Apache Muslims aka
Baqirut (Etymology: an Arabic pronunciation of the American English "buckaroo" (which itself is derived from the Spanish vaquero, and therefore from the Arabic baqr))
Location: Ottoman Syria & Iraq
Ancestry: Apache, with some intermarriage with regional Bedouin, Kurdish, Armenian, and Circassian tribes
Language: Apache, Arabic, Navajo, Comanche, Ottoman Turkish
Religion: Sunni Islam. While there are Native Americans in the region who practice other religions (including American Protestantism, Mexican Catholicism, the Peyote Religion, the Sun Dance, and traditional Navajo & Apache religions), they are very much not considered "Baqirut." The Baqirut are specifically the Native Americans who participate in Bedouin/other regional tribal society, and that means Islam is a prerequisite. How seriously they take Islamic orthodoxy varies between the tribes, but generally, Islam serves as the basis for Baqirut society, legitimises the Levant as their new homeland, and provides the basis for a strong identity and ideology.
Description: The
US Camel Corps was a brief attempt at establishing a network of camel posts across the Southwest, from Texas to California. The experiment proved that camels were the superior pack animals in the desert -- able to carry heavier weight for much longer than horses and mules, as well as endure rocky terrain and go longer without food or water -- but ultimately, the Camel Corps was ended by the American Civil War and the completion of the Transcontinental Railway. Still, it was active and successful for about 10 years (1856-1866), and received a lot of regional publicity.
The most famous member of the USCC was
"Hi Jolly" (real name "Hajji Ali" al-Hajayah) -- a camelier from Ottoman Syria, renowned for his showmanship as much as his skill with animals. In order to promote camels to the American public, he would go from town to town, challenging local cowboys and horsemen to competitions of all sorts. His camels were undefeated by horses in tests of strength, endurance, and speed in the desert, and he became a celebrity across the American West (like if PT Barnum actually cared about his animals, and wanted his audience to care about them too).
Now, IOTL, Hi Jolly settled down in the Arizona Territory, and continued working with camels after the Camel Corps was officially disbanded. Most of his camels had been seized by the CSA during the Civil War, and they had been horribly maltreated; the rest had been sold off to travelling circuses and private menageries. Hi Jolly tried to buy back as many camels as he could; and to do so, he started a travelling show of his own (one which would treat the animals ethically). In this timeline, though, Hi Jolly finds another patron instead of the US government.
The
Apache Wars were fierce, bloody, generations-long conflicts which raged for decades across the Southwest. The Apache -- having overcome generations of bloody incursion by the Spanish, the Mexicans, and the Republic of Texas -- faced their most recent invaders with a proud warrior tradition on their side. The Americans had technology and numbers, but the Apache had defeated better-armed & larger forces before through tenacity, manoeuverability, and above all else adaptability. As such, the Apache were renowned for their cavalry-- although horses were not native to Apacheria, its fate was defined by the legendary Apache "war ponies." Seen as more than a mere animal, the "war pony" was considered a spiritual extension of the warrior himself-- an essential partner in his duties, without which he would be a lesser warrior.
So in this timeline, when Hi Jolly challenged Geronimo's finest braves to contests of horsemanship vs camelry, it bordered on blasphemy. Still, dozens of Apache riders -- eager to prove themselves where the White Man had failed -- took this strange foreigner up on his challenge. Not a single one came close to beating his camels, or his skills as a camelier. Although this sparked a minor religious crisis, Geronimo was impressed -- and Hi Jolly's own religion filled the void. Instead of converting to Christianity, Geronimo embraces Islam -- it was better-suited his anti-American holy war; it dovetailed nicely with the Temperance Movement, popular among many Native and White Americans; it recognised polygamy; and it had a global presence among the victims of colonialism (including the
Moro people of the Philippines, who were
also fighting the US as part of the
Philippine-American War).
Sadly, the Apache Jihad didn't end in victory. Though the introduction of camels and the support of foreign Muslims (incl. the Ottoman, Afghan, and Moroccan governments) helped a great deal, the Geronimo Campaign ultimately ended in 1904. President Roosevelt -- an ardent nationalist -- saw the Apaches' decision to "Orientalise" instead of Westernise as profane; as an insult to Manifest Destiny and the entire American project. The Apache wouldn't be given a place on Indian Reservations; they would instead face total extermination.
...or they would have, had it not been for the intervention of Abdülhamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Not long before, the Ottomans would welcome refugees fleeing the
Circassian Genocide – resettling their Circassian co-religionists throughout Anatolia, Iraq, and Syria. Likewise,
Muslims fleeing persecution in the Balkans found refuge throughout Ottoman Asia. The Ottomans would open their doors to the
Muhacir (refugees) from America, resettling the Apache primarily in Syria, Iraq, and Palestine.
In the Ottoman desert, the Apache thrived– permitted to continue their nomadic lifestyle under a government familiar with it, they transitioned from a primarily-hunting-based society to a pastoral/herding one. They found their place within the local aristocracy, intermarrying with various Bedouin tribes and participating in inter-tribal politics.
Culturally, the Apache have changed a great deal, but still remain distinct. They maintain their tradition of animal folktales– often drawing inspiration from traditional
Coyote Tales as well as the Arabic
stories of jackals Kalilah & Dimnah. They also have a proud tradition of animal husbandry– competing with Bedouin tribes in contests of horsemanship and camelry. One sheikh of the Banu 'Anizah tribe said that the Apache were “the only foreigners worthy of the Arabian horse and Arabian camel.” Think of the Apache as, like, the Circassian diaspora in the Levant.
