Hueco Tanks: Sacred Ceremonial Grounds

Hueco Tanks is an area of low mountains in El Paso County, Texas, USA. It is located in a high-altitude desert basin between the Franklin Mountains to the west and the Hueco Mountains to the east.

The syenite rock formation is covered with 'desert patina' (visible in the image below), the result of thousands of years of weathering of the rock surface by sun, sand, and water; the site is culturally and spiritually significant to many Native Americans,, such as the Mescalero Apache, the Kiowa, the Hopi, , and the Pueblo people. This significance is partially manifested in the pictographs (rock paintings) that can be found throughout the region, some of which are thousands of years old. Hueco Tanks contains the single largest concentration of mask paintings by Native Americans in North America, of which hundreds exist at this site.

 

This is a video taken by a local showing the grounds in detail!

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3nwtgPkYl8

Culture and Customs of the Apache Indians by Veronica E. Valarde Tiller

Peyote: The Hallucinogen

Drugs come in a variety of forms; pills, man-made, natural, and injections. Peytone was a form of hallucinogen that was said to have healing powers among the Apache. The peyote was used in many forms of religious ceremonies within the Apache tribes. Mescaleros had practiced rather elaborate ceremonies centering on the utilization of peyote for some forty years and that the Lipans had used it in shamanistic contexts. The aged informant Antonio Apache, the Lipans obtained peyote from the Carrizo Indians (Opler, 1938). The Mescaleros are said to have learned peyote rites from the Lipans not long before 1870 (LaBarre 1938).

In native cultures the good and evil has no intrinsic value. Peyote can be used for moral or immoral purposes based on the human witch or shaman.


A Mescalero with Peyote Cactus
http://www.peyote.org/



The Apaches presently living on the reservation include members of three tribes, Mescaleros, Chiricahuas, and Lipans. The reservation was established in 1873 for the Mescaleros. Chiricahuas were taken as prisoners of war in 1886 after the capitulation of Geronomo and his followers. Lipans were destroyed as functioning groups during the latter half of the nineteenth century, when their few known remaining members joined the Mescaleros.

Nineteenth century authors stated that the Mescaleros used in peyote in religious rites in 1867.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rYdgHx8yrw

• Bryce Boyer, Ruth Boyer, and Harry Basehart. Shamanism and Peyote Use Among the Apache.

The Owl:

The Mescalero Apache Indians have all their spirit animals, and they also believe the animals have their places in the world. There is many animals in native Indian culture that are considered inherently evil and inherently evil. 

The owl is considered intrinsically evil in the native Indian culture. Mescaleros believe that one other power, the owl is evil and the bearer of the power of a human witch. While some other Mescalero believe ghosts are within the owls.

Two owls in a Tree
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/the-poor-little-owl/article4016944.ece

• Bryce Boyer, Ruth Boyer, and Harry Basehart. Shamanism and Peyote Use Among the Apache.

Mescalero Elder   http://www.marketingtool.com/profile/b.465.r.99846.u.561a26.html

Elder Advice


The Apache elders are highly respected in their culture, they are of great importance and should always be respected and listened to. The Apache elders have earned the right to be called Elder. This term must be earned within the tribe or culture.

The elderly preserve the traditions, culture, values and morals or the Mescalero Apache people. Pointing is impolite and disrespectful.

Staring: One mustn't stare or look at people with direct eye contact, this is disrespectful and it's staring at all our generations.

Affection: The Mescalero Apache people show affection for one another in a sense of little affection is expressed. Some Apache do not mind being hugged and will respond positively,while others may feel uncomfortable. Watch for the signals they may give you and look for responses and use good judgement.

Personal Note: One of our members in the group is Native American and he remembers that his great grandpa would not look at you directly, nor would the person looking at him. There was no direct eye contact.

People of the Mescalero

Edward Little Interview:

The next interview I will discuss is the interview of Edward Little. He is a Mescalero native who is 60 years old. He was born on the Mescalero reservation and has lived his entire life there. He is the only native who questions his actual heritage. He goes on to say that some of his family members were actually adopted so his actual lineage is unknown which has always been a hardship for him throughout his life. He recalls one passed down story of his grandpa when he describes the depression that struck the Mescalero reservation. He said that his grandfather was one of the great Mescalero leaders who held the tribe together during the food scarcity. His grandfather would help each family find food so that no more of his tribe would die of famine.

            One of his most interesting jobs on the reservation was that of a herder on a Cow Camp. It was his job to look after his family’s herd of cattle so they had plenty of meat to eat. He says that having that job at the ripe age of 12 was a difficult experience because his parents basically counted on him for a majority of their food

            Edward recalls his experience in education and said it wasn't very easy to acquire one. He went to Elementary school on the Mescalero Reservation but then had to find a place outside of the reservation to attend boarding school. He, as many other interview-ee’s, blame the government for not supporting native reservations and providing higher education for its inhabitants. He said he had to travel many miles away to attend middle school and high school. He said he would have pursued his education further if a college or place of higher education was around the reservation.

past.

http://www.chiricahua-apache.com/blog/photographs/white-tail-mescalero-apache-reservation-post-1913/

The link above gives great pictures of examples of children and adults from the Mescalero Apache reservation of White Tail in the early 1900's.

 Apache History and Culture

The Mescalero Apache Tribe was established by President Ulysses S. Grant on May 27, 1873. There are three sub bands that comprise the Tribe: Mescalero Apache, Chiricahua and the Lipan. 

Before the reservations had been created the Mescalero were of nomadic hunters and gatherers that had roamed through the southwest. The women were very good at preparing and finding food from many different plant sources. They had been very good at guerrilla warfare and were highly skilled horsemen.
 The people were given the name "Mescalero" because they gathered and ate the mescal plant. It was the staple of their diets and could sustain them in good times and bad.

The Apache were the only Native American Tribe that had stirred up terror and constant fear throughout the Southwest. They would raid any Spanish, Mexican, or any American settlement they would come upon. They also defended their homelands and would put up a fight every time. 

Sierra Blanca Mountain  http://www.storybookcabins.com/web-resources.htm

Within their homeland lie the four sacred Mountains: Sierra Blanca, Guadalupe Mountains, Three Sisters and Oscura Peak. These four mountains represent the four directions of life for the Apache People. 

The Sunrise Ceremony White Mountain Apache Crown Dancers

• http://www.mescaleroapache.com/area/history_and_cul.htm

Native Apache 



The name Apache is said to derive from the Yavapai word for people (epache). The Zuni word for enemy (apachu), or the unspecified Quechan word that means fighting men.The Apache were known for being powerful, brave, and aggressive. The Apache and Navajo are thought to have such a similarity between languages that they were once a lone ethnic group. The Apache were once such a large group that it was dated as far back as 1500s.





Three Sisters Mountain



There are still several Apache tribes today. There are approximately 5,000 Apaches today. The Apache tribes include the Plains Apache (Oklahoma), the Lipan Apache (Texas), Western Apache (Arizona), Chiricahua Apache (Arizona/New Mexico), Jicarilla Apache (New Mexico), and the Mescalero Apache (New Mexico).



The Sacred Mountains

 Within the original aboriginal homeland of the Mescalero Apaches "lies the four sacred mountains: Sierra Blanca, Guadalupe, 3 Sisters Mountain, and Oscura Mountain Peak. These mountains represent the four directions of the universe."-Wendell Chino

Sierra Blanca, White Mountain
(I've even heard it nicknamed 'sinking mountain')

Three Sisters Mountain

Guadalupe Mountain

Oscura Mountain peak is within the White Sands Military base and is located near the "Trinity Site," where the atomic bomb was tested. This means that no one except military personal are allowed in the area of this sacred mountain. 

Mountains are sacred places for the Mescalero Apaches because they are believed to contain healing medicine. The higher you go on a mountain, the better the medicine will be. Their religion was based on these mountains. "Traditional Apache religion was based on the belief in the supernatural and the power of nature. It explained everything."-Wendell Chino



http://www.maninthemaze.com/thesantafeseries/apacheland.html

Religious Views from (outside) perspective:

This central aim is looking at the Mescalero Apache from an outside view and hopes in seeking to elucidate Mescalero theories of ritual, power, sacred space, metaphysics, and theology.

