Letters: Apaches’ quest
Re “Apache tribe fights for place in N.M.,” Jan. 14
Reading about the Fort Sill Apache tribe’s plight left me with mixed emotions.
For federal agents to have forcibly removed tribal members from their ancestral New Mexico homeland more than 100 years ago constitutes an unfathomable travesty.
On the other hand, the tribe’s intent to open a gambling casino if it returns to New Mexico disappoints me. Studies show that gaming enterprises are far more detrimental than beneficial to the larger society; gambling’s social costs outweigh its economic benefits many times over.
On balance, a bit of karma may be aiding these Apaches. Like other Native American tribes, they can never be made whole for unspeakable abuses perpetrated by those who invaded their ancestral homelands. The Apaches’ proposed casino may provide some payback, however paltry.
Sandra Perez
Santa Maria
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