0001|                          HOUSE MEMORIAL 19
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0002|     43RD LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 1998
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0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
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0004|                              FRED LUNA
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0005|     
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0006|                                   
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0007|     
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0008|     
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0009|     
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0010|                              A MEMORIAL
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0011|     COMMEMORATING THE FOUR-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST
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0012|     GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN THE ALL INDIAN
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0013|     PUEBLO COUNCIL AND NONINDIAN GOVERNMENTAL REPRESENTATIVES.
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0014|     
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0015|          WHEREAS, today the all Indian pueblo council is comprised
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0016|     of the pueblos of Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna,
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0017|     Nambe, Picuris, Pojoaque, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan,
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0018|     Sandia, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque,
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0019|     Zia and Zuni; and
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0020|          WHEREAS, oral histories teach us that the all Indian
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0021|     pueblo council existed as long ago as six hundred years before
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0022|     Spanish explorers made contact with the ancestors of present-
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0023|     day pueblo people; and
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0024|          WHEREAS, recorded history first records the convening of
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0025|     the council on July 7, 1598 when the Spaniard Juan de Onate
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0001|     met with thirty-eight pueblo leaders of the many pueblos that
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0002|     comprised the all Indian pueblo council at Khe-wa, later
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0003|     referred to as the pueblo of Santo Domingo, to request
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0004|     permission of the leaders of the pueblo nations to settle in
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0005|     their territories; and
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0006|          WHEREAS, the modern-day operations of the all Indian
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0007|     pueblo council were set in motion on November 5, 1922 at the
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0008|     pueblo of Santo Domingo when the council was organized in a
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0009|     manner recognized by nonpuebloans, with a mission statement
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0010|     for the council and an elected chairman became the official
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0011|     spokesman of the pueblos; and
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0012|          WHEREAS, the all Indian pueblo council was at one time
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0013|     outlawed and declared unauthorized by the Indian service, now
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0014|     known as the federal bureau of Indian affairs, and repeated
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0015|     attempts have been made throughout the history of that council
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0016|     to undermine its strength and importance; and
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0017|          WHEREAS, the sovereign members of the all Indian pueblo
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0018|     council have continuously recommitted themselves with
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0019|     devotion, throughout the history of that council, to interact
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0020|     with one another in a harmonious manner, to encourage and
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0021|     support one another in times of need and to go forth on common
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0022|     issues in a unified manner and to pursue a policy of
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0023|     continuing government-to-government communications with the
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0024|     state and other nonIndian governments; and
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0025|          WHEREAS, the nineteen pueblo sovereigns further clarified
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0001|     the authority of the all Indian pueblo council on October 16,
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0002|     1965 when their governors unanimously approved the all Indian
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0003|     pueblo council constitution; and
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0004|          WHEREAS, because the pueblo people have followed the
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0005|     spiritual and traditional teachings of their ancestors, they
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0006|     have survived a multitude of governmental policies designed to
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0007|     destroy their traditional religions, lifestyles and
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0008|     governments; and
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0009|          WHEREAS, the unification policy and actions of the all
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0010|     Indian pueblo council have also been instrumental in the
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0011|     protection and preservation of pueblo lives, traditions and
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0012|     cultures; and
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0013|          WHEREAS, the all Indian pueblo council is a traditional
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0014|     Indian organization whose heart and soul has been given life
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0015|     by the pueblo peoples' ancestors through their spiritual
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0016|     processes; and
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0017|          WHEREAS, July 7, 1998 marks the four-hundredth
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0018|     anniversary of the all Indian pueblo council since it first
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0019|     appeared in the journals of those who accompanied Don Juan de
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0020|     Onate and his group of nonIndian settlers and the four-
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0021|     hundredth anniversary of the first government-to-government
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0022|     communications between pueblo leaders and nonIndian government
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0023|     representatives; and
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0024|          WHEREAS, the celebration and official commemoration of
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0025|     this four-hundredth anniversary is an important moment in the
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0001|     history of the pueblo nations, the state of New Mexico, the
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0002|     United States of America and the world; and
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0003|          WHEREAS, commemoration of the four-hundredth anniversary
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0004|     of the first government-to-government meeting of the leaders
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0005|     of the pueblos and leaders of the nonIndian settlers seeking a
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0006|     home in New Mexico should include an assessment of how
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0007|     government-to-government interactions can be made more
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0008|     effective and should establish a process that can be used to
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0009|     ease tensions and resolve issues that arise between the pueblo
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0010|     sovereigns and the state; and
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0011|          WHEREAS, the statement of policies and procedures adopted
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0012|     on July 8, 1996, was a good beginning to reassessment of the
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0013|     manner in which government-to-government discussions should
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0014|     proceed, it is clear that many state agencies and some
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0015|     legislators would be more comfortable if the process to
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0016|     implement the policies were more clearly defined; and
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0017|          WHEREAS, the history of the all Indian pueblo council in
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0018|     promoting and pursuing government-to-government interactions
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0019|     with nonIndian government representatives indicates the
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0020|     perseverance of the all Indian pueblo council as it has sought
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0021|     throughout the last four hundred years to maintain and improve
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0022|     government-to-government interactions between the pueblos and
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0023|     the state and the all Indian pueblo council encourages
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0024|     development of a process that the state and tribes of New
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0025|     Mexico can implement to ensure improved and effective
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0001|     government-to-government communications in the future;
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0002|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
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0003|     REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the all Indian
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0004|     pueblo council be recognized and honored on the four-hundredth
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0005|     anniversary of the first government-to-government meeting
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0006|     between the leaders of twenty-six pueblo nations and Don Juan
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0007|     de Onate and his group of settlers; and
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0008|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the house of representatives
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0009|     acknowledge and honor the consortium of pueblo governments
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0010|     that existed at least two hundred years prior to the pueblos'
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0011|     first contacts with Europeans; and
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0012|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the house of representatives
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0013|     encourage and support the efforts of the all Indian pueblo
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0014|     council to continue its four-hundred-year tradition of
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0015|     advocating for the traditions, cultures and governments of the
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0016|     pueblo nations and participating in government-to-government
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0017|     discussions with the state; and 
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0018|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the house of representatives
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0019|     encourage the all Indian pueblo council to engage in
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0020|     government-to-government discussions with other tribes and the
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0021|     state to develop a process to implement the statement of
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0022|     principles and policies adopted on July 8, 1996; and
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0023|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the governor be requested to
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0024|     issue a proclamation designating July 7, 1998 as "Government-
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0025|     to-Government Communications Day"; and
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0001|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
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0002|     transmitted to the governors of the nineteen member pueblos of
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0003|     the all Indian pueblo council, the chairman of the all Indian
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0004|     pueblo council, the governor of the state, the New Mexico
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0005|     state cabinet secretaries, the president of the United States
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0006|     and the director of the division on indigenous people's rights
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0007|     at the United Nations.
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0008|                              
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