HOUSE MEMORIAL 72

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Miguel P. Garcia

A MEMORIAL

INVITING REPRESENTATIVES OF SPANISH AND MEXICAN LAND GRANTS-MERCEDES, THE PUEBLOS OF ACOMA, LAGUNA AND ZUNI, THE NAVAJO NATION, THE HOPI TRIBE AND THE LAND GRANT COUNCIL TO CONDUCT MEETINGS TO ADDRESS CONCERNS RAISED BY THE DESIGNATION OF THE COMMON LANDS IN CERTAIN STATUTES AS STATE LANDS AND THE IMPLICATIONS ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMMON LANDS OF THE CEBOLLETA AND OTHER COMMUNITY LAND GRANTS IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, in 2004, the legislature enacted Senate Bill 142, which was signed into law as Laws 2004, Chapter 124; and

     WHEREAS, Laws 2004, Chapter 124, Section 3 provides that Spanish and Mexican land grants-mercedes that are subject to Chapter 49, Article 1 NMSA 1978 are to be governed as political subdivisions of the state; and

     WHEREAS, while it was not the intent of the legislature to classify the common lands of those land grants-mercedes as state lands when it declared those land grants-mercedes to be political subdivisions of the state, the definition of state lands in the Cultural Properties Act and the Cultural Properties Protection Act includes any land owned, controlled or operated by a political subdivision of the state; and

     WHEREAS, this definition does not account for the fact that unlike state property, the common lands of all Spanish and Mexican land grants-mercedes are treated as private property by and are subject to property taxes pursuant to the constitution of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the special status of these common lands is not accounted for in the Cultural Properties Act, the Cultural Properties Protection Act or the New Mexico Prehistoric and Historic Sites Preservation Act; and

     WHEREAS, more than nineteen thousand acres of the common lands of the Cebolleta land grant have been designated as traditional cultural property, which may affect the traditional and other uses for which that land may be used and the economic well-being of the land grant-merced; and

     WHEREAS, the Pueblos of Acoma, Laguna and Zuni, the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe have expressed concerns about proposed changes to the Cultural Properties Act, the Cultural Properties Protection Act, the New Mexico Prehistoric and Historic Sites Preservation Act and laws governing certain Spanish and Mexican land grants-mercedes that would change the definition of state lands in those acts; and

     WHEREAS, both the Spanish and Mexican land grant-merced community and the Native American tribal community recognize the importance of protecting traditional, historic and cultural properties; and

     WHEREAS, both communities recognize the importance of self-determination; and

     WHEREAS, both communities recognize the importance and benefits of intergovernmental cooperation between Native American tribal and Spanish and Mexican land grant-merced governmental entities;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that representatives of the Pueblos of Acoma, Laguna and Zuni, the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, the Cebolleta and other Spanish and Mexican land grants-mercedes and the land grant council be invited to meet, discuss and propose legislation that will assure land grant heirs and land grants-mercedes that they have not lost any rights and are not adversely affected by the act that made certain Spanish and Mexican land grants-mercedes political subdivisions of the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the representatives specifically address and resolve the issue of designating the common lands of Spanish and Mexican land grants-mercedes as state lands; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the parties report their recommendations to a joint meeting of the appropriate interim legislative committees dealing with land grant issues and Indian affairs during the 2010 interim and that the committees propose legislation that will assure land grant heirs and land grants-mercedes that they have not lost any rights and are not adversely affected by the act that made certain Spanish and Mexican land grants-mercedes political subdivisions of the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the Pueblos of Acoma, Laguna and Zuni, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the cultural affairs department, the land grant council, the board of trustees of the Cebolleta land grant and the New Mexico legislative council.

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