SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 3

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

INTRODUCED BY

Michael Padilla

 

 

 

 

 

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE CULTURAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, IN COOPERATION WITH THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, THE INDIAN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, THE NEW MEXICO MUNICIPAL LEAGUE AND NEW MEXICO COUNTIES, TO CONDUCT A STUDY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF CREATING A "NEW MEXICO HISTORY ROOM" IN A LOCAL LIBRARY IN EACH COUNTY IN THE STATE AND TO REPORT THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE STUDY TO THE GOVERNOR AND THE LEGISLATURE.

 

     WHEREAS, New Mexico arguably has the most rich and complex history of any state of the United States; and

     WHEREAS, much of New Mexico's surface land was once a sea floor, and the mineral resources that drive much of New Mexico's economy were formed and deposited over eons through the interaction of intercontinental drift and the establishment and replacement of successive dominant ecosystems during the geologic rise of the Rocky mountain system and the intermontane plateaus; and

     WHEREAS, the topography of modern New Mexico was shaped by a complex interplay of volcanism, geologic upthrust and hydrological processes over hundreds of thousands of years; and

     WHEREAS, the geologic and evolutionary history of New Mexico has been and continues to be an area of scientific research; and

     WHEREAS, the earliest evidence of human occupation of New Mexico, discovered in 1908 near Folsom, New Mexico, is believed to be approximately thirteen thousand years old; and

     WHEREAS, the 1908 discovery was the seminal evidence of what later became known as the "Clovis culture" after the 1929 discovery of a larger complex at Blackwater draw near Clovis, New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the Clovis culture was once pervasive in North America, and based on available DNA evidence, it is estimated that eighty percent of all Native Americans are descended from the Clovis people; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's indigenous linguistic heritage is incredibly diverse, with primary connections to cultures including the Kiowa people in Oklahoma and Texas through the Tewa and Towa languages currently spoken in several north central New Mexico pueblos; the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo people in west Texas through the Tiwa languages spoken in several central New Mexican pueblos; the Tlingit-speaking peoples of northwest Canada and Alaska; and possibly the Asian Ket people living in Siberia north of Mongolia through the Na-Dene languages spoken by New Mexico's Navajo and Apache peoples; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has inherited at least two language isolates, the Zuni and the Keresan, that do not appear to have originated from precursor language families and thus represent unique legacy languages for the state; and

     WHEREAS, historically, eastern New Mexico was the western edge of Comanche territory, and the architecture at the Salinas ruins in the Sandia mountains indicates that it was a pueblo settlement that was likely influenced by its interactions with the plains culture of the Comanches; and

     WHEREAS, the mountains, plains and river valleys of New Mexico have stood witness as succeeding waves of culturally separate Native Americans and then Spanish, Mexican and American settlers competed, often violently, for land and water; and

     WHEREAS, the advent of the intercontinental railroad created a post-Civil-War-era boom in the western cattle industry to supply the eastern markets; and

     WHEREAS, the continuing competition for land and water spurred on by the cattle markets created the conditions for the Lincoln County War, conducted by men with colorful names such as "Buckshot" Anderson, "Dash" Wait, "Big Jim" French and Billy "the Kid", and forever intertwined New Mexico in the development of the American legend of the "Wild West"; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has played a central role in the development of the United States' predominance as an international military power and scientific leader through the work of the Manhattan project in the 1940s and continuing to the present through the ongoing scientific research and technological development at Los Alamos national laboratory and Sandia national laboratories; and

     WHEREAS, the rich and complex history of New Mexico has resulted in a unique culinary, musical, artistic and literary culture that draws international interest, exemplified by the state's vibrant tourism industry; and

     WHEREAS, it is important for New Mexico's residents, particularly its school children, to have access to materials that help them learn and understand the state's history and the role it has played and continues to play in the creation of the American identity;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the cultural affairs department, in cooperation with the Indian affairs department, the public education department, the New Mexico municipal league and New Mexico counties, be requested to study the feasibility of creating a New Mexico history room dedicated to the archiving and display of materials about New Mexico's history in a local library in each county in the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the cultural affairs department be requested to present a report on the findings of its study to the appropriate interim legislative committee by November 30, 2020, and that the report include:

          A. an estimate of the capital costs involved in creating New Mexico history rooms in a local library in each county;

          B. the statewide costs of developing and maintaining materials for the New Mexico history rooms;

          C. an estimate of the additional library staff needed for the New Mexico history rooms and the projected recurring costs for that staff;

          D. recommendations regarding whether a state agency or the local libraries should be the leading entities for the development, operation and ownership of the New Mexico history rooms and their collections; and

          E. a recommendation for where each facility should be located in each county; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of cultural affairs, the secretary of Indian affairs, the secretary of public education, the executive director of the New Mexico municipal league, the executive director of New Mexico counties, the director of the New Mexico state library and the chair of the board of county commissioners of each county in New Mexico.

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