Explore the annual subsistence cycle of the Western Apache. In the 1860s, the Apaches' annual subsitence cycle include gathering, hunting, farming, and raiding according to the season and their needs. Click on the yellow stars throughout the calendar wheel to see images and videos.

"At this time (the corn) was beginning to form ears, and when it reached this stage, our people used to go off south of Black River to gather acorns, and the corn was left to mature by itself." -John Rope

This video is featured in another activity in this kit.

"There used to be lots of deer in our country, and we ate the meat of them when we could get it." -Joseph Hoffman

"First of all we planted some wheat, and when this was ripe we put in corn." -Joseph Hoffman

The Apache grew many crops including corn, beans, and squash.

The two most common species of deer in Arizona are the White Tailed Deer and the Mule Deer

"Ten point mule deer buck" by woodleywonderworks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

The pronghorn is a species of antelope indigenous to interior western and central North America.

"Pronghorn buck" by YellowstoneNPS is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

"Wild Turkey" by davejdoe is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

"Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park" by AER Wilmington DE is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

"Desert Bighorn Sheep" by Lake Mead National Recreation Area is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

"Sunflower seeds" by www.tOrange.biz is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

"Acorn" by randihausken is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

"Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit" by desertdutchman is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

In the midsummer months the Apache would hunt various types of small game.

"Arizona grey Squirrel, Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ" by moffatt421 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Also called "mezcal," the word comes from Nahuatl 

which means "oven-cooked agave." (from Wikipedia)

"Mezcal and Tequilla Agave" by GorissM is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

"Door Trail PA110398 Cotton Tail Rabbit" by Chris Light is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

"Jack rabbit Arches Natl Park Moab, Utah" by dfbphotos is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Raiding is a tradition from the past that is no longer practiced by the Apache. Today, raiding has been replaced with Cattle Ranching.

"As soon as we had all the crops harvested in the fall, our people went over to the other side of where Miami is now. We went there so that we could get some mescal, and also because it was easy to start out from here to go to Mexico on raids." -Joseph Hoffman

Standards for Calendar Wheel

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework