What Kind of Food Did the Lipan Apaches Eat?

The Lipan Apaches were hunter gatherers. They hunted buffalo primarily, but also hunted antelope, deer, beavers, bighorns, black bears, burros, ducks, elk, fish, horses, mountain lions, mourning doves, mules, prairie dogs, pronghorns, quail, rabbits, squirrels, wild turkeys, turtles and wood rats. The women would gather food, like berries, pecans, walnuts, seeds, agave, prickly pear cacti, wild cherries, wild grapes, wild onions, wild plums, and wild potatoes.

The Lipan Apaches were a relatively small group of Apaches who lived in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and northern Mexico. Because they were buffalo hunters and they migrated away from hostile peoples, they never became farmers like the Pueblos. Besides eating plants, they also used many plants for medicinal purposes.

Typical Lipan Apache Diet

The typical Lipan Apache diet was 35–40 percent meat and 60–65 percent plant foods. However, some animals were considered taboo and were not hunted. Some Apache tribes did not eat the black bear, because they considered it an evil animal; however, the Lipan Apaches did not have the same belief and did eat black bear.

Family Organization for Procuring Food to Eat

In Lipan families the men were the hunters and the women were the gatherers.  Even so, sometimes the men would help out, especially with the agave, or century plants. Extended families were the norm in Lipan Apache life. When two people married, the man came to live with the woman’s family and had to hunt with his in-laws.

For protection and social reasons, many times several extended families grouped together. They would make a band and choose a band leader. Other than these bands, there was no formal organization between the Lipan Apaches. This could mean one band could have peaceful relations with the Spanish or Americans, and another band might be at war.

This could be very confusing for other people in the area. A band at peace with other groups could trade meat, food, salt, honey, skins, or other things and, through trade, could have other kinds of food to eat. Trade helped them survive and added variety to their diet. 

History of the Lipan Apaches

In the 1600s, the Spanish would enslave any Apaches they came across, so the Apaches would steal horses. The Lipan Apaches learned how to ride horses and that made them better buffalo hunters. After all, you can travel a lot faster by horseback. Soon the Lipan Apaches found themselves forced out by the Comanche in the north, American settlers from the north and east, and the Mexican-Spaniards in the south.

The Lipan Apache people were also very adaptable, living in many different environments. Sometimes they lived in an area with little vegetation or water.  During this time, there were two main groups:

• One group went south and west into Northern Mexico and west of the Pecos River in Texas.
• The other group traveled east to the Texas Gulf coast.

After Texas became a state, it entered into a treaty with the Lipan Apaches in 1838. It did not last, and more than half of the Lipan Apaches moved to Mexico and joined with the Mescalero tribes in their raids along the border. In 1873, the Mexicans killed or captured all the Lipan Apaches and took them to the Mescalero Reservation in New Mexico.

In conclusion, the kind of food eaten by the Lipan Apaches is buffalo, deer, and small game; berries, honey, leafy green plants, seeds, agave, nuts, cacti, and whatever wild fruits and vegetables were available.