The Fort Sill Apache Tribe is composed of Chiricahua Apache, who were made up of 4 bands: • Chihende (
Chinde,
Chihenne – ‘Red Painted People’, known as Warm Springs Apache Band or Gila Apaches, Eastern Chiricahua) • Chukunende (
Chokonende,
Chokonen – ‘Ridge of the Mountainside People’, known as Chiricahua Band, proper or Central Chiricahua) • Nde’ndai (
Ndénai,
Nednai, ''Ndé'ndai'' – ‘Enemy People’, ‘People who make trouble’, sometimes known as Pinery Apache Band, known as Sierre Madre Apaches, Southern Chiricahua) • Bidánku (
Bedonkohe – ‘In Front of the End People’,
Bi-da-a-naka-enda – ‘Standing in front of the enemy’, sometimes known as Bronco Apache Band, known as Mogollon Apaches or Gila Apaches, Northeastern Chiricahua) The Apache are southern
Athabaskan-speaking peoples who migrated many centuries ago from the subarctic to the southwestern region of what would become the United States. The Chiricahua settled in southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico of the present-day United States, northern
Sonora, and northern
Chihuahua of present-day Mexico. By the late 19th century, the Chiricahua Apache territory encompassed an estimated 15 million acres. In 1886, to break up the
Apache Wars and resistance to European-American settlement, the US federal government took the Chiricahua into custody as
prisoners of war and seized their land. The Army forcibly removed 400 members of the tribe from the
Fort Apache and
San Carlos Reservations in present-day Arizona, Some warriors were held at
Fort Pickens in Florida. Their
ledger drawings are held in a collection by the
Smithsonian Institution. Many of the Apache Scouts who serve in the capture of
Geronimo were arrested by the order of
General Nelson A. Miles forced on the same train as Geronimo, the Apache Scouts came from the Tonto, Pinal, Aravaipa, Apache Pecks, Chiricahua, San Carlos, and White Mountain Apache bands, some of the Apache Scouts where also Apache chiefs were from different Apache bands. In 1894, the US Congress passed a special provision to allow the Chiricahua to be relocated to
Indian Territory. They were the last Indian tribe to be relocated into what is now Oklahoma. She served as tribal chairperson until 1995 and focused on sustaining history and traditional Chiricahua culture.
Allan Houser was the first Fort Sill Apache child to be born free. He became one of the most celebrated Native American sculptors of the 20th century. His sons,
Bob Haozous and Phillip Haozous, are successful sculptors today and are both enrolled citizens of the tribe. ==Education==