Apache Kinship Patterns

Tribal Organization

The Apachean people were organized into seven tribes: the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipans, Mescalero, Plains Apache, Western Apache, and the Navajo. The Navajo were later on considered a separate tribe. The seven Apache tribes had no unity amongst themselves; all tribes were enemies.
A local group of Apache people was called a band. Bands consisted of several units of extended families occupying a certain territory. Apache families were organized as nuclear families, consisting of parents and children. Apache clans were matrilineal, meaning the women play vital roles in each family. When Apache men got married, they would move in with the wife's
family(http://www.aaanativearts.com/apache/apache_clans.htm).

Roles of Men and Women

Women in Apache families were responsible for many things modern women do today: cook, clean the house, taking care of children. But what was unique about Apache women was that they were also responsible for building the houses for the families, called wickiups (more on wickiups in my Apache Education post). When Apache tribes migrated to different areas, it would be the women's main role to build the houses. When the men in the tribe went away to hunt, the women were also responsible for guarding the camp with weapons such as bows and arrows or spears. All weapons were crafted by the men. Arrowheads were made and carved out of flint they found in the ground, and spears were made of sharpened stones tied to wooden poles. These were the traditional weapons the Apaches used in battle, and all of them were created from natural resources based on the primitive technology they had in those days. Mothers would also be the ones to teach religion customs to their children (http://www.bigorrin.org/apache_kids.htm).

The roles of the men in Apache families were much more vital than the women's. Men hunted and supplied the tribes with food. The animals that were hunted by the Apaches were mostly deer, but their lesser targets were rabbits, squirrels, opossums, horses if there were too many of them, wild cattle, buffalo and elk. The people's prey selection all depended on what kinds of animals were around their area at what time of year.
It was usually only the men who would go into battle, although it was rare for Apache women to become warriors. If they were short on soldiers during a war, then women would be recruited to fight as well. Men would fight with the same weapons they used to hunt: spears, bows and arrows, and also shields made of stretched buffalo hide. These shields were informal in did not have an official name. Apache tribes would almost always do a surprise attack on other towns and raid them for their livestock and corn. Apacheans believed it was more skillful to do a sneaky and quiet attack then an open attack, but they were considered cowards by other cultures (http://www.ehow.com/about_4571617_weapons-used-apache-indians.html).

Men would also be the political leaders among their tribes. In all known Apache history, there has never been a female leader.
It was a great opinion of the Apache culture that people would be self-governed, so political leaders were humble and behind-the-scenes. Advice was given to the people by their elder relatives.