Gorgonia, Mescalero Medicine Man
'Mescalero' (or 'Mescalero Apache') is a
Native American tribe of Southern
Athabaskan heritage currently living on the 'Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation' in southcentral
New Mexico. The Mescaleros opened their doors to other Apache bands, the
Chiricahua who were imprisoned at
Fort Sill,
Oklahoma and the
Lipan Apaches . The Reorganization Act of 1936 consolidated the tribes onto the reservation.
The reservation
Mescalero
tipis. The countryside of the 'Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation' is little changed from time of the photograph.
Originally established on May 27, 1873
[ Bent and Mescalero — home of the Mescalero Apache Banks, Phyllis ] by Executive Order of President
Ulysses S. Grant, the reservation was first located near
Fort Stanton. The present reservation was established in 1883. It has a land area is 1,862.463 km² (719.101 sq mi), almost entirely in
Otero County, but there is a tiny unpopulated section which spills over into
Lincoln County just southwest of the neighboring city of
Ruidoso. It had a
2000 census population of 3,156.
Ranching and tourism are major sources of income.
U.S. Route 70 is the major highway through this reservation, which lies on the eastern flank of the
Sacramento Mountains (see photo below) and borders the
Lincoln National Forest. The mountains and foothills are forested with pines, and commercial development is restricted. However, the reservation itself has invested, for example, in a ski resort, now called
Ski Apache, on a 12,000 foot mountain,
Sierra Blanca, and a hotel in its shadow, the
Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino.
Sierra Blanca itself is
sacred ground for the Apache. A cultural center near the tribal headquarters on
U.S. Route 70 in the reservation's largest community of
Mescalero contains some historical information. Another museum on the western flank of the
Sacramento Mountains, in Dog Canyon, south of
Alamogordo, New Mexico contains more information.
Tribal organization
Mescalero painted boy, this image is often misclassified as Mescalero because it was taken during the time of "Long Walk" in which the Navajo were marched over 350 mile in the winter of 1864 and incarcerated at Bosque Redondo, New Mexico with the Mescalero Apache. Most of the elderly, young children and pregnant women did not survive this march.
The Mescalero Apache Tribe was headed by Wendell Chino, President of The Mescalero Apache People for over 40 years. Currently, his son, Mark Chino is the President of the tribe. The Tribe hold elections for office every two years.
Culture and language
The
Mescalero language is an
Southern Athabaskan language which is a subfamily of the
Athabaskan and
Na-Dené families. Mescalero lies on the southwestern branch of this subfamily and is very closely related to
Chiricahua and more distantly related to
Navajo and
Western Apache.
The Mescaleros are also well known hunters
.
See also
★
Gouyen
★
Lincoln National Forest
★
Mescalero language
★
List of Indian reservations in the United States
References
★ New York Times, Feb 6, 2005, section 5, pp7,14.
★
Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico United States Census Bureau
★
''Thunder Rides a Black Horse: Mescalero Apaches and the Mythic Present'' by Claire R. Farrer
External links
★
website of the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation
★
Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino E-Newsletter
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