SENATE MEMORIAL 140

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

John Pinto

A MEMORIAL

RECOGNIZING THE BISON FOR ITS HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL VALUE AND FOR ITS VIABILITY AS A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SOURCE.

     WHEREAS, for three decades, the department of game and fish managed a herd of bison at the Fort Wingate army depot; and

     WHEREAS, to prevent a scheduled sport hunt of Fort Wingate's bison herd, and in response to protests of the hunt, the herd was auctioned off and relocated to the Pueblo of Picuris; and

      WHEREAS, the Pueblo of Picuris was once one of the largest pueblos in northern New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, within its exterior boundaries, the Pueblo of Picuris is composed of approximately twenty-three thousand acres of land; and

     WHEREAS, the Pueblo of Picuris has had an established bison herd since 1978; and

     WHEREAS, the Pueblo of Picuris was a founding member of the intertribal buffalo council, whose mission statement is, "Restoring buffalo to the Indian country, to preserve our historical, cultural, traditional and spiritual relationship for future generations"; and

     WHEREAS, fifty-eight tribes in nineteen states now have established bison herds that collectively number more than fifteen thousand animals; and

     WHEREAS, for its part, the bison herd at the Pueblo of Picuris currently numbers about seventy; and

     WHEREAS, the United States congress recently passed the National Bison Legacy Act, which adopts the bison as the national mammal of the United States; and

     WHEREAS, the relocation of the Fort Wingate bison to tribal lands helps to restore bison as both a sustainable food source and as a traditional spiritual enhancement for the people of the pueblo;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it recognize the bison for its historical, cultural and spiritual value and for its viability as a sustainable food source; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of Indian affairs, the governor of the Pueblo of Picuris and the governor of New Mexico.

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