The Chiricahua Apache Nation, which has existed since time immemorial, has been acknowledged as a sovereign Indian nation by the United States since the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Friendship between the United States of America and the Chiricahua Apache Nation of 1 July 1852 (10 Stat. 979), signed by Mangus Colorado, ratified by the U.S. Senate on 23 March 1853, and proclaimed by President Millard Fillmore on 25 March 1853. The Chiricahua Apache Nation engages with Federal, State, local and other Native nations on a government-to-government basis. All political power is inherent in the Chiricahua Apache people, and the Chiricahua Apache Nation is founded on their authority and instituted for their benefit.