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Spanish Peaks, Colorado


The Jicarillas were one of six southern Athabaskan groups which migrated out of Canada sometime between A.D 1300 and 1500. Their traditional American Southwest homeland covered more than 50 million acres spreading across the central and eastern region of Northern New Mexico and adjoining portions of Southern Colorado and Western Oklahoma.

 The geography of this region is compromised of two fundamental environments which helped shape the basic social organization of the Jicarillas into two bands: the Llaneros (Plains People) and the Olleros (Mountain-Valley People). The name "Jicarilla" (pronounced hek-a-REh-ya) comes from a Spanish word generally defined as a "Little Basket Maker," referring to a small gourd or basket.