Chiricahua Tribe Celebrates Homecoming

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7uMREWGUr-M

One year after gaining reservation status in New Mexico, the Chiricahua/Warm Springs Tribe celebrated and discussed future plans of a casino.

Just off Interstate 10 going west toward Deming, the yellow sign tells those who pass by who owns this land.  

The Chiricahua /Warm Springs Tribe now owns 30 of these acres. The tribe is also known as the Fort Sill Apache tribe which is in another part of the country. 

Most of the tribe members live out in OK, but leaders tell me this is their home. 

If you listen closely, you might even be able to hear songs that have been sung for generations.

Around 30 acres gained reservation status by federal order in 2011.

Jeff Haozous says getting the tribe back to New Mexico has been a long time coming. 

“First when Geronimo surrendered…so it’s a very good feeling.”

Getting people to come from Oklahoma is his next challenge. 

“I have the belief that we will return…sometime in the next few years”

And one answer to that challenge is a new casino on the property….it would give residents jobs in an area where few exist.

Gov. Susana Martinez says she opposes it, but Haozous says he is still proceeding with plans to build it without her.

One leader in nearby Las Cruces, Greg Smith a councilor says he just has to look at history to see why this reservation is important.

“All of those things resonate for me. And when we look at the map of Las Cruces, where the airport is, where the west mesa Industrial Complex is, those are areas where it would have been considered Chiricaua land so I do think we have an important role to play in recognizing this group’s return  here and trying to address things that happened in the past. WE can’t change what happened in the past, but we can make sure we address it in an appropriate way at this time,” said Greg Smith, councilman from District 2 in Las Cruces.

There isn’t much out here where the wind never stops blowing, but Bob Hazous, an artist and tribal member, says land has a spiritual connection for him just like it has for other Native Americans.

“The Apaches used to believe that this is the happy place, it’s a place like this. That’s what I believe.”