| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 650[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States, Oklahoma | |
| Languages | |
| English Language,Apache language | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity,Native American Church, traditional tribal religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherApache people (Plains Apache,Jicarilla Apache,Lipan Apache,Mescalero Apache, andWestern Apache) andNavajo |
TheFort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma is thefederally recognized Native American tribe ofChiricahua Warm Springs Apache inOklahoma.
The Fort Sill Apache Tribe is headquartered inApache, Oklahoma. Tribal enrollment, which requires a1⁄16 minimumblood quantum (equivalent to one great-great-grandparent), stands at 650.[1] The tribe continues to maintain close connections to theChiricahuaApache who were moved to theMescalero Apache Reservation in the late 19th century.[2]
As of 2025, the current administration is:[3]
The tribal jurisdictional area, as opposed to a reservation, spansCaddo,Comanche, andGrady Counties in Oklahoma.[1] A private landholder returned four acres of sacred land inCochise County,Arizona to the tribe, and it is included in their trust lands.[4]
In 2011, the tribe won the right to establish areservation inNew Mexico. They now control 30 acres (12 ha) nearDeming, New Mexico.[5]
The tribe operates its own housing program, Fort Sill Apache Industries,[1] and the Fort Sill Apache Casino inLawton.[6] The tribe's 2008 economic impact was $10 million.[7]
Working with the USEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2007 the Fort Sill Tribe began to set up an environmental protection office: to abate illegal dumping, encouragerecycling, train certified water operators, and to educate the public about environmental issues.[8]
The Fort Sill Apache Tribe is composed of Chiricahua Apache, who were made up of 4 bands:
The Apache are southernAthabaskan-speaking peoples who migrated many centuries ago from the subarctic to the southwestern region of what would become the United States. The Chiricahua settled in southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico of the present-day United States, northernSonora, and northernChihuahua of present-day Mexico. By the late 19th century, the Chiricahua Apache territory encompassed an estimated 15 million acres.[4]
In 1886, to break up theApache Wars and resistance to European-American settlement, the US federal government took the Chiricahua into custody asprisoners of war and seized their land. The Army forcibly removed 400 members of the tribe from theFort Apache andSan Carlos Reservations in present-day Arizona,[4] and transported them toU.S. Army installations inAlabama andFlorida.[2] Some warriors were held atFort Pickens in Florida. Theirledger drawings are held in a collection by theSmithsonian Institution.
Many of the Apache Scouts who serve in the capture ofGeronimo were arrested by the order ofGeneral Nelson A. Miles forced on the same train as Geronimo, the Apache Scouts came from the Tonto, Pinal, Aravaipa, Apache Pecks, Chiricahua, San Carlos, and White Mountain Apache bands, some of the Apache Scouts where also Apache chiefs were from different Apache bands.
In 1894, the US Congress passed a special provision to allow the Chiricahua to be relocated toIndian Territory. They were the last Indian tribe to be relocated into what is now Oklahoma.[2] When the Chiricahua arrived atFort Sill, they had been promised the lands surrounding the fort as theirs to settle. Local non-Indians resisted Apache settlement, and the tribe was pressured to leave. Many wanted to return to their traditional lands in the Southwest, and theMescalero Apache offered them land on their reservation.
A third of the Chiricahua stayed in Indian Territory, demanding that the US fulfill its promise to give them the Fort Sill lands. As a compromise, the government gave the remaining Chiricahua land which it had classified as surplus after allotment of tribal lands to individual households under theDawes Act, on the nearbyKiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation. In 1914, the US government finally released 84 individuals from prisoner status and granted them household allotment lands aroundFletcher andApache, Oklahoma.[2]
The Fort Sill Apache struggled for survival in the ensuing years in the economically depressed areas of southwestern Oklahoma. The tribe seized the opportunity afforded byOklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936. Persevering through the difficulty of satisfying documentation requirements for tribal continuity, they were recognized by the federal government (Department of Interior) as a tribe in 1976.[2]
The first chairperson, elected in 1976, wasMildred Cleghorn, one of the last Chiricahua Apache born under "prisoner of war" status.[2] She was an educator and traditional doll maker who was regarded as a cultural leader among theelders.[9] She served as tribal chairperson until 1995 and focused on sustaining history and traditional Chiricahua culture.[9]
Allan Houser was the first Fort Sill Apache child to be born free. He became one of the most celebrated Native American sculptors of the 20th century. His sons,Bob Haozous and Phillip Haozous, are successful sculptors today and are both enrolled citizens of the tribe.
Like other areas inLuna County, the Fort Sill Apache Indian Reservation is in theDeming Public Schools school district.[10]
Municipalities and communities ofLuna County, New Mexico,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| City |  | |
| Village | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Indian reservation | ||