The Fort Sill Apache Reservation in southern New Mexico. Photo from Facebook
The Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma continues its quest to open a casino on ancestral land in New Mexico. The Bureau of Indian Affairs placed the tribe's reservation in the southern part of the state in trust in 2002. But, after a lengthy delay, the National Indian Gaming Commission issued a determination in May saying that the land can't be used for a casino. The tribe is now seeking to overturn the ruling in federal court. Chairman Jeff Haozous said the tribe has a right to a casino on the land. "It's the latest of a long string of broken promises by the U.S. since its agreement with Geronimo in 1886 to return our people to their homeland after two years of imprisonment," Haozous said in a press release. Generally, land placed in trust after 1988 can't be used for casinos. The tribe argues that it is entitled to an exception in Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and that the federal government agreed to consider the tribe's exception. "We are asking the court to compel the defendants to uphold this latest agreement that was made with us so that at long last our people can return to their rightful home," Haozous said. NIGC Indian Land Determinations:
May 5, 2015 | May 19, 2008 | April 30, 2009
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