![Tonto Tonto](https://www.tekportal.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/tonto.jpg)
former term for the Western Apaches, from Spanish, literally “foolish;” probably a translation of a name given to the people by other branches of the Apache, e.g. Chiricahua Apache /bini:’édiné/, Mescalero Apache /bini:’édinendé/, both literally “people without minds,” and used to designate the Western Apaches. Spanish tonto is said to be originally a nursery word, used for its sound.