Lipan Apache people
[8][14][15] The name "Lipan" is a Spanish adaption of their self-designation as Łipa-į́ Ndé or Lépai-Ndé ("Light Gray People"), reflecting their migratory story.
[19] The name Apache may be of Zuni origin, coming from the word apachu, which means 'enemy', or perhaps from the Ute, who referred to this group as Awa'tehe.
[23] Linguist Harry Hoijer noted that in 1938, the Lipan people in South Texas spoke a Southern Athapaskan language.
[28][29] Confederated eastern Apache bands had a homeland that spanned from the Southern Great Plains to the Gulf of Mexico, with significant presence in what is now Texas.
[31][32][33] The nomadic Lipan Apache, Jumanos, Tonkawa, and Comanche peoples inhabited the Concho Valley and are believed to have contributed to the drawings found at the pictograph site.
[34][33] Pictographs depicting a structure featuring crosses and a devil may relate to the mission and are believed to have been created by the Lipan.
[40] In the 1860s, Spanish chroniclers wrote that some Lipan Apache lived near the Gulf Coast and adopted lifeways of the neighboring Karankawa.
They still lived in agricultural settlements, where they farmed indigenous crops such as pumpkins, corn, and beans, as well as watermelons,[39] introduced from Africa.
French explorer Bénard de La Harpe encountered the Lipan Apache near present-day Latimer County, Oklahoma, in 1719.
They frequently raided Spanish supply trains traveling from Coahuila to the newly established San Antonio.
The Lipan participated in a Spanish expedition against the Wichita and Comanche in 1759 but were defeated in the Battle of the Twin Villages.
In the same year, Marquis of Rubí started a policy of Lipan extermination after a 1764 smallpox epidemic had decimated the tribe.
[47] To resist their enemies the Comanche and the Mexicans, the Lipan Apache allied with the Republic of Texas in the 1830s.
[12] In 1869, Mexican troops from Monterrey were brought to Zaragosa to eliminate the Lipan Apache, who were blamed for inciting conflict.
[52] In 1879, a group of 17 Lipan settled near Fort Griffin, Texas, but in 1884 they were forcibly removed to Indian Territory, where they joined the Tonkawa.
[53] In October 1903, 19 Lipan Apaches who fled Texas into Coahuila were taken to northwest Chihuahua and kept as prisoners of war until 1905.
[68][69] In 1778, Spanish military commanders meeting in Monclova, Coahuila, estimated the population of Lipan men to be 5,000.
[90] Also, member organizations are required to select a delegate who will represent their interests at NCAI's Annual Convention, Executive Council Winter Session, and Mid-Year Conference.
