Settlement Patterns on the Mescalero Apache Reservation since 1883

After a century of federal efforts to alter Mescalero Apache culture, settlement patterns on the reservation continue to display the precontact heritage. Retention of traditional patterns resulted from selective adoption of federal policy, development of a vigorous tribal political structure, and assistance from sympathetic federal Indian agents. Five eras of federal policy since 1883 are the framework to identify and analyze the geographical elements in the settlement patterns. Cultural adaptation and persistence are evident in the contemporary landscape inhabited by the Mescalero Apache.