Living in Apacheria
by Howdy-Nocona Fowler
W
Photo credit: LegendsOfAmerica.com
hen newcomers first view a
desert they are awestruck by
the vast, rugged beauty. At
the same time they are overwhelmed
by what they perceive to be an empty,
lifeless, sterile environment, wrongfully
concluding the desert is void of life.
The people known as the Apache
saw things differently and became
masters of desert living. Apaches uti-
lized every available food source which
the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts
had to offer in order to survive as a
people. The trick was being able to
recognize a food source when they saw
it and learning to know where to locate
these food sources. Apaches were con-
8
Cenizo
sidered to be nomads by many, but
they did not roam without a purpose.
True desert living is a constant search
for proteins. Moving to and from one
food source to another in such a harsh
environment, even small groups of
Apache required a very large territory
in order to survive as a people. The
plants the Apache depended on grew
in small quantities, often only produc-
ing when the sparse and unpredictable
desert rains came. The animals hunted
by the Apache people required thou-
sands of acres just to survive. The
Apache roamed to eat.
The Mescalero Apache (Mescalero
means “workers of the mescal”), along
First Quarter 2015
with the Warm Springs Apache, were
frequent visitors to the Big Bend and
Davis Mountains area of West Texas.
The Mescalero had built a whole cul-
ture that centered around the mescal
or agave plant. The giant desert plant
was as important to the Mescalero
Apache as the buffalo was to many
plains-dwelling tribes. The Mescalero
harvested both the thick leaf and thin
leaf mescal in season. The benefits that
were derived from the use of the
mescal plant were numerous. The
mescal provided food, fiber, needles
for sewing, musical instruments, a
strong fermented drink, basket making
materials, and even the mescal stalks
were used for tipi poles in the early
days by the Lipan Apache.
Apache people lived in small groups
because the rugged lands which they
inhabited couldn't support large tribal
groups living in one area for any length
of time. When harvesting mescal, 20 to
30 Apache would come together from
two or three neighboring groups.
They would gather six to 10 tons at a
time. The head or bulb of the plant
would be placed into large fire-heated
rock pits, where it would cook for
approximately 72 hours. When the
mescal was finished cooking the sweet
substance, after cooling, would be
sliced thin, like we slice cheese. Then it