Tonto

The Tonto Apache or Dilzhę́'é , also Dilzhe'e Apache ("people with high, bright voices") are the northwestern group of the Western Apache , a tribal group of the Apaches in east central Arizona in the southwest of the United States , other groups are the San Carlos Apache ( Tsék'áádn - " Metate -Volk"), White Mountain Apache ( Dzil Łigai Si'an NDAU - "people of the White Mountains") and Cibecue Apache ( Dishchíí Bikoh - "people of the red Canyon") (to Greenville Goodwin) .

Other scientists and anthropologists use Western Apache to designate all Apache tribes living west of the Rio Grande in Arizona (except the Diné (Navajo) ) - and thus include the Apache Mansos ("tame Apache") near the San Xavier del Bac mission south of Tucson and the Chokonen, Bedonkohe and Nednhi bands of the Chiricahua . Today, however, the latter are generally culturally counted among the Eastern Apache (see list of Apache tribes ).

language

Their language, the Tonto or Dilzhę́'é , is a dialect variant of the Western Apache (Ndee biyati '/ Nnee biyati') , and belongs together with the Navajo (Diné bizaad) and the Mescalero-Chiricahua (Ndee Bizaa) - to the western branch of the Southathapaskan Apache languages ​​of the Athapaskan language from the Na-Dené language family . Usually two idioms are distinguished: Northern Tonto and Southern Tonto.

Since the Tonto Apache often formed bilingual bands together with Wi: pukba / Wipukepa and Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya of the Yavapai - and thus spoke both Western Apache (Ndee biyati '/ Nnee biyati') and Yavapai (highlands of Yuma / Northern Pai) Tonto (Dilzhę́'é) dialect with a strong Yavapai accent and therefore, in contrast to the other variants of the Western Apache (Ndee biyati '/ Nnee biyati'), has a distinctive and for other Apache-sounding speech melody , which is often also called "Singsang" is called. The Tonto (Dilzhę́'é) dialect is closest to the Navajo of all Apache languages.

Today about 1,000 people still speak Tonto or Dilzhę́'é (as of 2007), whereby the Northern Tonto idiom is spoken in two reservations shared with Yavapai (the Yavapai-Apache Nation Indian Reservation (formerly Camp Verde) and Yavapai-Prescott Indian Reservation) and the Southern Tonto idiom in the Tonto Apache Reservation as well as in the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, which is also shared with Yavapai, and in two reservations dominated by other tribes of the Western Apache (the San Carlos Apache and Fort Apache Indian Reservation). Although there are descendants of Northern Tonto Apache in the San Carlos and Fort Apache Indian Reservations, there are no speakers of the Northern Tonto idiom among them today.

Names

Origin of the name Apache

The tribal name commonly used today as Apache was adopted from Spanish in English (and later in other languages); however, the origin of the name is uncertain and controversial.

The most widely accepted doctrine today is that the word comes from the Shiwi'ma , the language of the Zuni (A: shiwi) , a Pueblo people who called the enemy Southern Athapasques - especially the Navajo - advancing from the north to the south-west A: bachu / ʔa · paču (singular: Bachu / Paču - "enemy, stranger"). Another possibility is that the enemy Quechan (Yuma) referred to the allied Yavapai and Apache as E-patch ("Fighting Men" or "Those who Fight") or, due to the typical war paint of the Yavapai, as Apatieh (" Raccoon ") . However, the name could also be derived from two words of the Yavapai - their language, like the Quechan is one of the Cochimí-Yuma languages -: ʔpačə ("enemy") or Abaja ("the people"), the self-name of the Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya or Southeastern Yavapai of the Fort McDowell Reservation.

The first known written mention of the tribal name Apache in Spanish was made by Juan de Oñate in 1598 ; therefore the origin from the language of the Zuñi and Yavapai is still controversial, as Oñate knew the name and had it written down before he first met these two peoples during the Second Oñate Expedition in 1604 .

Another - but not very convincing - origin could come directly from Spanish: mapache ("raccoon") or apachurrar ("smash, crush"), which could refer to the fighting technique with war clubs popular with the Apache.

Initially, the Spaniards referred to "Apachu de Nabajo" (Navajo) in the 1620s as Southern Athapasques in the Chama region east of the San Juan River ; however, since the 1640s they began to differentiate between the actual Navajo and the rest of the Apache; so that soon the addition “de Nabajo” was dropped and “Apache” was used to denote the Southern Athapasques, which did not develop into the Navajo (Diné) .

In the past, Wi: pukba / Wipukepa ("Northeastern Yavapai") were usually referred to as Mohave-Apache (Apache-Mojave) and together with the Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya ("Southeastern Yavapai") as Tonto Apache or Tonto for short , as they are often in bilingual bands lived with Tonto and San Carlos Apache and, in addition to the language, had also adopted a lot of the Apache culture. The Ɖo: lkabaya / Tolkepaya ("Western Yavapai") were called Yuma-Apache (Apache-Yuma) together with the Hualapai (Walapai) and Havasupai . Historically and in older specialist literature, the Yavapai are usually referred to as Apache Mohave (Apache-Mojave), Yavapai-Apache or simply Apache , since in northern Mexico and in the southwest of the USA the word Apache is often used to denote "hostile, warlike, predatory Indians “Was used without linguistic, ethnic and cultural differentiation (also Mohave (Mojave) and even Comanche were previously referred to as Apache).

Origin of the name Tonto

Since - as noted above - the Tonto Apache were mostly bilingual and spoke both Western Apache (Ndee biyati '/ Nnee biyati') and Yavapai (highland Yuma / Northern Pai), their dialect has a strong audible Yavapai accent and therefore has a strong, audible Yavapai accent In contrast to the other variants of the Western Apache (Ndee biyati '/ Nnee biyati') a distinctive and for other Apache sounding speech melody, which is often referred to as "Singsang". Therefore, the Tonto Apache and San Carlos Apache along with their Yavapai relatives were referred to by other Western Apache as Dilzhę́'é (literally: "People with high, bright voices"). The related but hostile Navajo (Diné) also referred to both - Tonto Apache and Yavapai - as Dilzhʼíʼ dinéʼiʼ and thus explicitly differentiated them from the rest of the Western Apache, who they called Dziłghą́ʼiʼ ("People of the Mountain Peaks").

Presumably because of their strong accent, the Tonto Apache, San Carlos Apache and Yavapai (since they were also bilingual and spoke their "mother tongue" with a strong Apache accent) were both used by the Chiricahua Apache as Ben-et-dine or binii? e'dine as well as by the Mescalero Apache, who are closely related to these linguistic and culturally related, as Bini 'Adinii or Bínii édinénde ("people without understanding"', i.e. "wild or crazy people" or "those who are not understood").

Since most of the local groups of the Tonto Apache, like their Yavapai relatives, practiced little or no agriculture compared to the semi-nomadic Western Apache, but lived mostly as hunters and gatherers in inaccessible areas remote from most trade routes, Tonto Apache and Yavapai became by these also called Koun'Nde or Go'hn ("wild, rough people"). The Spaniards (and later Americans) probably adopted this name and called the two allied tribes (Tonto Apache and Yavapai) therefore Tonto ("stupid, wild").

Like the other Western Apache, the Tonto Apache called themselves neither Apache nor Tonto, but simply Indee, Ndee, Nndee or Innee (Nnēē) ("people"). However, the designation Dilzhę́'é was in no way perceived as disrespectful or degrading on the part of the Tonto Apache and San Carlos Apache, they often referred to themselves as Dilzhę́'é in order to differentiate themselves from other Western Apache; One reason for this could be that there is also another explanation for the meaning of the name, which literally means "fast-footed or sure-footed". Even the Western Apache did not perceive the Chiricahua-Mescalero naming as degrading or degrading and also referred to themselves as Ben-et-dine ("people without mind").

Historical and other names

The Spaniards and Mexicans in particular often condescendingly named the mighty White Mountain Apache Coyoteros or Coyotero Apaches (" coyote eaters ", since they often ate coyotes or their dogs in times of need) and the Western Apache with the often allied Yavapai Garroteros ("club men") after the fighting technique with war clubs popular with the Apache) or as Gileños / Apaches de Gila (a collective term for all Apache and non-Apache groups west of the Rio Grande (in southeastern Arizona and western New Mexico) as well as along the Gila River or the Gila Mountains lived; some of the so-called Gila Apaches , however, belonged to the Bedonkohe Band and the Copper Mines local group of the Chihenne Band of the Chiricahua Apache ; after 1722, however, the Spaniards only used the Gileños to refer to today's White Mountain Apache and Akimel O'Odham (Pima ) as Gileños ).

The Americans first referred to the Mimbres / Mimbreño local group of the Chihenne band of the Chiricahua Apache as Gileños or Gila Apaches ; They later expanded the term, however, to include the White Mountain Apache, Tonto Apache, Pinaleño / Pinal Apache and Arivaipa / Aravaipa bands of the San Carlos Apache as well as the Bedonkohe band known as Mogollon (es) and the Mimbres / Mimbreño local group of the Chihenne band as well as the Chokonen and Chihuicahui local groups of the Chokonen Band of the Chiricahua; the Yavapai , related and allied with the Tonto Apache and San Carlos Apache, were therefore often referred to simply as the Yabipais Gileños .

The O'Odham (Upper Pima) , suffering from the raids of the allied Yavapai and Western Apache, called all Northern Pai (Yavapai, Hualapai and Havasupai) as well as the Apache and Opata simply Ohp or O'Ob ("enemies").

The Seri (Comcaac) all referred to Apache in Seri (Cmiique Iitom) , an isolated language, as Hapatsoj (Singular: Hapats ).

Tribal area

The Apache tribal areas in the 18th century ( Ch - Chiricahua, WA - Western Apache (including Tonto Apache), N - Navajo, M - Mescalero, J - Jicarilla, L - Lipan, Pl - Plains Apache)

The Dilzhę́'é Apache (Tonto Apache) lived mostly east of the Verde River ( Tu Cho n'lin - 'big water running' - 'large flowing river'), from the Salt River and the Mazatzal Mountains in the southwest and the Tonto Basin in the southeast , north along the East Verde River and Oak Creek to the San Francisco Peaks north of present-day Flagstaff and extended east to the Little Colorado River . The areas west of the Verde River were mostly inhabited by groups of the Yavapai, but the tribal areas of the Dilzhę́'é Apache and those of the Yavapai on the Upper Verde River and east of the Verde River often overlapped and were shared.

Socio-political organization

In contrast to Cheyenne or Navajo (Diné), the Apache never had a political or military idea of ​​a common nation or a common tribal identity; Although they identified themselves as Apache based on the common language (and excluded the Navajo here), the individual tribal groups, however, developed different cultures and sometimes fought each other.

