After two decades of discussion and negotiation between the Yavapai-Apache Nation and Town of Camp Verde, leaders signed a monumental resolution and intergovernmental agreement Thursday, June 16 to enable the Nation to pursue the acquisition of more than 1,200 acres of property in and adjacent to Camp Verde.
At the Camp Verde regular council meeting on June 15, speakers from the town and the nation referred to the resolution and agreement as “huge” in the context of the complicated history between the two entities as well as what it will mean for the future of the town.
“The agreement that would be approved by the approval of this resolution would significantly change the ownership landscape of the incorporated boundaries of the Town of Camp Verde,” a Camp Verde document states. “The amount of United States Forest Service property transferred as well a property bought by the Yavapai-Apache Nation will almost fully integrate our two communities.”
Essentially, the resolution and IGA set the specifics of a Fee to Trust agreement, which would effectively transfer tribal inholdings on forest service land for land located along SR 260 for “housing, economic development, open space and cultural purposes.”
“That includes the area that is specifically between basically General Crook [Trail] and the area that is effectively, Out of Africa or the [Yavapai County] jail area, that the town has identified as an economic development corridor,” Camp Verde Town Manager Russ Martin said.
“[The Yavapai-Apache and the U.S. Forest Service] are going through that administrative process now, that may need to go to congressional action,” he said. “That process is still underway and doing this does not say that tomorrow, this happens.”
Prior to the Jun 15 meeting, Martin said that “this agreement says that we will agree to support that possible congressional action for the acquisition of these lands.”
According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, “Fee to Trust land acquisitions, also called “land into trust,” transfer a land title to the United States of America to be held in trust for the benefit of an individual Indian or Tribe. The General Allotment Act divided tribal lands and lead to many unintended consequences, including the dramatic reduction of the amount of land owned by American Indians and Alaska Natives Many years later, the federal government established the trust process in effort to help tribes regain lost lands and promote tribal self-determination. Most tribal lands today are trust lands, which are under the control of tribal governments. There are currently over 56 million acres of land held in trust by the federal government for the benefit of AI/AN communities.”
“This agreement that would be pursued, and continues to be pursued by the Yavapai-Apache Nation — we are fortunate to be a party to it; that has got to be clear to the general public,” Martin said. “It is not because we have to, it’s because the Yavapai-Apache Nation has asked us to be included in that; as a result, we’ve got a great agreement.”
“It’s absolutely significant for our community forever, going forward,” he said.
However, he said “There’s going to be a lot of folks who are going to be very anxious about that.”
“I think once people get a chance to look at it, although the maps and the acreage is significant, the way that it’s going to operate is intertwined so well that I’m excited, council is excited and I think the community eventually will be excited. But, there are going to be those naysayers and so it’s going to be important for us to educate.”
Yavapai-Apache Nation History
Currently, the nation consists of about 600 acres of land, which are arranged into five non-contiguous parcels located in Camp Verde, Middle Verde, Clarkdale and the Lake Montezuma and Rimrock area.
According to the Verde Valley Archaeology Center, “The Nation as we know it today is the result of legislation passed by Congress in 1934 known as the Indian Reorganization Act, in an effort to establish a single tribe in the Upper Verde Valley.”
Prior to that, the Yavapai and Apache tribes coexisted as two culturally district groups for several hundred years.
As reported by Inter-tribal Council of Arizona, “After short, brutal wars with the [U.S.] government, a Military Reserve of 900 square miles was established in 1871 to accommodate both groups. However, this Reserve was rescinded by Presidential Order in 1875 and all of the people, Yavapai and Apache alike, numbering around 1,700, were forcibly marched to the San Carlos agency east of Phoenix. By the late 1890s the reservation system was breaking down and beginning in 1900 the survivors of the removal began drifting back to their home country in small family groups. In 1909 a postage stamp reservation was established in Camp Verde, followed by additional parcels in Middle Verde, Clarkdale and Rimrock.”
Former YAN Tribal Council Vice Chairman Norman Smith spoke about the tribe’s history as passed down mostly from his grandmother at the June 15 meeting.
“Some of you might not know about the history behind the Yavapai and Apache people. The Yavapai people, under their domain, had 10 million acres. Probably around 1800, the U.S. military and even before then, the Spanish came in and they started to encroach on our homeland,” he said.
Smith stated that prior to that, the tribe likely numbered around 10,000 people.
“Today, the Yavapai number less than 2,000 people,” he said. “When you hear the stories of how our people had to go through the struggle to maintain an identity, a certain amount of pride in themselves, it is a struggle. My people struggled from the day the military took us in to San Carlos and imprisoned us for 30 years. What do you think this would do to anybody, in this whole town, in this whole state?”
“It nearly destroyed [us], but my people persevered,” he said. “The Yavapai and Apache people don’t have much of what they had before; this is only a drop in the bucket to what they had.”
YAN Tribal Chairman Jon Huey also spoke at the meeting.
“I [was] born and raised here [in Camp Verde], I raised my family here and so for me, this is really the goal for the Yavapai-Apache Nation, and always has been: To grow, to prosper, to provide for the Yavapai and Apache people,” he said. “The fact that I get to be chairman right now and to be present for this is an honor.”
“Times have changed [and] we’re growing; our kids go here to the public schools, your kids come to the reservation for trail days and other activities. For the histories that made up this valley, you can’t take it back, it’s done,” he said. “But where we’re going today — is huge. I’m really proud of the town for working with the nation. This is a little out of our comfort zone too, coming to this agreement.”
“The Town of Camp Verde and the Yavapai-Apache Nation are in my heart, and I want to thank you,” he added.
For more information about the agreement, visit campverde. az.gov
