Group gathers opposition to Rio Arriba County plans to resurrect Spanish conquistador statue removed by government officials in 2020 — KUNM News,Source New Mexico
People from Northern New Mexico are organizing to oppose the local government’s intentions to resurrect a monument depicting genocidal Spanish conquistador and war criminal Juan de Oñate.
Outside the Rio Arriba County headquarters on Monday, activists, birth workers, parents and allies held a news conference next to a recently constructed concrete pedestal, upon which county officials plan to erect a statue of Oñate they had taken down during widespread protests here and across the country in 2020.
Dr. Christina Castro (Taos, Jemez), a member of Three Sisters Collective, said they “are not going to allow this monument to go back up.”
“This has not happened yet, and as far as we’re concerned, it’s not gonna happen,” Castro said. “We allow these folks to have power and move within our communities with impunity, and we have the choice to say no.”
Beata Tsosie (Santa Clara) said there is no space for upholding the values of colonialism anymore.
“This is not a past issue of historical violence; this is an ongoing issue of ongoing colonial violence,” Tsosie said.
That violence includes the overdoses from fentanyl ripping through the community, the lack of housing for people in the area, and attacks against Indigenous people who go missing or are murdered, said Luis Peña, one of the event’s organizers.
The political battle over the Oñate statue in Rio Arriba was already “fought and won by the people,” said Justine Teba (Santa Clara), a member of The Red Nation.
The statue is in storage out of public view where it’s sat since the summer of 2020, when county officials removed it from its original place at a different county building in Alcalde, about nine miles north of Española.
Activists on June 15, 2020 celebrated the removal and used red paint to leave handprints on the base the county left empty. The Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office later asked the county government to pay for riot gear in the event of future protests. The new location for the statue is feet away from the sheriff’s office.
That fall on Indigenous People’s Day, activists in Santa Fe tore down the obelisk in that city’s central plaza. They also left red handprints on the obelisk. The same handprints could be found on the Kit Carson monument outside the federal courthouse in Santa Fe that was defaced earlier this year.
What the red hands symbolize is the dialogue community members are hoping to have.
Tsosie asked the crowd on Monday if they are bothered that children “are born into a culture of violence, where they’re gonna be expected to fight for a military that does not love or care for them, or the issues they’re facing in their communities?”
Tsosie was a member of the state’s Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives Task Force, where she learned about the root causes of violence. At the end of the news conference, she delivered the task force’s response plan to the county government.
She opposes any symbols or monuments to oppression “that are based and rooted in patriarchal violence and militarism.”
“We are currently occupied by Los Alamos National Laboratories, enacting violence on our lands and our bodies, creating economic disparities with classism in our communities, keeping us in an impoverished state, and subject to all of the disparities around our health and wellness,” Tsosie said.
Patriarchal violence teaches children and men that it’s OK to be violent against women and nonbinary people, Tsosie said, and that women and children are property.
Antonio DeVargas, a local activist with roots in the La Raza Unida movement of the 1970s, also announced a petition to remove county commissioner Alex Naranjo from office. Naranjo was elected to the commission in 2022 and is leading the push to resurrect the monument.
Celina Montoya-Garcia (Ohkay Owingeh) brought her child to the news conference Monday, and asked why Rio Arriba County is teaching children to relive history by supporting a statue that symbolizes violence.
“Oñate is the direct symbol of slavery and murder,” Montoya-Garcia said. “I do not approve of glorifying somebody who caused violence and murder to Acoma people. He colonized and murdered Indigenous people. He cut the feet off our Indigenous brothers.”
She asked why the money spent on fixing the statue’s foot wasn’t spent on social programs like support for unhoused people, substance use disorder treatment, MMIWR programming or given to Indigenous youth and families.
Castro suggested that the county government’s reinstatement of the Oñate statue is a response to her and others’ recent organizing in opposition to Santa Fe Fiesta reenactments in public schools.
Jennifer Marley (San Ildefonso), a member of The Red Nation, said Oñate “represents the death drive of colonialism.”
“He represents all of the sickness that we’re still dealing with today: the fentanyl overdoses, the violence against women and children,” Marley said. “Oñate is never coming back.”
Marley pointed to historical examples of solidarity between Native people, Nuevomexicanos, and genizaro people, including the Battle of Chimayo against the U.S., and the Battle of Taos.
“This is not about who’s from where, or whose ancestors did what, this is about us learning how to be good relatives to each other and the land now, today, in this day and age, for everybody’s sake,” Marley said.
Every summer, Tsosie said, Tewa and genizaro women get together to share seeds and exchange knowledge about how to care for the land.
The true culture of this place, Tsosie said, is a commitment to the protection of land, water, and seeds, not militarism and conquest.
Elena Ortiz (Ohkay Owingeh), also a member of The Red Nation, said Oñate doesn’t deserve to be elevated.
“If you’re a leader in this Valley, you should be leading. You should be stopping the drugs. You should be stopping the violence,” Ortiz said. “Instead, you’re sitting by and getting fat and filling your pockets, and that’s the legacy that Oñate has brought to this Valley. So no, we don’t want Oñate elevated. He is not someone worthy of respect.”
Safe Haven Baby Box used in New Mexico for 1st time as newborn boy dropped off at a fire station — Associated Press
It's called the "Save Haven Baby Box" and city officials in Hobbs credit it with saving the life of a newborn boy.
An anonymous woman surrendered her baby at a Hobbs' fire station Saturday afternoon, with the box used for the first time in New Mexico.
The climate-controlled incubator sent out an alert that the box had been opened.
Fire Station 1 officials said the baby was immediately taken to a hospital and was deemed healthy.