The Tonto Apache northernmost and westernmost group of tribal group of the Western Apache were six bands (groups) split, which is usually of several local groups (ger .: local bands passed), which together hunting and gathering areas (berries, wild greens , roots etc.) claimed. The local groups in turn consisted of two to five matrilocal and matrilinear large families (in Apache: gotah , English extended families ), each large family owned their own land (including water rights) by customary law, in which they made a living by farming, hunting and collecting denied. The gotahs were several nuclear families , each with a Wickiup (in Apache: kowa , gowa ) living in a common settlement (usually rancheria , Spanish: "settlement" called) together with other related families . Hence the members of a band were related to most, if not all, of the others.

When the Western Apache reached the southwest hunter-gatherer, they expanded their economic base to include seasonal agriculture and prey on raids. Like other Apache, they often changed their settlements out of fear of retribution and always lived in the protected highland regions, in canyons and mountain valleys.

Only the local groups had elected leaders (in Apache: Nantan ) - sometimes women too - but there were no recognized chiefs who could exercise all-encompassing power over the whole group. These leaders had prestige acquired through skill and persuasiveness. In addition, most of the Nantans were also medicine men (in Apache: Diyins ) who, according to you, had a special power (in Apache: Diya ). This enabled them to lead people and to consider the sacred aspects of the raid as well as the war. All known leaders of the Apache - including the famous Cochise or Mangas Coloradas of the Chiricahua Apache - were each only Nantans of their own local group - but never chief of all local groups of a band or even chief of all z. B. Tonto Apache or all Chiricahua Apache (this originated in the imagination of Mexicans and Americans). Since the Apache were shaped by the individuality typical of all athabasques , even warriors were not automatically obliged to obey their leader (and could defy or ignore his instructions), but were free in their decisions and could - if they wanted - temporarily others Join leaders of neighboring local groups. Some leaders - such as Delshay / Delshe under the Tonto Apache or Mangas Coloradas under the Chiricahua Apache - had enormous influence on neighboring local groups, but could not exercise any authority or sign any binding contracts. This was to lead to many tragic misunderstandings and bloodshed - since the Europeans (Spaniards, Mexicans and Americans) assumed (or interpreted them for their benefit) to conclude contracts with a chief of the respective Apache tribal group (all leaders now adhere to the content of these contracts of the respective band or tribal group). Since a local leader could not sign Tonto Apache for all of them (however, this was postulated and understood by the Europeans), leaders of neighboring local Tonto Apache groups felt not bound by the contract (often they were not even consulted) and continued to operate theirs own "politics", this quickly turned these local groups into breach of contract Indians who had to be fought in the eyes of the Europeans (although the Apache were not aware of the breach of contract).

Differentiation between raids and military campaigns

For the Apache there was a strict social difference between raids and military campaigns (which, in turn, was not understandable and acceptable on the part of the Europeans). Raids (in Apache: “to look for property of the enemy”) were usually carried out by one or more extended families (less often by local groups) and carried out when the supplies in the camp were running out. The extended family organized a foray to get the food they needed (corn, wheat, beans), ammunition, weapons, livestock (cattle, sheep, goats or horses). Mostly respected older women (so-called women chiefs ) were responsible for calling on the warriors to undertake a raid to get through the harsh winter. The main goal was to steal as many goods and herds as possible and bring them home without being noticed by the enemy and without loss. Between 5 and 15 warriors took part in these ventures (a larger number increased the risk of being discovered in enemy territory and not making any prey). The aim was therefore to avoid encounters with the enemy (or even a deadly confrontation) as much as possible (this only increased the possibility that the robbers would be pursued by their victims and possibly have to give up the prey). The warriors did not get any special status if they killed an enemy (and thus possibly endangered the whole enterprise). But they gained prestige when they managed to steal food supplies and horses for their families. These forays were often accompanied by widows and women accompanying their husbands. The women were responsible for looking after the warriors and for securing the camp site. If the raid was successful, the Apache drove the stolen cattle as quickly as possible to the safe mountain settlements of their homeland, with the warriors as scouts forming the vanguard and rear guard. Meanwhile, the cattle were herded by women and, if necessary, defended at gunpoint in the event of an attack. With the Spaniards, they were considered female warriors, because the martial skills of women in the defense of the booty as well as the camp was considerable. Large herds of cattle were often stolen from these small war parties and driven back north to the Apacheria without a break . The number of warriors involved in the raids seems small and therefore the complaints and reports about the "terror" of the Apache against Indians and whites are exaggerated; however, every year several hundred Apache warriors, organized in small groups from every corner, undertook the so-called Apacheria - from the mountains along the Colorado River in the west to San Antonio and the Texas Gulf Coast on the Southern Plains in the east, from Santa Fe in the North to deep into New Spain / Mexico in the south - several dozen raids. If warriors were killed in these raids, in retaliation a war campaign was undertaken as a reaction as soon as possible, so that raiding or war troops of the Apache (and later the Comanche, Kiowa and Kiowa-Apache) were always on the way across the entire Spanish-Mexican northern border.

A campaign (in Apache: "bring death to an enemy") was organized to seek revenge and retribution for the death of another member of the group, and the leader was always a relative of the dead man. This leader did not have to be the leader of the local group, but could be chosen by the grieving family. Sometimes a widow would take responsibility and lead the campaign. It was common for widows or women to go into battle with the men. If raids were mostly undertaken by large families (5 to 15 warriors), war expeditions were organized and carried out by one or more local groups (extremely rarely at band level); these larger undertakings could include 100 to 200 warriors. They followed a pattern that would be called guerrilla tactics today. The aim was to kill as many enemies as possible and take prisoners. Adult male prisoners were handed over to grieving women in the camp for torture and killing. Children up to the age of five or six were mostly adopted by families who, in turn, had lost relatives. Captive women often became slaves and had to do the menial jobs in the rancheria. Scalps were used extremely rarely, and then mostly only one, to be used later in the victory dance, after which the scalp was thrown away. This can be traced back to the extreme fear of touching the dead, which is common among the Apache, which is why the mutilation of killed enemies, as often claimed by Spaniards, Mexicans and Americans, was initially alien to them. Only when the mutual violence increased more and more did the Apache begin to mutilate the dead enemies with lances, arrows and knives.

The Apache's views of war were generally in stark contrast to the ideas of the Plains Indians . There was no warrior societies, and those militant enthusiasm, even in a hopeless situation withstand wanting them was as strange as the custom of Coup -Zählens. Legendary figures such as Geronimo, Naiche or Cochise became famous because they repeatedly managed to outsmart the far superior US cavalry with cunning.

Bands of the Tonto Apache

The Tonto Apache were divided into the following groups (English bands), the subdivision into "Northern" and "Southern" Tonto Apache is controversial. However, I have adopted this because there are differences between the "Northern Tonto Apache Idiom" and the "Southern Tonto Apache Idiom" and the "Northern Tonto Apache" correspond to the Wi: pukba / Wipukepaya or "Northeastern Yavapai "and the" Southern Tonto Apache "combined with the Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya or" Southeastern Yavapai "to form bilingual Apache-Yavapai bands:

Northern Tonto Apache or Tonto (lived along the upper reaches of the Verde River as well as north to the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff , often formed bilingual (bilingual) local groups with the Wi: pukba / Wipukepaya band of the Yavapai , which are also a local group of the Northern Tonto Apache as well as one of the Yavapai with an Apache each as also a Yavapai name)

• Soon a mountain band , in Apache: Dasziné Dasdaayé Indee ('Porcupine Sitting Above People') or in Yavapai: Wiipukepaya / Wipukepa (“People from the foot of the red rock, ie the Red Rock Country”). Lived mostly around Bald Mountain or Squaw Peak and in the western Verde River Valley, southwest of Camp Verde. They lived only from hunting and gathering roots, herbs and plants.
• Oak Creek Band , in Apache: Tsé Hichii Indee ('Horizontal Red Rock People') or in Yavapai: Wiipukepaya / Wipukepa ("People from the foot of the red rock, ie the Red Rock Country"). Lived near present-day Sedona, along Oak Creek, Dry Beaver Creek, Wet Beaver Creek and south to the west bank of the Verde River, between Altnan and West Clear Creek, east to Stoneman and Mary Lakes and north to Roger Lake and Flagstaff.
• Fossil Creek Band , in Apache: Tú Dotłʼizh Indee ("People of the blue-green water, ie people along the Fossil Creek") or in Yavapai: Matkitwawipa ("People of the Verde River Valley (in Yavapai: Matkʼamvaha)"). Had some small plantings along Fossil Creek ( Tu Do Cliz - "Canyon of the Blue-Green Water / Fossil Creeks"), Clear Creek and at one point on the Verde River, below the mouth of Deer Creek, hunted and collected west of the Verde River , to the northwest to the Oak Creek-Tonto area and to the northeast to Apache Maid Mountain.
• Mormon Lake Band , in Apache: Dotłʼizhi HaʼitʼIndee ('Turquoise Road Coming Up People'). Lived east of Mormon Lake near Anderson Canyon, their areas were in the Coconino National Forest and included Mount Elden, Mormon Lake, Soneman Lake, Hay Lake, the region around what are now two reservoirs called Lake Mary (Upper and Lower Lake Mary) as well the Anderson and Padre Canyon, roamed as far as the southern San Francisco Peaks (in Apache: Dził Tso; in Yavapai: Wi: mun Kwa), since they were always exposed to attacks by the enemy Navajo (Diné) in the north and east, they were unique as a collector and hunter. As the most isolated local group of the Northern Tonto, not only did they not farm, they also had no family ties to the neighboring Yavapai, so they were the only Tonto Apache group that consisted only of Apache.

Southern Tonto Apache or Dilzhę́'é (lived in the Tonto Basin, from the Salt River (in Yavapai: ʼHakanyacha or Hakathi :) in the south along and across the East Verde River and in the Sierra Ancha , Bradshaw Mountains and Mazatzal Mountains , often formed with the Wiikchasapaya / Wikedjasapa ("people of the McDowell Mountains (in Yavapai: Wi: kajasa)") and the Hwaalkamvepaya / Walkamepa ("people of the Walkame, ie the Pinaleño / Pinal Mountains") of the Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya band of the Yavapai bilingual (bilingual ) Local groups, which at the same time formed a local group of the Southern Tonto Apache and one of the Yavapai, each with an Apache and a Yavapai name)

• Mazatzal Band , in Apache: Tsé Nołtłʼizhn ('Rocks in a Line of Greenness People') or in Yavapai: Hakayopa or Hichapulvapa . Lived mostly in the eastern Mazatzal Mountains, subdivided again into two bilingual Southern Tonto Apache - Wiikchasapaya / Wikedjasapa groups:
  • Tsé Nołtłʼizhn 'or Hakayopa (claimed the area around the Sunflower Valley community, the Mazatzal Mountains south of the highest peak, Mazatzal Peak (2,409 m), and in the east in the area around the former Fort Camp Reno in the western Tonto Basin ( also called Pleasant Valley ))
  • Tsé Nołtłʼizhn 'or Hichapulvapa (these claimed the Mazatzal Mountains south of the East Verde River and west of the North Peak to Mazatzal Peak)
• Dilzhę́'é Semi-Band , in Apache: Dilzhę́'é, Dil Zhe`é ("People with high, bright voices"), in Yavapai: Matkawatapa . Most important semi-band (small group), all other five small groups were generally referred to as Dilzhę́'é, but the name Matkawatapa only refers to a group of some Dilzhę́'é in the Sierra Ancha with members of the Hwaalkamvepaya / Walkamepa der Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya formed a common bilingual group.
• second semi-band or small group
• third semi-band or small group
• fourth semi-band or small group
• fifth semi-band or small group
• sixth semi-band or small group

