120 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 196 



were three to five smaller bands which, in turn, were subdivided into 

 several local groups, these latter being the basic units upon which the 

 social organization and government of the "Western Apache were 

 founded.^ 



Ever since 1871-73, when the United States Government began to 

 interfere with the original balance of Western Apache culture by 

 confining the people to the Fort Apache and San Carlos Reservations, 

 the old distinctions between groups and bands have broken down. 

 Similarly, the composition of local groups has been seriously altered. 

 The matrilineal extended family, however, still preserves much of 

 its old form, and the basic structure and function of the individual 

 household has changed very little. 



Before the coming of the White man, the Western Apache prac- 

 ticed a hunting and gathering economy. Wild plant foods such as 

 mescal tubers, acorns, juniper berries, pinon nuts and yucca "fruit" 

 were collected all year round, and big game (elk, deer, antelope, and 

 bear) was hunted in the late spring and fall. Agriculture (beans, 

 corn, and squash) was practiced sparingly. Although the modern 

 economy revolves almost exclusively around cattle raising, the people 

 still farm small plots of corn and beans, and continue to gather mescal 

 tubers and acorns. Hunting is now greatly curtailed by reservation- 

 imposed seasons. 



Reservation life has brought about profound changes in religion. 

 A system that once included ceremonies relative to warfare, hunting, 

 and moving camp now centers on curing ceremonies and the girl's 

 puberty rite. This is not to say that belief in the native religion has 

 been abandoned. To the contrary, there is evidence to show that, 

 despite strenuous efforts by missionaries to convert Apaches to 

 Catholicism and other forms of Christianity, the incidence of native 

 ceremonies has increased over the past decade or so. This may simply 

 indicate that more people are getting "sick." But, more likely, it 

 represents a trend toward the reacceptance of old religious practices 

 which, for reasons not yet clearly understood, were considered in- 

 adequate around 1920-25 when nativistic movements swept across 

 the Fort Apache and San Carlos Reservations.* 



Speaking generally, behef in the old rehgion is found most commonly 

 among persons of today's grandparental generation (aged 50-75 years). 

 These people remember the "old days" clearly and adhere to many 

 of the minute ritual proscriptions once practiced by everyone. A 

 large portion of the parental generation (aged 25-50 years) also holds 



« Groups, bands, etc. are described In great detail by Goodwin (ibid., pp. 13-192). His discussions are 

 Illustrated by numerous quotations from Informants. 



« For additional information on the nativistic cults which have sprung up since the Western Apache came 

 into contact with Whites, see Goodwin, 1938, pp. 34-37, and Goodwin and Kaut, 1954. 



