Plains Apache

The Plains Apache are a small Southern Athabaskan tribe who live on the Southern Plains of North America, in close association with the linguistically unrelated Kiowa Tribe. Today, they are headquartered in Southwestern Oklahoma and are federally recognized as the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. They mostly live in Comanche and Caddo County, Oklahoma.

The Plains Apache are a small Southern Athabaskan tribe who live on the Southern Plains of North America, in close association with the linguistically unrelated Kiowa Tribe. Today, they are headquartered in Southwestern Oklahoma and are federally recognized as the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. They mostly live in Comanche and Caddo County, Oklahoma. ==Name== Their autonym is Ná'ishą, or "takers" based on their skill at stealing horses, or Naishadena, meaning "our people." This is also written Na-i-shan Dine. They were also called Káłt'inde or γát dìndé meaning "cedar people" or Bek'áhe meaning "whetstone people". The Plains Apache are also known as the Kiowa Apache. To their Kiowa allies, who speak an unrelated language, the Plains Apache are known as Semat. ==Government== Today the tribe is headquartered in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Their tribal jurisdictional area covers parts of Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Greer, Jackson, Kiowa, Tillman and Harmon Counties in Oklahoma. In 2011, the tribe had 2,263 total citizens, of whom 1,814 lived in-state. Tribal enrollment is based on 1/8 blood quantum, meaning a person must be able to prove they have at least 1/8 Native American ancestry to be considered eligible for tribal enrollment. As of 2025, the current administration is: Chairman: Durell Cooper Vice Chairman: Matthew Tselee Secretary/Treasurer: Ruth Bert Committee Member: Donald Komardley Committee Member: Dustin Cozad In addition to the Apache Business Committee outlined above, the tribe also operates the following tribal departments: AOA (Administration on Aging) Director: Billy Harris Housing Authority of the Apache Tribe Director: Ronald Twohatchet Child Welfare EPA (Environmental Program) Director: Wamblee Smith Finance Director: Wendy Whiteshield Food Distribution Director: Jennifer Boynton Human Resources Director: Tamara Paukei Procurement Director: Joann Belgarde Social Services Supervisory Social Worker: Sallie Allen Tax Commission Tax Clerk: Sandy Jay Vocational Rehab Director: Tanner Mahseet CHR (Community Health Rep) Director: Antionette Short (Violence Against Indian Women) Apache Tribal Enrollment Director: Lisa Bower VAIW ==Economic Development== The Apache Tribe of Oklahoma owns and operates the Apache Golden Eagle Casino in Apache, Oklahoma. The Golden Eagle Casino was previously closed in 2013 due to a tribal dispute, along with the Silver Buffalo Casino in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Only the Golden Eagle Casino reopened once the dispute was settled. The casino is under the jurisdiction of the Apache Gaming Commission, headed by Gaming Commissioner Ryan Adudell. There is also a smokeshop and a gas station on the reservation. The tribe issues their own tribal license plates through the Tax Commission. ==History== Their oral history states that the Plains Apache broke away from the Tsuutʼina, an Athabascan people who moved onto the Great Plains in Alberta, Canada. They have lived on the Great Plains since the 16th century. They migrated south, where the Lakota gave them territory south of the Black Hills in what became South Dakota and Wyoming. The Apache are associated with the Dismal River culture (ca. 1650–1750) of the western Plains, generally attributed to the Paloma and Cuartelejo Apaches. Jicarilla Apache pottery has also been found in some of the Dismal River complex sites. Some of the people from the Dismal River culture joined the Plains Apache in the Black Hills. ==Language== , poet and award-winning beadworker, was both Kiowa and Plains Apache The Plains Apache language is a member of the Southern Athabaskan language family, a division of the Na-Dene languages. The Plains Apache language, also referred to as Plains Apache, was the most divergent member of the subfamily. While three people spoke the language in 2006, the last fluent speaker died in 2008¹. ==See also== Apache Classification of Indigenous peoples of the Americas ==Notes== ==References== Pritzker, Barry M. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. . ==Bibliography== Beatty, John. 1974. Kiowa-Apache Music and Dance. Occasional Publications in Anthropology: Ethnology Series. Number 31. Greeley, CO: Northern Colorado UP. Bittle, William. 1954. “The Peyote Ritual of the Plains Apache.” Oklahoma Anthropological Society. 2: 69-79. ______. 1962. “The Manatidie: A Focus for Plains Apache Tribal Identity.” Plains Anthropologist. 7(17): 152-163. ______. 1963. “Kiowa-Apache.” In Studies in the Athapaskan Languages. (Ed. Hoijer, Harry). University of California Studies in Linguistics vol. 29. Berkeley: California UP. 76-101. ______. 1964. “Six Plains Apache Tales.” Oklahoma Papers in Anthropology. 5:8-12. ______. 1971. “A Brief History of the Plains Apache.” Oklahoma Papers in Anthropology. 12(1): 1-34. ______. 1979. “Plains Apache Raiding Behavior.” Oklahoma Papers in Anthropology. 20(2): 33-47. Brant, Charles S. 1949. “The cultural position of the Kiowa-Apache.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 5(1): 56-61. Brant, Charles S. 1950. “Peyotism among the Kiowa-Apache and Neighboring Tribes.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 6(2): 212-222. Brant, Charles S. 1953. “Kiowa-Apache Culture History: Some Further Observations.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 9(2): 195-202. Brant, Charles S. 1969. Jim Whitewolf: The Life of a Plains Apache. New York: Dover Publications. Jordan, Julia A. 2008 Plains Apache Ethnobotany. University of Oklahoma Press. McAllister, J. Gilbert. 1937. “Kiowa-Apache Social Organization.” In Social Anthropology of North American Tribes. (ed. Eggan, Fred). Chicago: Chicago UP.99-169. _______.1949. “Plains Apache Tales.” In The Sky is My Tipi. (ed. Boatright, Mody). Dallas: SMU Press. 1-141. _______.1970. Dävéko: Kiowa-Apache Medicine Man. Austin: Bulletin of the Texas Memorial Museum, No. 17. Meadows, William C. 1999. Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche Military Societies. University of Texas Press, Austin. Opler, Morris E. (1969). Western Apache and Plains Apache materials relating to ceremonial payment. Ethnology, 8 (1), 122-124. Opler, Morris E; & Bittle, William E. (1961). The death practices and eschatology of the Plains Apache. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 17 (4), 383-394. Schweinfurth, Kay Parker. (2002). Prayer on top of the earth: The spiritual universe of the Plains Apaches. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. ==External links== Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, official website Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (Kiowa-Apache) Kiowa Comanche Apache IT, Kiowa Comanche Apache Indian Territory Project

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