HOUSE MEMORIAL 73
54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019
INTRODUCED BY
D. Wonda Johnson and Anthony Allison and Derrick J. Lente and Georgene Louis and Nathan P. Small
A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THAT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY AND THE NATIVE AMERICAN BUDGET AND POLICY INSTITUTE CONDUCT AN INDIGENOUS-PEOPLES-LED COMPREHENSIVE NEEDS ASSESSMENT ON THE ECONOMIC, HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL COSTS OF ENERGY EXTRACTION AND FOSSIL FUEL IMPACTS TO THE LAND, PEOPLE, WORKERS, WATER AND AIR IN TRIBAL COMMUNITIES IN NEW MEXICO.
WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to twenty-three sovereign indigenous nations, tribes and pueblos, including the pueblos of Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambe, Picuris, Pojoaque, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, Sandia, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Taos, Tesuque, Zia and Zuni, Kewa Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh; the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the Mescalero Apache Tribe and the Fort Sill Apache Tribe; and the Navajo Nation, who speak the languages of Tiwa, Towa, Tewa, Keres, Zuni, Jicarilla Apache, Mescalero Apache, Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache and Dine and who represent nearly ten and one-half percent of the population in New Mexico; and
WHEREAS, indigenous peoples have lived in their ancestral homelands since before national claims to this territory were made by Spain, Mexico and the United States and before the establishment of the state of New Mexico; and
WHEREAS, traditional knowledge, including the cultural and religious values, languages, beliefs, practices, sciences and histories of indigenous peoples, are inherently and intimately tied to the land, territories and resources upon which the knowledge systems are built; and
WHEREAS, indigenous peoples in New Mexico are strong, proud and resilient and continue to maintain and build upon their ancestral traditional knowledge systems, retaining practices, prayers, ceremonies, worldviews and connections to the earth, which are vital for comprehensive and integrated environmental management that is important to the preservation, restoration and sustainability of ecosystems, waterways and cultural-biological diversity that is vital for climate change adaptation and mitigation and ensuring that future generations inherit a healthy world; and
WHEREAS, the United Nations intergovernmental panel on climate change 2014 report, Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability: Summary for Policymakers, highlights the need to respect the equity of indigenous knowledge systems and western science by stating that "Indigenous, local, and traditional knowledge systems and practices, including indigenous peoples' holistic view of community and environment, are a major resource for adapting to climate change, but these have not been used consistently in existing adaptation efforts. Integrating such forms of knowledge with existing practices increases the effectiveness of adaptation"; and
WHEREAS, indigenous peoples honor and utilize sacred places and culturally important landscapes and waterways for prayer, places of pilgrimage and collection of medicines and herbs on ceded and unceded lands throughout the Colorado plateau, in places such as Chaco canyon, mount Taylor, Bears Ears, the Jemez plateau, the San Juan river, the Rio Grande and the Valles Caldera; and
WHEREAS, investments in extractive economies have created opportunity but have also incurred costs and undermined traditional economic lifeways, including farming and agriculture, that have been compromised because of contaminated soils; and
WHEREAS, mining and extractive industries routinely go through boom-and-bust cycles that leave behind contamination, workers without jobs, lost revenue and general economic instability that may result in increased levels of alcoholism, homelessness, violence, increased incarceration and drug use; and
WHEREAS, there are over two hundred fifty-nine abandoned uranium mines in and around indigenous communities in New Mexico, one hundred thirty-seven of which have no record of any reclamation, and five hundred twenty-three abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation that continue to leak and spread contamination through waterways, air and soil; and
WHEREAS, cumulative and multiple exposures over time to environmental pollution affect every aspect of community life, including health, work and standard of living; cause loss of human, plant and animal life; and decrease biological diversity that is important to the sustainability of all life; and
WHEREAS, the United Nations local communities and indigenous peoples platform was established to facilitate the participation of indigenous peoples in guiding the implementation of climate change adaptation strategies and goals important to achieving greenhouse gas emission reductions, emphasizing the need to implement and honor the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples and the inclusion of traditional knowledge systems and practitioners in decision-making processes; and
WHEREAS, indigenous youth deserve the right of equitable access to educational programs, as well as knowledge of cultural roles and responsibilities, in order to provide them with the foundation of their identities, languages and histories so that indigenous youth can rise above educational challenges and high suicide rates; and
WHEREAS, indigenous communities have suffered environmental disasters such as the 2015 Gold King mine spill, which released three million gallons of acidic water and heavy metals into the San Juan river and created lead levels twelve thousand times the normal amount and contaminated the water with arsenic, mercury and other toxic substances; and the Church Rock uranium mill tailings spill of 1979, which stands as the largest release of radioactive material in the United States, releasing more than ninety-four million gallons of toxic waste and one thousand one hundred tons of radioactive tailings directly into the Rio Puerco, which flows through many communities across McKinley county and which destroyed water used by indigenous farmers and remains the main pathway of exposure to uranium contamination in communities along the Rio Puerco; and
WHEREAS, indigenous peoples' way of life and spirituality require clean air and water and a healthy land base in order to live and thrive, and the protection of natural resources and natural elements is vital to cultural sustainability for indigenous peoples of this land; and
WHEREAS, indigenous communities should not be forced to choose among creating sustainable development, having a healthy economy or maintaining a clean and safe environment, and indigenous communities need regenerative economic investments that consider long-term social and cultural impacts as well as economic sustainability;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the university of New Mexico center for health policy and the Native American budget and policy institute be requested to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment in partnership with impacted indigenous communities and produce a written report that examines the economic, health, environmental and social costs of extractive and fossil fuel impacts to the land, people, workers, water and air in indigenous communities in New Mexico and that includes community-based recommendations for transition planning and opportunities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the nineteen pueblos of New Mexico, the all pueblo council of governors, the Indian affairs department, the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the Mescalero Apache Tribe, the Fort Sill Apache Tribe, the Navajo Nation and members of New Mexico's congressional delegation.
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