Yavapai-Apache Nation
History of the Yavapai-Apache Nation |
The modern Yavapai-Apache Nation is the combination of two distinct tribal people. The Yavapai and Apache refer to themselves as the Wipuhk’a’bah and Dil’zhe’e. Both of our ancestral tribes lived in the Verde Valley and the surrounding country for centuries. The Dil’zhe’e lived mostly east, and the Yavapai west of the Verde River.
In 1863 gold was discovered in Prescott right in the middle of the old Yavapai homelands. This discovery marked the beginning of the end for traditional Yavapai culture in the region. Within two years of the gold being discovered, Yavapai people were being hunted down like animals in their own country.
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History is more complex than describing wars, but from 1863 through 1873 Yavapai and Apache ancestors were subjected to the constant and brutal wars of conquest conducted by the American government across the traditional Dil’zhe’e and Yava’be Homelands.
In 1871, President Grant issued an Executive Order establishing 900 square miles as the Camp Verde Reserve for the Apaches who came in East of the Verde River and any other tribal people who surrendered locally. In 1873, Yavapai’s who were confined at Camp Date Creek were transferred onto the Reserve.
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The People were forced to march, under considerable duress, through the winter-flooded rivers, mountainous terrain, and harsh weather under the direction of Indian Commissioner L.E. Dudley and U.S. Army troops. Rather than use the wagon roads that could be used to carry supplies and transport the sick and the elderly, Dudley made the people, young and old, walk through the mountain passes and narrow canyon trails to get to San Carlos.
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Yavapai-Apache Nation Exodus & Removal
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The 1875 Removal & 1900 Return of the Yavapai-Apache People:
On February 27, 1875, the United States Army, acting on an Executive Order from the President, transferred an estimated 1,500 Yavapai and Dilzhe’e Apache from the Rio Verde Indian Reserve 180 miles away to the Indian Agency at San Carlos. The forced removal of the indigenous people of the Verde Valley resulted in several hundred lives lost and the loss of several thousand acres of treaty lands promised to the Yavapai-Apache by the United States government.
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The March:
The People were forced to march, under considerable duress, through the winter-flooded rivers, mountainous terrain, and harsh weather under the direction of Indian Commissioner L.E. Dudley and U.S. Army troops. Rather than use the wagon roads that could be used to carry supplies and transport the sick and the elderly, Dudley made the people, young and old, walk through the mountain passes and narrow canyon trails get to San Carlos.
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The Return:
The Yavapai and Dilzhe’e Apache remained in internment at San Carlos for 25 years. When finally released, only about 200 actually made it back to their homeland in the Verde Valley. What they found when they returned was that their land was taken over by Anglo settlers and that there was no longer a place reserved for the Yavapai-Apache people in their own homeland.
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Exodus Day:
The Yavapai-Apache people have come a long way since that fateful day in 1875. The entire event, now known as Exodus Day, is reenacted each year by the Yavapai-Apache Nation in the 1875 Removal – 1900 Return commemoration. Last February marked the 129th anniversary of Exodus Day, and the Nation honored it with a weekend full of ceremony, traditional song and dancing, food, and other activities for the family and general public.
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