The Mescalero people are members of one of the largest cultural and linquistic groups of Native Americans in North America, The Athabascans. This large family of cultures had included many Native peoples of Alaska and Canada such as the Koyokun, Tlingit, and Dene. Athabascans are generally distiguinished as Navajo or Apache. They both migrated from the north into the Southwest at a minimum of five hundred years ago.

Masked males dancers are ceremonially transformed into living embodiments of the power of the creator as it manifests through the four directions and various sacred powers.

• Ball, M.W. Mountain Spirits: Embodying the sacred in Mescalero Apache Tradition.

This video gives a short outlook on the Mescalero Apache sacred mountain ranges.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7_hCeI3bKA

Coming of Age (na'ii'ees)

Every culture has its own beliefs and rituals for when a child becomes an adult. For the Mescalero Apaches, at the age of 16 a girl becomes a woman and the coming-of-age ceremony takes place. The ceremony takes at least 6 months of preparation from the girl and her family and friends and it can be very expensive, but it is an important part of the Apache heritage. During this time she must find a medicine man and godparents to perform the ceremony, assemble the necessary gifts, and the ceremonial clothes must be made. 
This is a brief overview of this ceremony:
            Apache Girl's Rite of Passage -- National Geographic

The day before the ceremony the girl is dressed by her godmother. This is called the bikee'ilzèè, which means "she is dressed." The girl is not allowed to do anything for herself during the na'ii'ee. She is also not allowed to show emotion by smiling or laughing.   
           http://youtu.be/25q9H712Cls

Four girls in their ceremonial dress

During the ceremony the girl will wear the ceremonial dress which is made out of tanned buckskin and decorated with fringes, beads, jingles, and abalone shells. It is made of two parts, the blouse and the skirt. The entire ensemble can be very heavy and highly decorated. "The ceremonial dress is worn for the four days of the celebration and four additional days after." (Apache Scout) 

On the morning of the ceremony the big teepee in which the ceremony is held is erected by the male relatives of the girl. The teepee is erected facing east towards the east mountain. 


When all the preparations are finished the girl is led to the front of the teepee and stands facing east and the Sunrise dance or yellow pollen ceremony takes place.. At first she dances by herself standing up. Then she kneels down on buckskins and blankets and dances while kneeling.
http://youtu.be/CIr5HAFG9no
http://youtu.be/GRWEMFf6YYw

After she dances the medicine man dusts pollen on her head to symbolize fertility. She is then laid down on the blankets and massaged from foot to head and right to left by her godmother. Then she will get up and run around a basket placed at a short distance away, and she must do this four times. 
For three nights she will dance on and off until midnight inside the ceremonial teepee and on the fourth night she must dance until morning when the teepee is dismantled.

At night during this time there is another dance that takes place, called the "Dance of the Mountain Gods." It has become almost inseparably intertwined with the coming of age ceremony, although it was originally it was a completely different ceremony. 

The star on their chests are the sign for the Mescalero Apache dancers.

There are several different groups of crown dancers (Gahn) and they are differentiated by the symbols on their chests as well as their crowns. Each group has four crown dancers who represent the four directions and at least one "clown."  

• Mescalero Apache Tribal Government. The Apache Scout. Ceremonial Issue, July 1962. Mescalero, New Mexico.
• Piacente, Maria. "The Sunrise Dance," The Children of Changing Woman. http://peabody2.ad.fas.harvard.edu/maria/intro2.html

People of the Mescalero-

Kathleen Kanseah Interview:

The first interview I will discuss is the interview of a Mescalero woman named Kathleen Kanseah. Kathleen is an eighty-one year old woman who grew up living on the reservation. She told stories of her and her parents living in tents, not tipis, and how they cooked in an arbor. She had a 29-year career as a nurse and didn’t attend nursing school. She learned of all of the nursing techniques from her grandmother who used only natural medicines. She went into detail about how the native hospitals had a rough time surviving because they didn’t and still don't have much support from the government to hire educated doctors who knew how to perform actual surgeries.

