Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona

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Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona
Dilzhę́’é (Western Apache)
Indian reservation
Gila County Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Tonto Apache Tribe highlighted.svg
Location of Tonto Apache Reservation
Federally recognizedOctober 6, 1972;52 years ago (1972-10-06) [1]
Village [1] Payson, Arizona
Government
 • ChairmanCalvin Johnson [2]
Area
[2]
 • Total
85 acres (34 ha)
Population
[2]
 • Total
145 [3]
Demonym Western Apache
Time zone UTC−07:00 (MST)
Area code(s) 928
Website mazatzalcasino.com/about

The Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona is a federally recognized tribe of Tonto Apache, a band of Western Apache. [2] [4] The tribe governs the Tonto Apache Reservation located in northwestern Gila County, Arizona.

Contents

They speak the Tonto Apache dialect of the Western Apache language, a member of Southern Athabaskan language family. Other Tonto Apache are enrolled in the Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian Reservation, [5] and other Western Apache are enrolled in the San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation and the White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation. [6]

Government

The tribe is governed by a democratically elected council. The current administration is: [2]

They ratified a constitution in 1980, which was amended in 1995 and 2005. [7]

Reservation

The Tonto Apache Reservation, located south of Payson, Arizona (in Apache: Te-go-suk – “Place of the Yellow Water” or “Place of the Yellow Land”) in ancestral territory of one of the principal Dilzhe'e Apache clans – the “People of the Yellow Speckled Water”, was created in 1972 within the Tonto National Forest northeast of Phoenix. [5] It consists of 85 acres (344,000 m2). With the smallest land base of any reservation in the state of Arizona, it serves approximately 140 residents, as of 1994. [2] [5] The reservation is located adjacent to the town of Payson, in northwestern Gila County, approximately 95 miles northeast of Phoenix and 100 miles southeast of Flagstaff.

Enrollment

The current constitution requires citizens of the Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona to have a minimum blood quantum of 1/4 Apache, including Tonto Apache and other Western Apache, or Yavapai-Apache blood. [8] As of 2015, the tribe had approximately 145 citizens, most of whom live on the reservation. [3]

Economic development

Part of a solar array on the Mazatzal Hotel on the Tonto Apache Indian Reservation, 2016 Tonto Apache Tribe Hotel Solar Project, Arizona (27426181242).jpg
Part of a solar array on the Mazatzal Hotel on the Tonto Apache Indian Reservation, 2016
A frybread truck on the Tonto Apache reservation Famous Fry Bread.jpg
A frybread truck on the Tonto Apache reservation

In 1994, the tribe opened the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino in Payson, which became the largest employer in the town. [2] In 2015, the tribe built a 249-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on its Mazatzal Hotel. [3]

History

19th century

The Tonto Apache Tribe include the descendants of the Dilzhe'e Apache who lived in the Payson vicinity long before the arrival of Europeans. [2] The Prescott gold strike in 1863 initiated a wave of violence from settlers against the Tonto Apache. [9] During the first reservation era of the 19th century, they were moved to the large Rio Verde Reserve, near Camp Verde, which was established in 1871 for the Tonto and Wipukepa (Northeastern Yavapai). The U.S. federal government dissolved the reservation in 1875 and forced the people to relocate to the San Carlos Reservation. After 20 years of exile, some Tonto Apache gradually returned to Payson only to find white settlers had taken much of their land.

20th century

In 1972, the tribe was federally recognized. [3] They ratified their constitution in 1980. [7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "H.R.3337". congress.gov. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Tonto Apache Tribe". Inter Tribal Council of Arizona. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Tonto Apache Tribe – 2015 Project". Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs. U.S. Department of Energy. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  4. ↑ "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". Federal Register. 87: 4636–4641. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 "Yavapai and Tonto Apaches". Tonto National Monument Arizona. National Park Service. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  6. ↑ Pritzker, Barry (2000). A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 20. ISBN   9780195138979.
  7. 1 2 "Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona". National Indian Law Library. Native American Rights Fund. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "Article III –- Membership" (PDF). Constitution of the Tonto Apache Tribe. Native American, Advancement, Initiatives & Research, University of Arizona. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  9. ↑ Pritzker, Barry (2000). A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 21. ISBN   9780195138979.
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