A Little History
APACHE The
name “Apache” is said to be a Zuni Indian word meaning “enemy.” The Apache of Oklahoma are also called the
Prairie Apache, a name applied to them through error, on the assumption that
they were the same as the Apache people Arizona. They are of the Athapascan linguistic family, but have had no
political connection with the Apache tribes of the Southwest. They came from the North as a component part
of the Kiowa. More recent authorities, however, believe that
the Apache did divide somewhere in Montana, the main body going southward on
the west side of the mountains and a smaller body going northward to become
allied on the east side of the mountains
with the Kiowa. Whichever theory of
their origin is correct, the Apache have a distinct language and called
themselves “Nadiishdewa,” or “our people.”
The Pawnee and early French explorers and settlers called the “Gattacka”
or “Gataka,” and these names appeared on the first treaty they signed with the
United States in 1897. Perhaps 1847
marked the beginning of the Apache being identified with the Kiowa, and the two
tribes, for the most part, have had a common history. |
