On Tribal State Recognition
A Letter from Gilbert Tellez
|
Tribal Brothers and Sisters,
Sorry it took me a while to respond; I haven't gotten
over the shock yet. I keep pinching myself every so
often to make sure I'm not dreaming. I'd say we've
all have had an extravagant vision come true and we're
all witnesses to the fact. As soon as the Clan Mother
and I got back, we were contacted by the San Elizario
Historical Society to represent the Native American people
at a town gathering. We attended and most of the descendents
of the original founders of the town were present. When it
was my turn to speak I first let them know that our people
were the first founders and that there was much activity
going on in this country before Columbus’ arrival. As I
was speaking a large group of tourists came by and it was
the right moment to inform the community and tourists about
our historic event. I told the people that now they had a
certified recognized tribe in their midst. I also informed
them that I was the chief of this group in San Elizario and
that we were here to stay. I spent a couple of hours answering
questions on the Apache and our tribe. I've been very busy
promoting our tribe as you can see.
This summer I will be busy working on my property
and renovating the house where we reside and another house
behind my residence. It is my wish to have a home for all
tribal members to come and rest as they travel through my
part of the country. I already have two extra bedrooms and
I invite you to come by and have coffee and conversation
with the Clan Mother and me. When I finish working on the
other house I will have about three more bedrooms and
will be able to accommodate more people. If you stay a
while I can give a tour and show you where some of my
ancestors are buried. The historical Presidio Church
and Los Portales are a must-see; they are beautiful
buildings dating back to the 1500’s. The Horse Shoe
Theater is another beautiful building. All are in
our town square. You will fall in love with the
Horse Shoe Theater. It is purely designed in southwest
architecture. It would be another dream come true if
we had such a building for our headquarters in
Corpus Christi.
Your humble servant,
Nantan Nilchinaa Ipa Indeh
|
|
|
