Mescalero Apache Exhibit Opens at Las Cruces Cultural Center Through June
A Mescalero Apache culture exhibit opened Saturday at Las Cruces' Branigan Cultural Center, the third in a rotating six-tribe series running through spring 2027.
The Mescalero Apache Tribe, whose reservation was established by executive order of President Ulysses S. Grant on May 27, 1873, opened a dedicated exhibit Saturday at the Branigan Cultural Center in Las Cruces, offering a window into a nation whose pre-reservation homeland once spanned south-central New Mexico, the Davis Mountains of Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico.
The display, titled "Land of the People: Ndende bì Ke'ya" (pronounced "Inday Beh Ka Ya" in the Mescalero language), runs through June 27 at 501 N. Main St. An opening reception Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. included performances and vendors from the Mescalero community.
The exhibit is the third rotation within the larger "Land of the People" series, which opened September 6, 2025 and runs through May 31, 2027. The series spotlights six Indigenous groups with deep roots in the Las Cruces, El Paso, and wider Borderland region: the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, the Pueblo of Tortugas, the Mescalero Apache Tribe, the Piro-Manso-Tiwa Indian Tribe, the Chiricahua Apache Nation, and the Chihene Nde Nation of New Mexico (Gila Apache). Each group receives a 12-week gallery rotation to present its own history, traditions, and perspectives.
Analisa Torres, Exhibits Curator with Las Cruces Museums, described the tribe's presence in the state: "the Mescalero Apache Tribe is up in the northeast, close to Ruidoso, and they are a federally recognized tribe. And they do have a large reservation with over 5,000 tribal members."
The tribe comprises three sub-bands: the Mescalero Apache, the Chiricahua Apache, and the Lipan Apache. Before the reservation era, the tribe's members were nomadic hunters and gatherers, skilled horsemen who ranged widely across the Southwest and into northern Mexico.
Saturday's opening followed "Tierra Sagrada," the Pueblo of Tortugas installment that ran December 20, 2025 through March 14, 2026. The Piro-Manso-Tiwa Indian Tribe is scheduled to take the gallery July 18 through October 10, 2026, with additional rotations carrying the series through May 2027.
The Branigan Cultural Center is listed on both the National and State Registries of Historic Buildings.
Sources:
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
