Leader of White Mountain Apache Tribe warns of financial crisis


A view of Cibuque, a community on the Fort Apache Reservation in Arizona. Photo by Phillip Capper / Flickr

The White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona is in "critical condition" and won't be able to pay all of its bills, according to Chairman Ronnie Lupe.

Lupe made the claim in a recent column in The Fort Apache Scout, the tribe's newspaper. He said employees are facing layoffs and pay cuts even as council members refuse to pare back their own spending.

"The tribal business office has indicated we cannot pay off all existing bills today," Lupe wrote, The White Mountain Independent reported. "That means we are still in a critical condition. The tribe should behave like we are in critical condition.”

The paper asked Lupe for more information about the situation but did not receive a response.

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Lupe: Tribe in ‘critical condition’ (The White Mountain Independent 9/8)

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