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).