The child now is in the custody of New Mexico's Children, Youth and Families Department.
The baby box in Hobbs was dedicated in May, about 1 1/2 years after a teenager in the city made national news for throwing her newborn into a trash bin. She was later sentenced to 16 years in prison.
That case spurred new conversations in New Mexico communities and among legislators about the state's safe haven law, which allows parents to leave a baby younger than 90 days at a safe location without criminal consequences.
Lawmakers approved a bill last year to expand New Mexico's safe haven program and provide funds to build one baby box for every county where an infant can be left.
So far, the only other Safe Haven Baby Box in the state is at an Espanola Fire Station. But legislators said the next box will be dedicated in Belen next month with Carlsbad, Roswell and Portales being considered for future sites.
Vasquez introduces legislation to support tribal schools — Alice Fordham, KUNM News
Democratic Congressional Representative Gabe Vasquez joined bipartisan lawmakers in introducing new legislation designed to support tribally-controlled schools nationwide.
During an event hosted by Laguna Pueblo Monday, Vasquez said that the bipartisan bill would help address teaching shortages by providing teachers in tribally-controlled schools the same federal retirement benefits as teachers at Bureau of Indian Education Schools.
He said that he had spoken with tribal leaders across the state, who said they face tremendous challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified teachers.
New Mexico has ten tribally-controlled schools which would be affected by the proposed law, called the Parity for Tribal Educators Act.
Vasquez is joined in sponsoring the legislation by representatives from South Dakota, Oklahoma and Maine. And the proposal is supported by the National Indian Education Association, the National Congress of American Indians and the Ramah Navajo School Board.
The Superintendent of that school board, David Nez, said in a statement that the new law would help strengthen the legacy of self-determination.
Interior Department creates oral history project to preserve testimonies from survivors of Indian boarding schools — Jeanette DeDios, KUNM
The Department of Interior announced Tuesday that it will establish an oral history project to collect and document experiences from generations of Native Americans who attended federal Indian boarding schools.
The schools often forcibly removed Native children from their families and prevented them from practicing their language and cultural beliefs.
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition will be receiving a $3.7 million grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to record stories from survivors so they can be passed down to future generations.
Those participating will have the opportunity to share their interviews with federal and tribal governments, policymakers, researchers, and the public.
This initiative is part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative created by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
In a statement, Secretary Haaland called the initiative, "a significant step in our efforts to help communities heal and to tell the full story of America.” She said the U.S. government has never before collected the experiences of boarding school survivors, which tribes have long advocated for.
Loggers ask lawmakers to help their industry to eliminate wildfire threats — KUNM News, Source New Mexico
Lawmakers and local loggers laid into the U.S. Forest Service at a meeting on Friday, seeking better management of forests in New Mexico to prevent future catastrophic wildfires.
The Economic and Rural Development and Policy Committee invited a few people from the logging industry who are based in southern New Mexico to speak about forest health and thinning needs on Friday in Silver City.
Andrew Ortiz, owner of AOK Forestry, said New Mexico’s forests are overgrown and at risk of wildfires, something that’s become a prominent concern in the state after last year’s severe wildfire season.
“We’re coming to you today with another warning,” Ortiz said. “And our hope is that you will not wait until the damage is done to take action on these matters.”
He said logging could act as a solution, but the industry faces barriers from the U.S. Forest Service, the agency that manages the state’s national forests.
The U.S. Forest Service has voiced an intent to take advantage of thinning forests to prevent wildfires.
The agency has been sued repeatedly over logging proposals, including a recent lawsuit filed by conservation groups against its plans near Yellowstone National Park with concerns about dangers for threatened or endangered species.
Environmental advocates have argued against logging in New Mexico specifically, too, saying it hurts ecosystems and deters wildfires which, most of the time, are healthy for forests.
These points were largely absent from Friday’s discussion.
Ortiz asked legislators to step in to make changes where they’re able to help with local forest management through logging.
“We understand that national forests are federally managed, but the health of the forest and our state impacts your constituents,” he said.
The state’s anti-donation clause is one area he said could be amended to help. The law doesn’t normally allow state funds to go to individuals, but Ortiz asked the lawmakers to explore avenues to deliver grants to loggers, which could help buy materials or equipment.
Sen. Crystal Diamond Brantley (R-Elephant Butte) said lawmakers could look into allocating money from funds that are already set up, like the recently created Legacy Fund that sends money to land and water programs.
Russell Laney, owner of Timber Tramp Logging, said more funding could go to the Forestry Division, which is part of the state’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. He said there are some issues with contracting through that division.
Diamond Brentley and Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena) said they want to look into the contracting delays Laney said he’s experienced with the state.
“If we’re not even managing this correctly at the state level, I’m going to personally look into why as we watch our state burn down around us,” Armstrong said.
Ortiz said there are also issues with how little forest access the Forest Service gives for logging and how the agency conducts specific sales.
Diamond Brantley said many of these problems stem from failed management by the U.S. Forest Service that the state can’t do much about.
Lawmakers passed a bill in the 2023 legislative session that banned prescribed burns during red flag warnings, which signal extreme weather conditions that can lead to out-of-control fires. The U.S. Forest Service hasn’t followed that state law since it’s a federal agency.
Sen. Ron Griggs (R-Alamogordo) said the bill was more about sending a message to the Forest Service that the agency needs to do its job correctly.
Looking to the future, Rep. Tara Lujan (D-Santa Fe) said the state will need another recovery-related bill or plan to deal with the wildfires that will just keep coming amid climate change. She said solutions will take policy.
Ortiz agreed. He said homes and livelihoods will continue to be lost if nothing changes.
“Either decisions are made, or the forest is going to burn,” he said.