The San Carlos
Apache Nation
The largest of the Apache reservations, covering just under 1,900,000 acres
is the San Carlos reservation lying east of Phoenix, AZ
(NAA, 36-43). It is home to over 7,100 (AID, 41) Apaches from various old
bands, making it the seventh largest reservation in the United States based
upon population estimates from the 1990 census.
It was to the San Carlos Reservation that the great chief Cochise was taken,
along with his followers, after his surrender in 1873 (GAI, 122-123). It was
from here that Geronimo led his followers when they broke for freedom from the
oppression of the U. S.
military.
The Apache bands found on the reservation include the Aravaipa, Chiricahua,
Coyotero, Mimbreno, Mogollon, Pinaleno, San
Carlos, and Tonto (Ibid, 123). Their reservation was
created in 1871 and reduced five separate times to accommodate white miners
seeking copper and silver, and Mormons whose need for water led to the
reduction around the Gila
Valley.
Today the San Carlos reservation blends
tradition, industry and tourism in a battle to overcome severe unemployment
amongst its population that includes a small number of Yuma and Mohave Indians as well as the
predominant Apache people ("San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation Community
Profile", Arizona Dept. of Commerce, undated pamphlet). The Apache
traditional craft of basket weaving is the main product manufactured for
tourist consumption. It is still a craft passed down from mother to daughter
keeping the centuries old art alive. For industry, cattle ranching and the mining
of Peridot, a semiprecious stone found only in the Red Sea, the shores of
Myanmar (Burma) and Arizona, are the main sources of employment ("Discover
San Carlos Apache Reservation", San Carlos Apache Indian Tribe, brochure,
undated).
Tourism is an ever increasing major source of jobs and revenue. The
reservation abuts the Tonto
National Forest and its
land is equally as beautiful. Eastern Arizona
is filled with Pine forest and lakes, both natural and manmade, making it a
great locale for hunting, fishing and camping. As with many other tribes across
the United States,
the San Carlos Apache place their tribal seal upon a white background to create
a tribal flag (sample seal provided by the San Carlos Apache Indian Tribe). The
seal celebrates the natural beauty of the lands of the San Carlos Apache and
the major sources of economic life for its residents. Central to the seal is a
geographic tableau of the reservation showing the mountains, one of the many
lakes and two prime elements of the flora of the reservation - the Pinon Pine
and the Saguaro cactus. All these elements are depicted in natural colors.
Below this scene is the head of a Hereford
steer signifying the importance of cattle ranching upon the life of the Apache
people. The steer's head has symbols of the mining industry, such as a pick and
shovel to one side and Peridot ore to the other. The date of the adoption of
both the seal and the flag are unknown to the author, but the present tribal
government was created as a result of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
Although the flag is predominently a white field, a thin red line delineates
the current shape of the reservation. The seal is centered within these
boundaries. Around the four edges of the flag are different colored stripes.
Across the top is white, along the hoist edge is yellow, the fly end appears in
black while the bottom is a very dark green. The four stripe are separated from
the white field by a very narrow red line known in vexillology as a
fimbriation. They are,
according to Paul Machula, the sacred
colors representing the sacred directions used by the San Carlos people: East is black, South
is blue or dark green (same term in Apache), West is yellow, and North is
white. The blue/green swapability is
common in several tribes, the blue
or green color is often translated as “earth color” or “nature
color”. Since these two are
indistinguishable, a San Carlos Apache flag with a bottom stripe of blue would
not be a different flagf from the one shown above.
Go on to the Santa Clara Pueblo's flag
Don Healy (Donh523@aol.com) 523
Centre St. Trenton, NJ 08611