A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND TRIBAL PLANNING AGENCIES TO COOPERATE AND SUPPORT THE INITIATIVES OF THE AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION INDIGENOUS PLANNING DIVISION AND THAT ALL PLANNERS THAT WORK FOR OR WITH TRIBAL COMMUNITIES BE ENCOURAGED TO CONVENE A STATEWIDE SUMMIT ON INDIGENOUS PLANNING.

     WHEREAS, Native Americans have been living in the region of New Mexico for over twenty thousand years; and

     WHEREAS, over twenty-five thousand ancient Indian settlements have been found in the state; and

     WHEREAS, twenty-three Indian reservations are located within the borders of the state comprising approximately ten percent of the entire land base of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, villages like those of Taos Pueblo and Acoma Pueblo are among the oldest continually occupied communities in the nation; and

     WHEREAS, the Apache, Navajo and Pueblo communities maintain their unique cultures and traditions to the benefit and promotion of New Mexico tourism, arts and crafts and scientific knowledge; and

     WHEREAS, the population in 2003 for American Indians and Alaska Natives was two hundred five thousand, or eleven percent of the state population; and

     WHEREAS, the American Indian and Alaska Natives population in New Mexico ranked fifth among all states with the highest numerical increases, eight thousand four hundred thirty, from 2000 to 2003; and

     WHEREAS, McKinley county, with its American Indian and Alaska Natives population of fifty-eight thousand,

seventy-eight percent of the county's population, and San Juan county, with its American Indian and Alaska Natives population of forty-six thousand, thirty-eight percent of the county's population, ranked third and seventh, respectively, for American Indian and Alaska Natives among all counties nationwide; and

     WHEREAS, Albuquerque, with its American Indian and Alaska Native population of twenty-two thousand forty-seven, four and nine-tenths percent of Albuquerque's population, ranks fourth in proportion among all census-designated places nationwide of one hundred thousand or more; and

     WHEREAS, the national poverty rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives, averaged from 2001 to 2003, was twenty percent; and

     WHEREAS, American Indians and Alaska Natives nationally have the highest percentage, twenty-seven and one-half percent, of people with no health insurance; and

     WHEREAS, only fourteen percent of all American Indians and Alaska Natives over the age of twenty-five have at least a bachelor's degree; and

     WHEREAS, the tribal nations of New Mexico have sovereign jurisdiction within their reservations and have become increasingly self-determined in the administration and management of their people and their natural resources; and

     WHEREAS, the mining of coal, oil and gas resources located on Indian lands contributes substantial revenues to the New Mexico economy; and

     WHEREAS, the oldest and most senior water rights are held by Indian tribes in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, housing, health and education services provided by the federal department of housing and urban development, the bureau of Indian affairs, the Indian health service and other providers contributed substantial housing, roads, community infrastructure and school needs to native people in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, Indian casinos employ over nine thousand people and contributed approximately eighty million dollars ($80,000,000) in 2004 to the state in revenues; and

     WHEREAS, Indian tribes are among the largest single employers in Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Otero, Sandoval and San Juan counties; and

     WHEREAS, the American planning association created a new eighteenth division in indigenous planning whose mission is to foster an interdisciplinary approach to planning that upholds land tenure values and cultural world views in community development;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that all federal, state, local and tribal planning agencies be encouraged to cooperate and support the initiatives of the American planning association indigenous planning division; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission on higher education, all New Mexico post-secondary educational institutions and the Indian education division of the public education department support and promote careers and training in planning for the benefit of tribal communities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all planners that work for or with tribal communities be encouraged to convene a statewide summit on indigenous planning; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the commission on higher education, to all New Mexico post-secondary educational institutions and the Indian education division of the public education department.