Housing Apache

frame of apache wickiup

all people in apache tribe lived in 1 of 3 types of houses. first of teepee, lived in plains. type of housing wickiup, 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) frame of wood held yucca fibers , covered in brush in apache groups in highlands. if family member lived in wickiup , died, wickiup burned. final housing hogan, earthen structure in desert area cool keeping in hot weather of northern mexico.

below description of chiricahua wickiups recorded anthropologist morris opler:

home in family lives made women , ordinarily circular, dome-shaped brush dwelling, floor @ ground level. 7 feet high @ center , approximately 8 feet in diameter. build it, long fresh poles of oak or willow driven ground or placed in holes made digging stick. these poles, form framework, arranged @ one-foot intervals , bound @ top yucca-leaf strands. on them thatching of bundles of big bluestem grass or bear grass tied, shingle style, yucca strings. smoke hole opens above central fireplace. hide, suspended @ entrance, fixed on cross-beam may swung forward or backward. doorway may face in direction. waterproofing, pieces of hide thrown on outer hatching, , in rainy weather, if fire not needed, smoke hole covered. in warm, dry weather of outer roofing stripped off. takes approximately 3 days erect sturdy dwelling of type. these houses ‘warm , comfortable, though there big snow.’ interior lined brush , grass beds on robes spread...




chiricahua medicine man in wickiup family





woman not makes furnishings of home responsible construction, maintenance, , repair of dwelling , arrangement of in it. provides grass , brush beds , replaces them when become old , dry.... however, formerly ‘they had no permanent homes, didn t bother cleaning.’ dome-shaped dwelling or wickiup, usual home type chiricahua bands, has been described.... said central chiricahua informant.








both teepee , oval-shaped house used when boy. oval hut covered hide , best house. more well-to-do had kind. tepee type made of brush. had place fire in center. thrown together. both types common before time....








house form departs more common dome-shaped variety recorded southern chiricahua well:








...when settled down, used wickiup; when moving around great deal, used other kind...

recent research has documented archaeological remains of chiricahua apache wickiups found on protohistoric , @ historical sites, such canon de los embudos c.s. fly photographed geronimo, people, , dwellings during surrender negotiations in 1886, demonstrating unobtrusive , improvised nature.