the federal government. In other countries, similar edicts may be known as decrees, or orders in council. Executive orders may also be issued at the state level by a state's governor or...
signed on February 11, 1887.
Although they had finally obtained a reservation, it was spiritually disheartening to realize that they would no longer roam on their traditional holy lands and have access to the sacred places.
The land on the reservation, except that held by non-tribal members, was not suitable for agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. As a means of survival, timber from the reservation was sold. In 1907 additional land was secured for the reservation, for a total of 742,315 acres, that was suitable for sheep ranching which became profitable in the 1920s. Until that time, many people suffered from malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
and up to 90% of the tribe members had tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1914; By the 1920s it seemed likely that the Jicarilla Apache nation may become extinct due to trachoma
Trachoma
Trachoma is an infectious disease causing a characteristic roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. Also called granular conjunctivitis and Egyptian ophthalmia, it is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world...
, tuberculosis, and other diseases. After several difficult ranching periods, many of the previous sheep herders
Shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
relocated to the tribal headquarters in Dulce, New Mexico
Dulce, New Mexico
Dulce is a census-designated place in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,623 at the 2000 census, almost entirely Native American...
. The Jicarilla suffered due to lack of economic opportunities for decades.
Oil and gas development began on the reservation after World War II resulting in up to $1 million annually, some of which was set aside for a tribal scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
fund and to develop the Stone Lake Lodge facility. In 1982, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe
Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe
Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe, 455 U.S. 130 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that an Indian tribe has the authority to impose taxes on non-Indians that are conducting business on the reservation as an inherent power under their tribal sovereignty.-History:The...
, that the tribe had the authority to impose severance taxes on oil companies that were drilling for oil and natural gas on reservation land.
As a means of repayment for lost tribal lands, the Jicarilla received a settlement in the 1970s for $9 million.
Tribal Government
The Jicarilla Apache are a federally recognized tribal entity who in 1937 organized a formal government and adopted a constitutionConstitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
. Traditional tribal leaders were elected as their first tribal council
Tribal Council
A Tribal Council is either: an association of Native American bands in the United States or First Nations governments in Canada, or the governing body for certain tribes within the United States or elsewhere...
members. In 2000 the tribe officially changed their name to the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
Veronica E. Velarde Tiller, author of Culture and Customs of the Apache Indians writes: "All the powers of the tribal governments reflected the traditional values of the Apache people. The protection, preservation, and conservation of the bounty of "Mother Earth," and all its inhabitants is sacred value shared by all Indian people, and the Apaches were most eager to have this concept incorporated into their tribal constitution."
An important value of sharing was integrated into the constitution, whereby the Apache Indians declare that the resources of the reservation are "held for the benefit of the entire tribe." Further, all land on the reservation is held by the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, one of only two reservations in the United States where land is not owned by individuals but by the tribal nation as a whole. Tribal members are individuals that are at least 3/8ths Jicarilla Apache.
The government is made up of the following branches:
- executiveExecutive (government)Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
, with a president and vice-president serving four-year terms - legislativeLegislatureA legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
, with eight members serving staggering four-year terms - judicialJudiciaryThe judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
, tribal courtTrial courtA trial court or court of first instance is a court in which trials take place. Such courts are said to have original jurisdiction.- In the United States :...
and appellate courtAppellate courtAn appellate court, commonly called an appeals court or court of appeals or appeal court , is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal...
judges assigned by the president.
Its capital is Dulce
Dulce, New Mexico
Dulce is a census-designated place in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,623 at the 2000 census, almost entirely Native American...
, which comprises over 95 percent of the reservation's population, near the extreme north end. Most tribal offices are located in Dulce.
Reservation
The Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, at 36°33′16"N 107°04′26"W, is located within two northern New MexicoNew Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
counties:
- Rio Arriba CountyRio Arriba County, New Mexico-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*51.6% White*0.5% Black*16.0% Native American*0.4% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.3% Two or more races*28.2% Other races*71.3% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
- Sandoval CountySandoval County, New Mexico-Indian reservations:Sandoval County has 12 Indian reservations and two joint-use areas lying within its borders, the second most of any county in the United States -Indian reservations:Sandoval County has 12 Indian reservations and two joint-use areas lying within its borders, the second most of...
.
from the Colorado border south to Cuba, New Mexico
Cuba, New Mexico
Cuba is a village in Sandoval County, New Mexico, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 590. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. The reservation sits along U.S. Route 64
U.S. Route 64
U.S. Route 64 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,326 miles from eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 160 in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona. The highway's eastern terminus is at NC 12 and U.S. Route...
and N.M. 537.
The reservation has a land area of 1,364.046 sq mi (3,532.864 km²) and had a population of 2,755 as of the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
.
