Chiricahua

Chiricahua
Nde

Location of Apache tribes in the late 18th century (Ch – Chiricahua, WA – Western Apache, M – Mescalero, J – Jicarilla, L – Lipan, Pl – Plains Apache, N – Navajo, a separate people speaking a related language)
Total population
4,079[1]
Regions with significant populations
United States, ( Oklahoma,  New Mexico)
Fort Sill	1,662
New Mexico	149
Mexico ( Sonora,  Chihuahua,  Coahuila)
Languages
Chiricahua Apache language, English, Spanish
Religion
Christianity, Native American Church, traditional tribal religion
Related ethnic groups
Plains Apache, Jicarilla Apache, Lipan Apache, Mescalero Apache, Western Apache, Navajo

Chiricahua (/ˌtʃɪrɪˈkɑːwə/ CHIRR-i-KAH-wə) is a band of Apache Native Americans.

Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehende (Mescalero), Lipan, Salinero, Plains, and Western Apache. Chiricahua historically shared a common area, language, customs, and intertwined family relations with their fellow Apaches. At the time of European contact, they had a territory of 15 million acres (61,000 km²) in Southwestern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona in the United States and in Northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico.

Today Chiricahua live in Northern Mexico and in the United States where they are enrolled in three federally recognized tribes: the Fort Sill Apache Tribe, located near Apache, Oklahoma, with a small reservation outside Deming, New Mexico;^[2] the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation near Ruidoso, New Mexico; and the San Carlos Apache Tribe in southeastern Arizona.