Mescalero Apache Tribe

Mescaleros Apache Indians (Spanish: `mescal people,’ from their custom of eating mescal). An Apache tribe which formed a part of the Faraones and Vaqueros of different periods of the Spanish history of the southwest. Their principal range was between the Rio Grande and the Pecos in New Mexico, but it extended also into the Staked plains and southward into Coahuila, Mexico.

They were never regarded as so warlike as the Apache of Arizona, otherwise they were generally similar. Mooney 1 records the following divisions:

  • Nataina
  • Tuetinini
  • Tsihlinainde
  • Guhlkainde
  • Tahuunde

These bands intermarry, and each had its chief and suhchief. The Guhlkainde are apparently identical with the “Cuelcajenne” of Orozco y Berra and others, who classed them as a division of the Llaneros; the “Natages” are probably the same as the Nataina rather than the Lipan or the Kiowa Apache, while the Tsihlinainde seem to be identifiable with the “Chilpaines.” In addition Orozco y Berra gives the Lipillanes as a Llanero division.

The Mescaleros are now (1905) on a reservation of 474,240 acres in southern New Mexico, set apart for them in 1873. Population 460 in 1905, including about a score of Lipan, q. v.


Collection:
Hodge, Frederick Webb, Compiler. The Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Bureau of American Ethnology, Government Printing Office. 1906.

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Citations:
  1. Mooney, field notes, B. A. E., 1897[]

8 thoughts on “Mescalero Apache Tribe”

  1. I recently received my DNA genealogy showing 46% Native American, 27% Spanish with lot of family members coming from Chihuahua Mexico…my biological father states his mother, Rosie Villa, was Mescalero Apache…how do I go about finding out if I am the same?

    1. My grandmother is Apache from Ruidoso New Mexico but had to travel to Roswell to be registered to the govt. and return ed to reside in Ruidoso that was named Sacramento previously. Now this 1900,her maiden name is Aldaco. Some of her family wound up in Carlsbad and then arrived in Artesia , New Mexico in the same county. My mother would sometimes mention Jicarilla. My grandmother was a Rodriguez. She was Velasquez by last name. Petra Aldaco Rodriguez. Where can I find her genealogy in Apache genealogies? I understand that this tribe were from Arizona. She was born January 1 ,1900 in Roswell,New Mexico.Territory of New Mexico.

  2. Barb – I am Not a tribal descendant, but I live about 20 minutes outside of the Mescalero Apache reservation. A common last name among tribal members here is Begay. Another place you can look to make contacts within the tribe is https://mescaleroapachetribe.com/. Thank you, thank you, thank you SO much for waiting to make contact with tribal members and obtaining accurate cultural information directly from them to make your character(s) true to life rather than relying on stereotypes!

  3. I am writing an historical novel from the time the Civil War ended. I have a character who is part Apache but I don’t know how to find out a last name for someone who is an Apache. Also I would like to correspond with someone who is part Apache to get some information for my book.

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