The southern half of the reservation is open plains and the northern portion resides in the treed Rocky Mountains. Mammals and birds
Animal migration
Animal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individuals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon, found in all major animal groups, including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and crustaceans. The trigger for the migration may be local...
migratory paths cross the reservation seasonally, including mountain lion, black bear, elk, Canadian Geese and turkey. Rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout are stocked in seven lakes on the reservation, but annual conditions such as low precipitation
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
result in high pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
-levels. From 1995 to 2000 the lake levels were severely low due to drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
; As a result most of the fish were killed off during those years. The reservation sits on the San Juan Basin
San Juan Basin
The San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin in the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States; its main portion covers around , encompassing much of northwestern New Mexico, southwest Colorado, and parts of Arizona and Utah....
, which is rich in fossil fuel
Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
s. The basin is the largest producer of oil along the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and the second largest producer of natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
in the United States.
Culture
The Jicarilla are traditionally matrilocal and are organized into matrilineal clans. They have incorporated some practices of their PuebloPueblo people
The Pueblo people are a Native American people in the Southwestern United States. Their traditional economy is based on agriculture and trade. When first encountered by the Spanish in the 16th century, they were living in villages that the Spanish called pueblos, meaning "towns". Of the 21...
neighbors into their own traditions. They are renowned for their fine basket making of distinctive diamond, cross or zig-zag designs or representations of deer, horses or other animals. They are known for their beadwork and keeping Apache fiddle
Apache fiddle
The Apache fiddle is a bowed string instrument used by the indigenous Apache people of the southwestern United States.The Apache fiddle consists of a plant stalk, such as that of the agave or mescal plant...
-making alive.
As of 2000, about 70% of the tribe practice an organized religion, many of whom are Christians
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Jicarilla is spoken by about one half of the tribal members, most by older men and women.
Ceremonial practices consist of:
- Puberty feast, called "keesta" in Jicarilla, is a rite of passageRite of passageA rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....
ceremony for girls or young women.
Annual events include:
- Little Beaver Celebration with a pow-wowPow-wowA pow-wow is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning "spiritual leader". A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American...
, rodeoRodeoRodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
, draft horse pullHorse pullingHorse pulling is a draft horse competition where horses in harness, usually one or two animals, pull a stone-boat or weighted sled and the winner is the team or animal that can pull the most weight for a short distance....
and a five mile race mid-July. - Stone Lake Fiesta with ceremonial danceCeremonial danceCeremonial dance is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where the purpose is ceremonial or ritualistic.This compares to other major dance categories based on purpose:* Celebration dance** Festival dance...
s, rodeo and footracesRunningRunning is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
each September 14 and 15.
Economy
The Jicarilla Apache Nation's economy is based upon miningMining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, gaming
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
and agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, including:
- Oil and gas wells, owned and operated by the tribe.
- Timber.
- Cattle and sheep ranching.
- Reservation government employees, which include about 50% of tribal members.
- Dulce business employees.
- Traditional arts, including basketry and pottery.
- Tribe-owned Apache Nugget CasinoApache Nugget CasinoThe Apache Nugget Casino is located 15 miles north of Cuba, New Mexico, at the junctions of highway 550 and highway 537. The casino is operated by the Apache Nugget Corporation which oversees all gaming activity for the Jicarilla Apache Nation. ANC is a for-profit Federally Chartered Section 17...
north of Cuba, New MexicoCuba, New MexicoCuba is a village in Sandoval County, New Mexico, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 590. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and the Best Western Jicarilla Inn and CasinoWild Horse Casino (Jicarilla Apache Nation)The Wild Horse Casino is located in the town of Dulce, New Mexico, at the junction of Highway 64 and Hawks Drive. The casino is operated by the Apache Nugget Corporation which oversees all gaming activity for the Jicarilla Apache Nation. ANC is a for-profit Federally Chartered Section 17...
in Dulce. - The tribe also owns and operates radio station KCIEKCIE (FM)KCIE is a radio station broadcasting a Variety format. Licensed to Dulce, New Mexico, USA, the station is currently owned by the Jicarilla Apache Tribe.-History:...
(90.5 FM) in Dulce, NM.
Although the mid twentieth century brought additional economic opportunities, high unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
and a low standard of living
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
prevails for tribal members. From the Tiller's Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Reservations, 2005 edition:
- 2000 Average Per Capita IncomePer capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
– $10,136 - Unemployment rate – 14.2%
- Labor forceLabor forceIn economics, a labor force or labour force is a region's combined civilian workforce, including both the employed and unemployed.Normally, the labor force of a country consists of everyone of working age In economics, a labor force or labour force is a region's combined civilian workforce,...
– 1,1051
The Jicarilla people live in houses with a lifestyle similar to other Americans. The cost of food at local grocery stores is higher than found near larger U.S. cities. They have access to all modern conveniences
Modern conveniences
Modern conveniences or Mod cons are labor-saving devices that make a task easier to perform than a traditional method. Because of the historical use of the term, and the differences in lifestyles around the world, the term is a relative term based upon the conveniences previously available to a...
and avail themselves according to their desires and financial ability. High unemployment and poverty level income rates have resulted in high crime rates
Crime statistics
Crime statistics attempt to provide statistical measures of the crime in societies. Given that crime is usually secretive by nature, measurements of it are likely to be inaccurate....
, greatly contributed by a high incidence of methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
abuse, averaging 1.7% of the United States Native American population and as high as 30% in some rural areas or reservations.
