White Mountain Apache Tribe

We were placed here in the White Mountains by our Creator at the beginning. In this land our ancestors learned to be Ndee—The People—and we have learned from them.

There are many different nations of Apache people. We are Western Apaches, closely related to the people of San Carlos, Payson, and Camp Verde. Though there are differences in language, history, and culture, we are also related to the other.

Apache nations: the Chiricahua, Mescalero, Jicarrilla, Lipan, and Kiowa-Apache peoples.

When Europeans began to visit our lands, our people lived in family groups and bands, with homes and farms along all of the major watercourses: the East Fork and North Fork of the White River, on Cedar Creek, Carrizo Creek, Cibecue Creek, Oak Creek, and others. They farmed, growing corn, sunflowers, beans, squash, and other foods. They hunted deer and other game and collected abundant wild plant foods.