Demographics

With around 4,500 to 5,000 members, the Western Apaches were the largest and most populous group among the Apaches, which together never numbered more than 15,000, whereby it must be borne in mind that only 25% of these were men and the rest women (35%) and Children (40%). Here again the approx. 1,500 White Mountain Apache were the largest and with approx. 375 warriors the most powerful group of the Western Apache, while with approx. 1,000 members (approx. 250 warriors) the Cibecue Apache represented the second largest group. The San Carlos Apache and Southern Tonto Apache each had 900 tribal members (each with 225 warriors), so that the approximately 800 members of the Northern Tonto Apache-Yavapai (including approximately 450 Apache with approximately 110 warriors) formed the smallest group.

history

Relationship with the Yavapai

Two groups of the Yavapai in central Arizona - the Wi: pukba / Wipukepa ("Northeastern Yavapai") and the Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya ("Southeastern Yavapai") - lived in the direct vicinity of the Tonto Apache and the Pinaleño / Pinal Apache and Arivaipa / Aravaipa Bands of the San Carlos Apache group of the Western Apache , with the Apache bands mostly living east and the Yavapai bands west of the Verde River.

The areas of the Wi: pukba / Wipukepa overlapped in the San Francisco Peaks , along the Upper Verde River , in Oak Creek Canyon and along Fossil Creek with those of the Northern Tonto Apache Bands and were therefore shared by both. Likewise, the Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya shared the tribal areas east of the Verde River , along the Fossil Creek, East Verde River , Salt River and in the Superstition Mountains , the Sierra Ancha , the Bradshaw Mountains and Mazatzal Mountains with the southern Tonto Apache Bands and in the Dripping Springs Mountains and the western Pinaleno Mountains with the Pinaleño / Pinal Apache Band and in the Dripping Springs Mountains and in the Santa Teresa Mountains with the Arivaipa / Aravaipa Band.

These Yavapai groups formed mixed Yavapai-Apache bands with the neighboring Tonto and San Carlos Apache and lived in common settlements ( rancherias ) and were difficult to distinguish from outsiders (Spaniards, Mexicans and Americans) because the Wi: pukba / Wipukepa and Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya had taken over other cultural traits of the Apache in addition to the raids and war expeditions (partly matrilocal clans, style of clothing and basket weaving). Most of these mixed bands were also bilingual - and thus spoke both Yavapai and Western Apache (Ndee biyati '/ Nnee biyati'), but each with a strong audible accent. The mixed Yavapai-Apache bands as well as their chiefs and leaders had both a Yavapai and an Apache name , e.g. B. was a mixed, bilingual band in the Sierra Ancha in Guwevkabaya / Kwevkepaya as Matkawatapa known and at the Southern Tonto Apache but as Dilzhę'é whose berühmtester leader was among whites mostly under his Apache name as Delshay / Delacha known , however, his Yavapai tribesmen knew him as Wah-poo-eta / Wapotehe .

Since the Tonto Apache, San Carlos Apache and the Wi: pukba / Wipukepa were organized matrilocally and matrilinearly (the man moved to his wife's family, the family derived their descent from the line of the woman), the " mother tongue " decided which tribal affiliation the person had, i.e. whether they considered themselves to be Apache or Yavapai. Due to their kinship and cultural closeness to the Apache, outsiders were often only able to distinguish them from one another on the basis of their language, so these mixed Yavapai-Apache bands were historically simply referred to as Tonto Apache (short: Tonto ); once it was recognized that some of these bands spoke Yavapai rather than Apache, they were simply called Apache Mohave (Apache Mojave) or Yavapai Apache to distinguish them from the real Tonto Apache. In addition, the Ɖo: lkabaya / Tolkepaya ("Western Yavapai") as well as the Hualapai (Walapai) and Havasupai were called Yuma-Apache (Apache-Yuma) . Often, historical reports and sources - if Tonto Apache or Tonto are reported there - cannot clearly clarify the tribal affiliation to the Yavapai or Apache.

These mixed Yavapai-Apache bands often allied themselves with other groups of the Western Apache to joint raids or wars against their Indian enemies, especially the Upper Pima , Opata , Tarahumara and Lower Pima as well as against the Spaniards, Mexicans and allied with these later to undertake Americans.

Relationship to neighboring tribes

With the other Western Apaches and neighboring Tonto Apache gangs, and especially with the Chiricahua Apaches living in the south, the various gangs mostly maintained peace, although there were occasional raids on each other. Probably because of their close association with the Yavapai, they also had the greatest linguistic deviation from the other dialects of the Western Apaches. To the Diné (Navajo) (called by the Apache Yúdahą́ - “Live Far Up” - “Those who live far in the north”) and the Enemy Navajo ( Indaa Yúdahą́ - “Enemy Navajo”; also: “(acting for or like ) White Man Navajo ", formerly: Cebolleta and Alamo Bands; today's Alamo Band of the Navajo Nation and Canoncito Band of Navajo Indians (CBN)) they had a very tense relationship, which often turned into open hostility, since the Navajo owned many goods such as blankets and various fabrics that the Tonto lacked and the Enemy Navajo often served as scouts for Europeans and enemy tribes . Sometimes the Apache would trade stolen cattle and horses for the coveted Navajo blankets, and peace reigned during that time.

