"Subject to the Right of the Secretary of the Interior": The White Mountain Apache Reclamation of the Fort Apache and Theodore Roosevelt School Historic District

Abstract

In Apache, we believe igoya'i beegozaa, sits in places. Our Mountains, our Springs, other places, all hold stories that tell us who we are and how to live. We have many places that hold wisdom in our Homeland. We also have Fort Apache. We did not build it, but we were the reason it was built. It was a military post. The year was 1869. We had seen Europeans before when Coronado passed through our lands in the 1500s. We held off the Spanish soldiers and later the Mexican soldiers for 300 years. Then finally, the Americans came in great numbers and built a Fort on our land. We all knew that life * would never be the same again. >