Arizona Apache Police, Whiteriver Arizona (Navajo County)

There are many different nations of Apache people.
We are Western Apache, 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. They
traveled widely, trading and raiding throughout the
region and deep into Mexico. When the United States
took control of New Mexico during the Mexican-American
War, some of our leaders went to Santa Fe to meet with
those authorities. By the time the U.S. Army came to
our lands, our people knew much more about them than
they did about us.