Last month, the 710-members of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe sued New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez to force the state government to recognize them as a legitimate New Mexico tribe. The lawsuit also accuses Martinez of not following the law by discriminating against the tribe, excluding it from consultations with other tribes and barring it from the state’s annual tribal summit.
However, although the federal government in 2011 designated a 30-acre parcel the tribe bought in Akela Flats as its reservation, state officials said tribe members simply want to participate in New Mexico’s gaming market. Martinez’s spokesman Enrique C. Knell said, “The state believes that its limited resources are best reserved for those tribes that serve a population base here in New Mexico. The federal government does not recognize Fort Sill as a New Mexico tribe, finding that they lack any government structure or population base in New Mexico.”
At issue is the fact that the tribe doesn’t live in New Mexico. More than 100 years ago, their descendants, who fought the U.S. Cavalry, were forced out of that state, held prisoner from 1886 to 1914 and eventually released in Oklahoma. But Tribal Chairman Jeff Haozous said although the tribe does have plans for gaming on their New Mexico site, they “had the desire to return to their homeland ever since they were removed.” Haozous said operating a casino would help fund the tribe’s return to their homeland.
The tribe is awaiting approval from the Interior Department to open a casino on its Akela Flats trust land. If approved, Martinez still would have to allow it, which would be unlikely. The process began in 1996 when then-Governor Gary Johnson invited the tribe to return to Mexico. However, state officials have strongly opposed the tribe’s gaming plans, although the tribe said it fulfills the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act requirements for a casino.
Haozous added, “The governor who opposes us won’t be there forever. Our land will be here forever. We’ll have the desire to return forever. We’ll return even if we have to do it on our own.”
