SAN CARLOS, Ariz. – Arizona;s San Carlos Apache Tribe is billing itself as having established ”the first Native American reservation-based Chamber of Commerce in the United States.”
”We did it in steps,” said Charles Vargas, spokesman for the Apache Nation Chamber of Commerce, the umbrella organization for the traditional Apache economic system. ”Like most reservations, there’s always been an economic vacuum and we’ve had to learn to grow our abilities for self-reliance. We’ve had to learn how to make our own opportunities.”
Attempts to do so by unifying economic efforts began even prior to the 1980s, but started to take on definite shape and form in the early 1990s.
”We founded the San Carlos Apache Chamber of Commerce based on our historical heritage and the fact that trade has always been a part of our culture and our social identity. Native trade has been a form of business that predates all types and formats of government; so in this sense, we called attention to our cultural links of trade and began to present ourselves as an organized and formal chamber.”
And, depending on how one defines ”success,” it’s already taking place.
”Absolutely,” Vargas said emphatically. ”Success on a reservation is defined not only by the actual dollars involved, but by how many people’s lives you impact; and by that measure, we’re already exceeding our expectations. Our efforts here could change the whole fabric of what the reservation and its people are all about. We want to return and restore that former ability to trade – we must establish our self-sufficiency so we can have the luxury of thinking independently.”
To get to this point, it was often a case of one step forward and two steps back before two dozen San Carlos reservation businesspeople – the owner of a local tire repair shop, a shopping center manager, a woman who owns a travel agency – finally sat down this spring to formalize their organization.
”I’m a business owner myself, doing promotions and marketing of printed sportswear,” said chamber president Marc Case. ”Part of my marketing plan for my own business was to join a Chamber of Commerce; but when I did the research, I couldn’t find anything available to me. So I decided to take action by contacting fellow reservation businesspeople, sending out fliers, putting ads in newspapers, and we got a group of Apache business owners together, explained what a chamber does, how it operates and what the benefits are – and the group was born.”
As the idea man, Case wrote the chamber mission statement:
”San Carlos Area Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to establishing and maintaining itself as the primary advocate, voice, and resource for business organizations on the San Carlos Apache reservation. To accomplish our mission, we will (1) use our resources to be an influential reservation leader, to encourage, support and foster the free enterprise system; (2) work to improve the quality of life on the reservation; (3) maintain strong support for our existing industries, and (4) continue to promote and support economic development.”
Two initial areas of focus revolve around food and tourism. ”There are no restaurants on our reservation,” Case said. ”Vendors prepare cooked food at home and sell it out of a truck where customers have to pay both retail price and sales tax. Within a year, I’d like to have a venue where food can be purchased at wholesale prices with no sales tax. We also will work to provide a site for visitor information. We plan to present a concept to open a brick-and-mortar chamber location with a visitors center to provide all kinds of information relating to tourism, relocation and business opportunities on the reservation.”
All these plans represent bold innovation and a tall order for a fledgling entity, but Case’s group recognizes the value of independent businesses that work together for the common good. ”Many of our 6,000 reservation members believe the tribal council is oriented to providing for its members – things like welfare, food stamps and other public assistance – as opposed to encouraging members to provide for themselves. We’d like to work together to make self-sufficiency a possibility.
”I want to make my own money and provide my own means of existence instead of perpetuating reliance on others. I don’t believe what we are doing will have any effect on making people financially independent within the next 20 or 30 years. It’s going to take generations. But if we don’t start somewhere, that culture of dependency will continue to exist with our grandkids.”
For further information, call Case at (928) 475 3213 or e-mail qualiteez@yahoo.com.