Their history is directly connected to the Fort Sill cemetery and the remains of the people buried there.

The Chiricahua Apache who were eventually allowed to return to the Southwest settled in New Mexico, in the area of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, becoming part of what is now the Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (those who remained) and contributing to the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico (those who returned west).

The specific question of jurisdiction over Geronimo’s remains is complicated by this history.

Geronimo was Chiricahua Apache.