Education
Children attend a public school on the reservation. Until the 1960s few children graduated high school; the Bureau of Indian AffairsBureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
educational programs and the Chester A. Faris scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
programs from oil and gas revenues since the 1960s provide opportunities for higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
. In the 1970s some tribal members obtained graduate degrees
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
. Educational assistance offices were created by Apache tribes in the 1980s to help students navigate their educational career.
Notable people
- Tammie AllenTammie AllenTammie Allen is a contemporary Native American potter, enrolled in the Jicarilla Apache Nation.-Personal History:Born in Blanco, New Mexico, Tammy Allen belongs to the Jicarilla Apache tribe, specifically, the Ollero Clan...
, (born 1964), potter - Ishkoten Dougi, sculptor, painter, and printmaker
- Flechas RayadaFlechas RayadaFlechas Rayada or Stripped Arrows was a Jicarilla Apache chief that the band that defeated the First Regiment of Dragoons in the Battle of Cieneguilla.-References:...
, 19th century chief - Alan TafoyaAlan TafoyaAlan Tafoya is an American actor and musician of the Jicarilla Apache nation. He is a member of the Screen Actor's Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.-Life and career:...
, actor - David Velarde, poet, playwright, and prose writer
See also
- Jicarilla languageJicarilla languageJicarilla is an Eastern Southern Athabaskan language spoken by the Jicarilla Apache.-Consonants:Jicarilla has 34 consonants:* What has developed into in Jicarilla corresponds to and in other Southern Athabaskan languages Jicarilla is an Eastern Southern Athabaskan language spoken by the...
- Battle of CieneguillaBattle of CieneguillaThe Battle of Cieneguilla was an engagement of the Jicarilla War involving a group of Jicarilla Apaches, their Ute allies, and the American 1st Cavalry Regiment on March 30, 1854 near what is now Pilar, New Mexico...
- Dulce BaseDulce BaseDulce Base is the unofficial name for an alleged secret underground facility under the Archuleta Mesa in Dulce, New Mexico, United States.Paul Bennewitz, employed at a filtration manufacturer with government contracts was the first to raise claims of a secret base in New Mexico.-In Television:The...
- KCIE (FM)KCIE (FM)KCIE is a radio station broadcasting a Variety format. Licensed to Dulce, New Mexico, USA, the station is currently owned by the Jicarilla Apache Tribe.-History:...
- List of Indian reservations in the United States
- MescaleroMescaleroMescalero is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation in southcentral New Mexico...
- Morris Edward OplerMorris Edward OplerMorris Edward Opler , American anthropologist and advocate of Japanese-American civil rights, was born in Buffalo, New York. He was the brother of Marvin Opler, an anthropologist and social psychiatrist....
, ethnographer who wrote about the Jicarilla
Further reading
- Opler, Morris. (1941). A Jicarilla expedition and scalp dance. (Narrated by Alasco Tisnado).
- Opler, Morris. (1942). Myths and tales of the Jicarilla Apache Indians.
- Opler, Morris. (1947). Mythology and folk belief in the maintenance of Jicarilla Apache tribal endogamy.
- Phone, Wilma; & Torivio, Patricia. (1981). Jicarilla mizaa medaóołkai dáłáéé. Albuquerque: Native American Materials Development Center.
- Phone, Wilhelmina; Olson, Maureen; & Martinez, Matilda. (2007). Dictionary of Jicarilla Apache: Abáachi Mizaa Iłkee' Siijai. Axelrod, Melissa; Gómez de García, Jule; Lachler, Jordan; & Burke, Sean M.Sean M. BurkeSean Michael Burke is a Perl programmer with a background in linguistics. He was a columnist for The Perl Journal since 1998 and has written several dozen CPAN modules, as well as the O'Reilly Media books Perl & LWP and RTF Pocket Guide...
(Eds.). UNM Press. ISBN 0826340784. - Tuttle, Siri G.; & Sandoval, Merton. (2002). Jicarilla Apache. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 32, 105-112.
- Wilson, Alan, & Vigil Martine, Rita. (1996). Apache (Jicarilla). Guilford, CT: Audio-Forum. ISBN 0-88432-903-8. (Includes book and cassette recording).
External links
- Jicarilla Apache Nation website
- Jicarilla Apache Culture (Jicarilla Apache Cultural Affairs Office)
- Jicarilla Apache: Tinde
- Myths of the Jicarilla Apache (University of Virginia Electronic Text Center)
- The Jicarilla Genesis (University of Virginia Electronic Text Center)
- An Apache Medicine Dance (University of Virginia Electronic Text Center)
- Jicarilla Texts (Internet Sacred Text Archive)
- Jicarilla Apache Nation (New Mexico Magazine)
- Jicarilla Apache Nation History (Apache Nugget Corporation)
- Jicarilla Apache Pottery/Walking Spirit Pottery (Sample of Micaceous Clay Pottery)
- Jicarilla Apache Oil and Gas Administration (Jicarilla Natural Resources)
- Jicarilla Apache Game and Fish (Jicarilla Hunting and Wildlife)