HOUSE MEMORIAL 92

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

Eliseo Lee Alcon and D. Wonda Johnson

A MEMORIAL

SUPPORTING A TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY FROM THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS TO THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE FOR THE CREATION OF A NATIONAL MONUMENT DEVOTED TO FORT WINGATE, ITS HISTORY AND ITS LONG-REACHING IMPACT.

     WHEREAS, Fort Wingate has played a central role in the history of the southwest United States and its people, particularly in the areas of military, education and economic development; and

     WHEREAS, in 1872 at Fort Wingate, Chief Manuelito, Thomas V. Kearn and General Otis Howard established the Navajo cavalry, composed of one hundred volunteers, thereby becoming the first Indian police force; and

     WHEREAS, Fort Wingate served as the headquarters for Navajo Indian scouts from 1873 to 1890; and

     WHEREAS, of the many Navajos who served in the United States military in the 1880s and 1890s, two women, Mexicana Chiquita and Muchucha, became the first women to serve in combat roles in the United States army; and

     WHEREAS, Fort Wingate became a center for education and research activities in the late nineteenth century; and

     WHEREAS, innovators in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, geology and botany used Fort Wingate as their headquarters; and

     WHEREAS, at Fort Wingate vocational high school, in May 1942, the first Navajo code talkers were recruited and sworn into the United States marine corps; and

     WHEREAS, in 1926, the Charles H. Burke vocational school was established and, after numerous name changes and relocations, became Wingate high school in 1965, with its original location becoming Wingate elementary school; and

     WHEREAS, the education provided to Navajo students of Wingate high school and Wingate elementary school became the foundation for gainful employment for many Navajo people; and

     WHEREAS, the vocational programs at the high school provided training in skills related to traditional Navajo life; and

     WHEREAS, Fort Wingate provided employment to many Navajo people, from workers who constructed the fort in the 1800s to those who worked and currently work at the schools and offices; and

     WHEREAS, the approximately four hundred ninety-five acres of real property proposed to be considered for the old Fort Wingate national monument is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States department of the interior's bureau of Indian affairs; and

     WHEREAS, with the planned demolition of several buildings on the site, and with it the destruction of tangible Navajo historical artifacts, a transfer in the near future is of critical importance;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to support all efforts to transfer the real property from the federal bureau of Indian affairs to the national park service for the creation of a national monument devoted to Fort Wingate, its history and its long-reaching impact; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation, the bureau of Indian affairs, the secretary of the interior, the national park service, the McKinley county board of commissioners, the speaker of the twenty-third Navajo Nation council and the president of the Navajo Nation.

- 3 -