I have both documentary evidence and native testimony that the Warm
Springs band of Apaches, or Gila Apaches, whom anthropologists mistakenly
assume (after Morris E. Opler) were the "Eastern Chiricahua" Apache band,
cleared two to three acre plots by girdling trees or pulling up cacti, saltbush
and other vegetation near a spring, stream, or river. The dry vegetation was
then burned, and the ash-coated soil was turned with digging sticks or metal-
bladed hoes obtained by trade with Spaniards, Mexicans, or Americans (Anglos).
A dam was built in the course of a stream, and an irrigation ditch was dug to
the field. The plots were wetted before planting the maize (Indian corn),
pumpkins, beans, watermelons and canteloupe, and once or twice more before the
harvest. Each time the plots were wetted, the irrigation ditch was blocked
afterwards with rocks and dirt or sand. Planting began in May before the
extended families left to gather mescal. Those who farmed returned to the plots
periodically to weed them, irrigate again, and erect fences of cacti to keep
out deer and other foragers. The harvest was in late September or early October.
The maize not eaten immediately was dried and stored in caves, sealed with rocks
and mud.
My informants could recall at least three varieties of maize. Apache
mythology and linguistic evidence indicate that these Apaches acquired
agriculture from the Acoma and/or Jemez Pueblo rather than the Spaniards or
Mexicans.
Grosvenor Pollard
via Elizabeth Pollard
Bitnet: uahebp01@uahvax1 Internet: uahebp01@asnuah.asn.net