HOUSE MEMORIAL 45

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2020

INTRODUCED BY

Georgene Louis

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

HONORING THE FIRST PUEBLO VOTER ACTIVIST, MIGUEL TRUJILLO, AND RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO DECLARE AUGUST 3, 2020 "MIGUEL TRUJILLO DAY" IN NEW MEXICO.

 

     WHEREAS, Native American people of New Mexico were not considered citizens of the United States in New Mexico until 1924; and

     WHEREAS, the pueblo nations of New Mexico and Native American people of New Mexico are proud to recognize that August 3, 2018 marked the seventieth anniversary of Native American voting rights in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, native people were denied the right to vote in New Mexico before 1948, and such denial was part of the constitution of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, enacted in 1912, the constitution of New Mexico denied Native American New Mexicans suffrage based on Article 7, Section 1; and

     WHEREAS, in 1948, Miguel Trujillo, member of the Pueblo of Isleta and a United States marine veteran, challenged the infringement on his ability to vote, and because of his inability to lawfully cast his vote, brought a lawsuit in federal court against the Valencia county registrar titled Trujillo v. Garley; and

     WHEREAS, on August 3, 1948, the three-judge federal district court in Trujillo v. Garley found that New Mexico had discriminated against Indians by restricting the vote on the basis that Indians had paid all state and federal taxes except private property taxes on the reservations:

"The New Mexico constitution says that Indians not taxed may not vote, although they possess every other qualification. We are unable to escape the conclusion that under the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments constitutes discrimination on the ground of race. Any other citizen, regardless of race, in the state of New Mexico who has not paid one cent of tax of any kind or character, if he possesses the other qualifications, may vote. An Indian, and only an Indian, in order to meet the qualification of a vote must have paid a tax. How can you escape the conclusion that makes a requirement with respect to an Indian as a qualification to exercise the elective franchise and does not make that requirement to the member of any other race is beyond me? I just feel that the conclusion is inescapable."; and

     WHEREAS, as a result of this ruling, Miguel Trujillo was allowed to register to vote, thus setting a precedent for the future of Native American voting rights in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, it is important for the history of New Mexico that the memory and legacy of Miguel Trujillo be honored and that he be remembered as a hero in advancing the rights of Native American voters; and

     WHEREAS, it is imperative that Native American New Mexico suffrage be taught in the New Mexico public schools embracing the struggles and victory demonstrated by Miguel Trujillo;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the governor be requested to declare August 3, 2020 "Miguel Trujillo Day" in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Miguel Trujillo be recognized and honored as the first pueblo voter activist; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the secretary of Indian affairs and the twenty-three federally recognized Native American tribes of New Mexico.

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