Old New Mexico Tales

Mescalero Apaches

The Mescalero are a fierce and capable tribal society based in the Sacramento Mountains stretching well back in time before the Fall. They claim to have fought the Americans, conquistadors and turned away the devil himself in the end time and very few are brave enough to go argue with them. They lived in the Sacramento Mountains for many decades before the Apocalypse with many adopting new beliefs like Christianity. When the atomic bombs bloomed and the black rain fell, the lands was poisoned but the Mescalero persevered. With time the mountains recovered and the tribe grew again. They found the world was not the same though, the older ceremonies seemed re-invigorated and possessed power. Shamans grew in respect and stature and the old ways flourished. The Mescalero lived in peace and harmony for many a year. Then new outsiders came and brought with them disease, war and terror. Mutants from the east with curses and strange powers came in to prey on the tribe. Then brigands and bandits came to steal and murder. The tribe took up arms and learned the ways of war again and they did so very well. Soon the trespassers learned to fear the Mescalero Apache as their great forefathers had so so many years ago .

Within the Tribe

There are four sub- groups within the Mescaleros that each have their own slightly varying beliefs and traditions. The largest is the Shisinday, the People of the Mountain Forests, who are the original Mescalero inhabitants that welcomed in the other three groups to join them. They include the Mimbreno, the Red Paint People, and the Chiricahua, The People Men, who came from the west many years ago. The last group is the Lipan, the Buffalo Hunters, who came from the east in the lands that are now Texas. After the atomic bombs fell and the rain turned black some non-Apache survivors entered the mountains as refugees and many were absorbed in to the tribe with their descendants fully assimilated since.

Spiritual Beliefs

The Mescalero believe that a Creator, that is beyond human comprehension, made the world in four days and that he is manifested in natural phenomena. The Creator may be seen in the natural universe, such as thunder, wind, and so on, and that the physical representation is said to be the sun. There are two Cultural heroes, the Twin War Gods, Born for Water and Killer of Enemies, as well as a heroine, White Painted Woman.

Power suffuses the universe and can be employed for good or ill. The world of humans is the world of illusion and shadow; reality resides in the other world of Power and Creator. Upon death a soul remains close to home for four days; if a proper funeral and burial is held, the soul is freed to make its way to the Land of Ever Summer. If not the soul will be reborn. The Mountain Spirit is the symbol of the Mescalero Tribe that brings protectorship, security and confidence. His grand temple is on the shores of Lake Mescalero and is the spiritual home of the tribe.

Peyote is a small spineless cactus that is well known for having psychoactive properties but is also prized for its curative role by the Mescaleros. It is used for pain in childbirth, fever, breast pain, skin diseases, rheumatism, diabetes, colds, and blindness and even toothache. It is also used as a mystical, or hallucinogenic, part of religious ceremonies. It is used for communicating with spirits, as part of prayer ceremonies and to see the future.