Description
Apache is the collective name for the N'de, a multi-division migrant people from southwestern North America, originally from subarctic Canada. They belong to the Na-dene language family. The N'de, like their neighbors the Dineh, are descendants of a Na-dene-speaking nomadic people from the McKenzie Basin in Canada. After migrating southward for centuries, these groups eventually settled in the southwestern United States. Opinions differ on the time of their arrival, but it is certain that a people calling themselves N'de already lived here in the 15th and 16th centuries. Apache is an exonym, derived from a Zuñi word meaning "enemy." N'de is the name they use for themselves, which roughly translates to "people." The N'de speak the language of the Southern Na-Dene and share some linguistic similarities with the Athabascan speakers of Alaska and western Canada. The modern term Apache is used to distinguish them from the related Dineh (Navajo) of Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, who share cultural and linguistic similarities. The N'de, historically a resilient and hardy nomadic people, fought continuously for centuries against the Spanish and Mexicans. The first raids against the Spanish in Sonora occurred in the late 17th century. After several encounters, the US Army learned that the Apaches were both brutal and unforgiving warriors and skilled strategists.
Apaches
