Jicarilla Apache refers to an Apache people currently living in New Mexico and to the Southern Athabaskan language they speak. The term jicarilla comes from Mexican Spanish meaning 'little basket'.

Culture

Language

Sounds

Consonants

Jicarilla has 34 consonants:

• What has developed into /d/ in Jicarilla corresponds to /n/ and /ⁿd/ in other Southern Athabaskan languages (e.g. Navajo and Chiricahua).

Vowels

Jicarilla has 16 vowels:

All vowels may be

• oral or nasal
• short or long

Among the oral vowels, the long high vowel (i.e., /iː/), the short mid vowel (i.e. /ʊ/), and the short low vowel (i.e., /ə/) are slightly raised compared to their respective counterparts.

Tone

Jicarilla has three different tones:

• high
• low
• falling

Links

• Jicarilla Apache Nation website
• Jicarilla Apache Tribe
• Jicarilla Apache: Tinde
• Myths of the Jicarilla Apache
• The Jicarilla Genesis
• An Apache Medicine Dance
• Jicarilla Texts (Internet Sacred Text Archive)

Bibliography

• Goddard, Pliny E. (1911). Jicarilla Apache texts. Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History (Vol. 8). New York: The American Museum of Natural History.
• Lachler, Jordan. (1998). Abáchi mizaa iłkee’ siijai: Jicarilla dictionary. Jicarilla Cultural Preservation Program; Department of Linguistics, University of New Mexico.
• Opler, Morris. (1941). A Jicarilla expedition and scalp dance. (Narrated by Alasco Tisnado).
• Opler, Morris. (1942). Myths and tales of the Jicarilla Apache Indians.
• Opler, Morris. (1947). Mythology and folk belief in the maintenance of Jicarilla Apache tribal endogamy.
• Phone, Wilma; & Torivio, Patricia. (1981). Jicarilla mizaa medaóołkai dáłáéé. Albuquerque: Native American Materials Development Center.
• Tuttle, Siri G.; & Sandoval, Merton. (2002). Jicarilla Apache. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 32, 105-112.
• Wilson, Alan, & Vigil Martine, Rita. (1996). Apache (Jicarilla). Guilford, CT: Audio-Forum. ISBN 0-8843-2903-8. (Includes book and cassette recording).