The Superstition Mountain Historical Society was awarded an Arizona Humanities grant in September, 2021 to build a public outdoor exhibit of an authentic Apache Wickiup (Apache Home) Village.

Apache Wickiup photo by Edward Curtis, 1903.

The village exhibit will include two wickiups, a cooking area and hide drying rack. Educational text will introduce visitors to the Apache culture with an emphasis on the Apache home and family.

The Apache People consider this region’s mountains sacred and the Superstition Mountains are one of four mountains which mark their ancestral territory. This display experience is intended to help enlighten the community about their rich culture.

Given the temporary nature of the original structures, most evidence of past village sites exist only as round clearings. But there is ample photographic records provided by photographers in the 1880s through 1910s.

Superstition Mountain Historical Society Board member Ken Duncan, an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, blessed the land before it was prepared for construction.

Superstition Mountain Historical Society Board member Ken Duncan, an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe is serving as curatorial consultant and humanities scholar on this project. In October, 2021, the land was blessed and then graded; circular wickiup locations have been staked out. Because of restrictions put in place on San Carlos Reservation by the pandemic, there was a delay harvesting the natural materials needed to construct the exhibit.

The Museum plans a soft opening and dedication of the exhibit on November 19 ay 10 a.m. The exhibit was made possible by a grant from Arizona Humanities, in November, 2022.