This tradition gave power to Apache females; as a result, women held a high position in the social hierarchy. This also meant that there were rigid obligations for men. Married couples would move into the house of the wife’s parents and the husband would be bound to the wife’s family.
Men primarily participated in hunting activities, while women processed hides into leather to be used for clothing, bags, and containers. Apache women wove baskets of willow, cottonwood, and sumac that could be used for food storage, eating, and cooking. Nde burden baskets are beautiful, decorated with devil’s claw and yucca, as well as buckskin fringes. They were woven and worn by women.
