What Kind of Homes Did the Apaches Live in?

The Apache tribe was historically a nomadic people, traveling the high desert mountains and plains, hunting and gathering food and doing some limited vegetable farming during warm weather. Because they roamed from place to place, the houses they built were small and simple, easily constructed and with very little furniture.

Geography

The Apache tribes migrated to the southwestern United States from Canada in the 1500s or 1600s and settled in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Today, they mainly live on reservations in Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma with small parts of their population in surrounding states.

Considerations

Historically the Apache tribe were hunters and gatherers. They had to deal with the weather extremes of the high desert country that made agriculture unsuitable for the most part. This meant they needed to spend a great deal of time finding food and needed to move on when the weather changed, when animals migrated or when other food supplies ran out.

They hunted for antelope, buffalo, deer, rabbits and pheasants and gathered fruit, nuts and seeds. During part of the year, some people in the tribe stayed put and did some limited farming for squash, corn, beans and pumpkins. They also traded with other tribes for extra corn, as corn was a large part of their diet.

Significance

With the men's time taken up with hunting, women were mainly responsible for building the houses and doing any necessary maintenance and repairs. Women were basically in charge of all aspects of domestic life. They created furniture and whatever household supplies they were able to, such as carving kitchen containers and utensils from gourds. They also wove baskets and crafted pottery out of clay for cooking. It was the women who collected plants for food, medicine, basketry and dyes. They taught the children, tanned buffalo and deer hides, made clothing and leather bags and created beadwork.

Types

The most common type of Apache house was a wickiup, or wigwam, a dome-shaped frame of wooden poles covered with thatched grass and brush. Poles were made from cottonwood, oak or willow. Women placed the poles upright in a circle and then pulled the tops together and tied them with yucca or another plant that worked well. Often they added an extension to the door, and the door itself was covered by an animal hide, all to keep out dust and rain blown by the windy high desert.

Since the people were nomadic, the homes were not fancy in any way. The wickiups were about 8 to 12 feet in diameter and about 6 to 9 feet tall, with winter houses being the smaller type. They were built quickly, typically in a day or two.

The women dug out about a foot's worth of dirt inside the hut below the base, then piled the dirt around the outside to keep out rainwater. Since the houses were created from plant sources, which were easy to find, the wickiups were abandoned when the tribe moved on.

Features

The Apache people didn't spend much time in their houses, using them mainly for sleeping and for storage. There was no furniture to speak of other than a bed made of a pole framework, with brush and dried grass added for padding. The women also lined the floor with brush and grass, sometimes covering this with blankets. They typically would have a few pans for cooking and a few other kitchen items and many baskets, since plant gathering was so important.

Time Frame

The Apache people were relocated to reservations in the late 1800s, and most still live there today. There are five Apache reservations in Arizona, two in New Mexico and two in Oklahoma. Only a small population lives in Oklahoma. Most of the tribe's income is obtained from the timber industry, tourism and casino gaming. The people no longer live in traditional types of Apache dwellings.