Jicarilla Apache Territory, Economy, and Society in 1850

Abstract

By means of published sources and field materials the approximate extent of Jicarilla Apache territory in 1850 is traced and the arrangement of social units within the range is described. The sensitive and responsive relation between forms of land use and the distribution of population is explored. Since so little has appeared concerning Jicarilla Apache agriculture, details of this complex are given special attention. The lack of information concerning Jicarilla agriculture and many misconceptions concerning Jicarilla economic and social life in general are explained by crippling military pressures, in part stimulated by the American westward advance, which disrupted Jicarilla culture even before United States political control was established.