The Tonto Apache lived as hunters (antelopes, game, birds, bush rats, etc.) and gatherers ( mescal , berries, wild plants, seeds) supplemented by agriculture (watermelons, pumpkins, corn, etc.). If the rancheria ran out of supplies and the food that had previously been collected in the pantries had been used up, the warehouse was made aware of the emergency by a respected woman (so-called 'woman chief'). This woman asked the leader of the rancheria to assemble a group of warriors over the next few days to loot the missing goods on raids against their Indian neighbors and the whites. The raids by the Western Apache (including the Tonto) stretched across an area from the Colorado River in western Arizona to the Zuñi ( Nashtizhé - 'black-colored eyebrows') and Hopi ( Tséká`kiné - 'people who live in stone houses') in the North to far south of the Spanish and then Mexican states (Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango).

For the resettlement of the Tonto Apache in 1875, see also the article on Al Sieber .

Todays situation

Today's Tonto settlements

Tonto Apache Tribe

The Tonto Apache Reservation was set up in 1972 with just 344,000 m² (85 acres) in the middle of the Tonto National Forest , which was expanded in 2010 by a further 1,181,683 m² (292 acres), so that it now covers approx. 1.5 km². The reservation is inhabited by 100 of the approx. 140 tribe members and borders south of the city of Payson (in Apache: Te-go-suk - 'place of yellow water') in the northwest of Gila County , approx. 153 km northeast of Phoenix and 160 km southeast of Flagstaff .

The reservation is surrounded by many large mountain ranges, the Mazatzal Mountains (pronounced: MAH-zaht-ZAL, local: Ma-ta-ZEL) in the west, the Sierra Ancha Mountains (Spanish: 'broad mountain range') in the south and the Mogollon Rim in the north, with altitudes from 1,200 m to approx. 2,100 m.

The Tonto Apache now operate the Mazatzal Hotel & Casino , south of Payson, on Highway 87, with a view of the Mazatzal Mountains and the Mogollon Rim (English pronunciation: MUG-ee'ahn).

The Tonto Apache are direct descendants of the Dilzhe'e Apache who once lived in the Payson area . During the initial reservation period, they were transferred to the large Rio Verde reservation, near Fort Verde , which had been established for the Tonto and Wipukepa or Northeastern Yavapai in 1871 - however it was dissolved in 1875 and the tribes were forced to relocate to the San Carlos reservation . Some Tonto Apache were gradually returning to Payson after 20 years of exile, but white settlers had already occupied a lot of tribal land. However, the majority of the Tonto Apache had decided to return to the Camp Verde Reservation along with their relatives and allies, the Yavapai, and now form the Yavapai-Apache Nation.

Yavapai-Apache Nation

After the Yavapai and Dilzhe'e Apache (Tonto Apache) were forced to move into the approximately 900 km² Camp Verde reservation along the Verde River near Camp Verde in 1871, many children and died during the first three years (1871–1873) Old people due to poor water and insufficient supply of healthy and sufficient food. When the Yavapai and Dilzhe'e Apache set up irrigation systems (including an approximately 8 km long trench), it worked so well that it was now possible to bring in sufficient harvests to be relatively self-sufficient. But contracted entrepreneurs who worked with the government to ensure the supply of the reservations, saw their existence threatened by this and demanded that the reservation be canceled. Thereupon, on February 27, 1875, 1,476 Indians were forced to move over snow-capped mountains and frozen rivers approx. 290 km south to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, with many elderly, women and children perishing in the snow and cold. During the march, due to hunger and hardship, violent tensions arose between Tolkepaya, Yavapé and Wipukepa on the one hand and the Dilzhe'e Apache and their Kwevkepaya and Wipukepa allies on the other. After two weeks, 1,361 Yavapai tonto arrived in San Carlos, as 25 babies were born on the way, around 140 had died.

In the early 1900s, the Yavapai and Dilzhe'e Apache returned to their old homeland, and in 1910 the 40 acres (0.16 km²) Camp Verde Indian Reservation was opened, as well as the separate 248 in the following decade acres (approx. 1.00 km²) Middle Verde Indian Reservation. These two were merged in 1937 to form today's, approximately 665 acres (approximately 2.70 km²), Yavapai-Apache Nation Indian Reservation, and consists of four disconnected settlements in the Verde Valley in eastern Yavapai County - Clarkdale , Middle Verde , Rimrock as well as Camp Verde , the administrative center and main town, which with 576 acres (approx. 2.33 km²) covers almost 90% of the reserve. The 2000 census found a reservation population of 743 people, of whom 512 lived in Camp Verde, 218 in Clarkdale, and only 13 in the unincorporated settlement of Lake Montezuma .

The base of the Yavapai-Apache Nation's income is the Cliff Castle Casino and tourism, thanks to many preserved historical sites, such as Slide Rock State Park , Sedona Red Rock Country , Tuzigoot National Monument and Montezuma Castle National Monument . The Yavapai-Apache Nation is an amalgamation of two historically different tribes, both of which lived on the Upper Verde River. The Dilzhe'e Apache used the land in the northeast, east and south, while the Wipukepa, or Northeastern Yavapai and Yavapé ' or Northwestern Yavapai, lived in the northwest, west and south. Their territories overlapped along the Upper Verde River, where they often lived together in bilingual groups. The Yavapai-Apache Nation is one of the five Apache tribes in Arizona as well as one of the three federally recognized Yavapai tribes. Today the Apache culture prevails.

Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation

The reservation of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, about 35 miles northeast of Phoenix in Maricopa County , was established by Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 and originally comprised 40 sqm (about 103 km²), but in 1910 the Office of Indian Affairs tried to relocate the residents to open the area and water rights to outsiders - but in vain. The reservation currently covers 24,680 acres (approx. 100 km²) and is inhabited by approx. 600 of the 950 tribe members.

The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation has several tourism businesses, including Fort McDowell Casino, Fort McDowell Adventures (a Western-themed outdoor venue), Eagle's Nest RV Park, WeKoPa Golf Club, Fort McDowell Farms, Yavapai Materials, Radisson Poco Diablo Resort in Sedona and the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort and Conference Center.

Fort McDowell is also the birthplace of one of the first advocates for indigenous human rights, Dr. Carlos Montezuma (Wassaja) (1866-1923). As a child, Wassaja was kidnapped by Akimel O'Odham and sold to an Italian photographer who taught him medicine in Chicago, and eventually graduated with a doctorate in medicine. Later on, Wassaja, better known as Dr. Carlos Montezuma, for the rights of Native Americans, for the right to become citizens of the United States. He also became one of the leading figures in helping the Yavapai regain their tribal lands and died of tuberculosis on the reservation .

The Kwevikopaya (also Kwevkepaya ) or Southeastern Yavapai of the Fort McDowell Reservation call themselves Abaja - 'The People', therefore some anthropologists and linguists suspect that the name Apache for the various Athapaskan-speaking Apaches is derived from the self-name of the Kwevkepaya . The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation consists of two different tribes, the Kwevikopaya Yavapai and the Dilzhe'e Apache or Tonto Apache , who often married each other, formed bilingual groups and were allies against hostile tribes and settlers. The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, like the Yavapai-Apache Nation, forms one of the five Apache tribes of Arizona as well as one of the three federally recognized Yavapai tribes.

Western Apache reservations

Because of their forced relocation in 1875, some Tonto Apache now live on two reservations, the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.

Leader of the Tonto Apache

Tonto guides ( bilingual Kwevkepaya-Tonto Apache or Kwevkepaya-Pinaleño Apache guides)

• Delshay ( Delshe , Delchea , Delacha or Tel Che'e - 'Red Ant', from the Yavapai Wah-poo-eta or Wapotehe - 'Big Rump' - 'Big Buttock', called 'Großer Allerwertester', approx. * 1835; Kwevkepaya-Tonto-Apache-Leader, his mixed and bilingual band of approx. 200 members, consisting of the Matkawatapa local group of the Walkamepa-Kwevkepaya and Southern Tonto-Apache, lived in the Sierra Ancha west to Tonto Creek and east to Cherry Creek, however, were also often found in the Mazatzal Mountains west of their tribal area, was involved in the assassination of Lieutenant Jacob Almy in San Carlos in 1873 and then fled to the mountains with the chiefs Chuntz, Cochinay and Chan-deisi, becoming the most successful and stubborn leader of the allied Yavapai and Tonto-Apache, on July 29, 1874 his group of Apache scouts was placed under Tonto Apache (or White Mountain Apache?) - Chief Desalin and Delshay was killed, his severed Head was brought to Camp McDowell as a trophy along with 76 captured Kwevkepaya-Tonto, not to be confused with Wah-poo-eta )
• Wah-poo-eta ( Wapotehe , Wapooita - 'Big Rump' - 'Big Rump', 'Big Butt', called by the Apache Delacha or Delshe - 'Red Ant', * ?; Kwevkepaya-Tonto-Apache guide, his Bilingual gang comprised of approx. 750 members, mostly Kwevkepaya and the Mazatzal group of the Southern Tonto Apache, were known as the largest and most belligerent group and lived mostly in the southern Mazatzal Mountains, but little is known about Wah-poo-eta since he was refused to negotiate with the Americans, after several successful raids and war expeditions he was killed on August 15, 1869 by 44 enemy Maricopa and Akimel O'Odham under the Maricopa war chief Juan Chivaria in Castle Creek Canyon, not to be confused with Delshay )
• Eschetlepan ( Chalipun , Cha-Thle-Pah , Choltepun , Cha Tii Pah - 'Gray Hat', called Charlie Pan by the US Army , Kwevkepaya-Tonto-Apache leader, himself belonged to the Mazatzal group of the Southern Tonto Apache, his Apache followers belonged to this as well as four of the six small groups of the Southern Tonto Apache, but his gang of about 100 members consisted mostly of Wikedjasapa-Kwevkepaya and lived southwest of Green Valley and south of the East Verde River, about 17 km east of the Verde River to the northern foothills of the Mazatzal Mountains, so they could easily raid the areas around Prescott and Wickenburg)
• Ashcavotil ( Ascavotil , in Apache Escavotil , Kwevkepaya-Pinaleño-Apache-Führer, his bilingual group of about 200 warriors lived east of Cherry Creek south along both sides of the Salt River and in the Pinaleno Mountains, according to Wah-poo-eta he was the most belligerent leaders in central Arizona, heavily armed and well supplied with ammunition from Apache of the Fort Goodwin reservation, ambushed and fought his warriors far south Indian and white settlements as far as Tucson, Sacaton and Camp Grant)
• Oshkolte ( Hascalté , Has-Kay-Ah-Yol-Tel , Tonto Apache-Kwevkepaya-Führer, his bilingual gang consisted of about 70 warriors, 20 women and 20 children, mostly southern Tonto Apache and some Kwevkepaya, lived on both sides of the Tonto Creek north to the East Verde River and south to the Salt River and east of the Four Peaks in the Mazatzal Mountains, his warriors were well armed, close allies of Ashcavotil and Wah-poo-eta , on whom he was dependent for the supply of ammunition, † killed March 1873)
• Nanni-Chaddi (Tonto Apache-Kwevkepaya-Führer, * ?; undertook many raids against settlements of Akimel O'Odham and the Whites along the Salt and Gila Rivers, was killed on December 28, 1872 in the Skeleton Cave Massacre (also Battle of Salt River Canyon ) together with 75 men, women and children of 130 soldiers of the 5th Cavalry Regiment under Captain William H. Brown and 30 Indian scouts killed, 15 other Tonto were dying, only 18 women and 6 children survived as prisoners)
• Skitlanoyah (also Skitianoyah , in Yavapai Skitlavisyah , Kwevkepaya-Tonto-Apache-Führer, his bilingual gang of about 80 members lived north of Delshay's gang, between the Middle East Verde River and the Upper Tonto Creek northwards to the Mogollon Rim)
• Piyahgonte ( Pi-yah-gon-te , Yavapai-Tonto-Apache leader of the 1860s and 1870s, his bilingual gang of about 75 members lived on both sides of the Upper East Verde River north to the Mogollon Rim, made for most Raids and devastation in the Prescott area)
• Natatotel ( Natokel or Notokel , Kwevkepaya-Tonto-Apache leader; † killed June 1873)

