The San Carlos Apache Tribe

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The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation spans across Gila, Graham, and Pinal Counties in Southeastern Arizona, roaming over a landscape that ranges from alpine meadows to desert. Encompassing 1,834,781 acres, the San Carlos Apache Reservation was established by executive order on November 9, 1871. Over one-third of the community’s land is forested (175,000 acres) or wooded (665,000 acres).

 

The region we have lived in for centuries is one of great diversity from the low desert grasslands to the pine forests, home to many different animals. We moved as the land and seasons best directed us. Everything we made and used – our tools, clothing, food, and shelter – was taken directly from this land. In the spring, we left our winter camps in the river valleys and traveled to the high country to prepare our fields for the planting of squash, corn, and beans. Groups went out from these sites to collect Mescal, a type of agave central to our traditional diet.

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As the crops ripened during the summer months, groups of women collected other important foods such as Mesquite beans, fruit of the yucca, and Emory’s oak acorns. Acorns remain an important staple in the diet of the Apache people. After the crops were harvested in the fall, our men went out to hunt deer and antelope; the women and children collected juniper berries and the buds of the pinon pine. The coming of winter signaled our return to our camps in the river valleys. It was during these months that our men most frequently went out on raiding parties if the supply of our foods stored from our hunting and gathering during the rest of the year ran low.​

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San Carlos Apache Tribal Government

 

​The San Carlos Apache Tribe is a Federally recognized Indian Tribe organized pursuant to the provisions of Section 16 of the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934. Therefore, the San Carlos Apache Tribe is a sovereign Indian Tribe committed to fostering its own self-determination.

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Chairman and Vice-Chairman are elected by all Tribal members and serve a four-year term. District council members are elected by District Tribal Members and serve a four-year term.

The Tribal Council is entrusted with the responsibility to safeguard the Reservation and enrolled Tribal members. All governing matters go through various Boards, Committees and Tribal Council.

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​San Carlos Apache Culture and the Great Seal

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​With the establishment of the San Carlos Indian Agency in 1872, the Western Apache people witnessed a rapid and dramatic change from our traditional lifestyle. Under the reservation system, the federal government adopted a policy of assimilation to force our people to adopt Western values and institutions, such as private ownership of land, cash-based agriculture, and Christianity.

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As part of life on the reservation, we became dependent upon the handouts issued to us by the government of the United States. Often these rations failed to meet our basic needs. During the early reservation years, food and supplies promised by the government were often sold off by dishonest Indian Agents, leaving us with shortages of food, cloth, or wood for cooking and warming our homes. In desperation our people left the reservation to hunt, gather plants, and raid in traditional ways. These forays to relieve our poverty were commonly referred to as “outbreaks” in the local press. We were branded criminals in the struggle to maintain our dignity.

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Today, Apaches still honor spiritual traditions. The Ga’an are called upon to evoke blessings and to ward off illness and evil at ceremonies, such as the Changing Woman and Ga’an ceremonies.The Ga’an is performed by selected men who represent the mountain spirits. Typically, four dancers representing the four directions participate in the ceremony. Their bodies are painted in black, white and with designs which have special meanings. They are accompanied by a fifth dancer, or Lebaye, painted gray and twirling a bull-roarer.