SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 76
47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005
INTRODUCED BY
Leonard Tsosie
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.
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