Lipan Apache - Settlements and Economy

The Lipan were the most sedentary of the Apachean groups, for they planted crops, especially maize. The Spanish described them as living in rancherías, but also as living off bison. It appears that there were semipermanent dwellings of wickiups near fields during sowing and harvesting, and portable tipi dwellings used when following bison herds. They were probably transhumant, although this is an inference from documentary evidence rather than a generally accepted fact. In addition to reliance upon bison and maize, the Lipan Apache also gathered wild foods, especially varieties of cacti and agave. By the late eighteenth century, after generations of war with the Spanish and after acquiring the horse, the Lipan seem to have forsaken agriculture in favor of raiding; they maintained their bison protein resource, however.