            To relate this talk of medicine to religion, Kathleen says that children these days are losing the ways of natural medicine. She states, “With the younger generations, the prayers, the healing, the medicine is lost. You can tell they don't understand. So then the medicine man tells them in English but it doesn’t come out the same.” The fact of losing tradition and the understanding of the apache language is one of Kathleen’s biggest fears. She then tells the interviewer that saying apache prayers in English does not amount to the same intensity as in the foreign language. She says that during the puberty ceremony “the girls are dancing but they don't know what they are dancing about. It’s sad.” The barrier between the older generations and the younger generations are growing lager and larger throughout time. This proves a good point of why the younger Mescalero generations need to be taught the language or at least be familiar with the customs and traditions.

            Kathleen thinks that eventually most of the religious ceremonies in the Mescalero apache tradition will eventually be lost because of the language barrier. Most of the other people in the other interviews agree with her and are also scared for their culture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu0SJ9DxMD

The link above is an actual video of Kathleen enjoying herself at a Mescalero ceremony. Great to put a face with the name!

Drumbeats from Mescalero: Conversations with Apache Elders, Warriors and Horseholders by H. Henrietta Stockel and Marian D. Kelley.

Mescalero Apache Religious Beliefs

White Painted Woman Physical

In the traditional belief, the Creator is neither male or female. Creator is beyond human comprehension but is manifested in natural phenomena.The Creator is said to have made the world in four days. Portions of the Creator may be seen in the natural universe (thunder, wind, and so on), and the physical representation is said to be the sun. In addition, there are two Culture heroes, the Twin War Gods, Born for Water and Killer of Enemies, as well as a heroine, White Painted Woman. Power suffuses the universe and can be employed for good or ill (Nde).

White Painted Woman

Singers are the traditional practitioners and are so named for they sing ceremonies, complex recitations, and rituals. There are also medicine people, skilled in herbal and psychological healing.


The world of humans is the world of illusion and shadow; reality resides in the other world of Power and Creator. Upon death a soul remains close to home for four days; if a proper funeral and burial is held, the soul is freed to make its way to the Land of Ever Summer, as some call it. There is disagreement about whether reincarnation is possible, although most traditional people believe it is (Nde).

•  http://www.flickr.com/groups/nativeamerican_arts/pool/page6/?view=lg
•  http://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/tag/changing-woman/
• "N'de, Dine, Tinde, Inde or "The People" Apache Religion and Cereomonies. 1999-2008

The Mescalero Apache Indians have thrived in the Southwest area. Their tribe was orginally nomadic and they travelled throughout most of the southwest and into northern Mexico.They have lived in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona for many centuries. However, now their tribe is based on the Mescalero Reservation in New Mexico near the Tularosa Basin. The Reservation is in a very mountainous region of south central New Mexico, east of White Sands National Monument and west of Roswell, NM (the place of the aliens). It's highest point is the Sierra Blanca or White Mountain that reaches 12,003 ft above sea level and the lowest is Three Rivers which is 5,450 ft above sea level.   



Map of the Mescalero Apache Reservation and surrounding areas. 
http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues02/Co08242002/CO_08242002_Apache_School.htm

The Mescalero Reservation was established on May 27, 1873 by President Ulysses S. Grant through an executive order. The Lipan and Chiricahua Apaches joined the Mescalero Apaches later on. They became members of the Mescalero Tribe in 1936 when the Tribe was formally organized by the Indian Reorganization Act.   



My grandfather knew him and they were both
preachers in the same denomination.

Mescalero girl sitting next to a burden basket.
http://2011.sbrening.com/proddetail.php?prod=kaylanasburdenbasket

Wendell Chino became the first Mescalero Apache Tribal president in 1965 after they changed their constitution. He helped establish the Inn of the Mountain Gods and Ski Apache, which became very important for the economy of the reservation. Both ventures helped to boost the economy and increase tourism in the area. Chino was also willing to work in order to help his people. He died in 1998 of a heart attack. 

• Mescalero Apache Tribal Government. "General Information."Mescalero Apache Reservation