Tonto Apache Guide

• Chuntz ( Chunz , Tonto Apache leader, fled to the mountains with Delshay, Cochinay and Chan-deisi after the San Carlos eruption in 1873, was tracked down and killed in July 1874 in the Santa Catalina Mountains by Apache scouts under Chief Desalin , his severed head was displayed for several days from July 25, 1874 on the parade ground of San Carlos)
• Chan-deisi ('Broken Nose', called John Daisy by the US Army , Tonto Apache leader, former Apache scout, belonged to Cochinay's group, fled with Chuntz, Cochinay in 1873 after the murder of Lieutenant Jacob Almy in San Carlos and Delshay in the mountains, was killed and beheaded on June 12, 1874 by Indian (Apache?) scouts, his head was brought to Camp Apache)
• Cochinay ('Yellow Thunder', Tonto Apache leader, fled to the mountains with Chuntz, Delshay and Chan-deisi in 1873 after the assassination of Lieutenant Jacob Almy in San Carlos, but was killed and beheaded by Indian scouts in May 1874 Head was brought to San Carlos on May 26, 1874)
• Naqui-Naquis (Tonto Apache leader; † killed June 1873)
• Ba-coon ( Bacon or Bocan - 'Big Mouth', also Eskimo-tzin , Esqinosquin or Esquimosquin , Tonto Apache guide)

literature

• Goodwin, Grenville. (1971). Western Apache raiding and warfare . Basso, Keith H. (Ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0-8165-0297-8 (English)
• Donald E. Worcester: The Apaches - Eagles of the Southwest , University of Oklahoma Press, 1992, ISBN 0-8061-1495-9 (English)
• Nikolaus Baumhauer: The Apaches: - Origin of the rivalry , publishing house for American studies, 1993, ISBN 3-924696-88-8
• James L. Haley (1981): Apaches: A History and Culture Portrait , University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, ISBN 0-8061-2978-6
• Ian. W. Record (1971): Big Sycamore Stands Alone: The Western Apaches, Aravaipa, and the Struggle for Place, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, ISBN 978-0-8061-3972-2 (Eng.)
• Timothy Braatz: Surviving Conquest: A History of the Yavapai Peoples , 2003, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 978-0-8032-2242-7 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Tonto Apache and its position within Apachean
2. ↑ Etymology - Also, What About 'Tonto'?
3. ↑ The Verde River: Jewel of the Southwest http://dineanai.org/ ( Memento from January 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ José Cortés: Views from the Apache Frontier: Report on the Northern Provinces of New Spain 1799, University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 978-0-8061-2609-8
5. ↑ Tu Do Cliz - YAN Council Passes Resolution to Protect Fossil Creek  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 7.2 MB)  
6. ↑ MICHAEL DAVID POOL, BA: The Western Apache Settlement System and Its Implications for the Prehistoric Early Mogollon Period
7. ↑ Diné Ana'í (The Enemy Navajo) or The Canoncito Band of Navajo Indians ( Memento from June 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
8. ^ Tonto Apache Tribe celebrates victory ( Memento from May 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ Mazatzal Hotel & Casino ( Memento from September 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ Timothy Braatz: Surviving Conquest: A History of the Yavapai Peoples, University of Nebraska Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0803222427 , pp. 175-176.
11. ↑ United States Census Bureau - Yavapai-Apache Nation
12. ↑ Cliff Castle Casino
13. ↑ ITCA - Yavapai-Apache Nation ( Memento of 19 August 2003 at the Internet Archive )
14. ↑ Yavapai-Apache Nation - Yavapai & Apache Culture ( Memento from January 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
15. ↑ Fort McDowell Resort Destination
16. ↑ ITCA Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation ( Memento of 19 August 2003 at the Internet Archive )
17. ↑ Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation - About Us ( Memento of May 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )