0001|     HOUSE GOVERNMENT AND URBAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
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0002|                       HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 29
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0003|     43rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 1998
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0004|                                   
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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|     
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0011|                           A JOINT MEMORIAL
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0012|     REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND FISH TO ENTER INTO
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0013|     GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT DISCUSSIONS WITH THE PUEBLO OF
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0014|     PICURIS TO DEVELOP A MUTUALLY SATISFACTORY PROCESS TO ALLOW
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0015|     CEREMONIAL HARVESTS FOR ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP SO THAT
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0016|     THE PUEBLO CAN CONTINUE ITS TRADITIONAL ACTIVITIES.
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0017|     
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0018|          WHEREAS, the ancestors of the members of the pueblo of
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0019|     Picuris have harvested bighorn sheep for many centuries in the
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0020|     area now designated as the Pecos wilderness; and
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0021|          WHEREAS, the Rocky mountain bighorn sheep remained
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0022|     plentiful until domestic sheep diseases and overhunting by
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0023|     game hunters depleted the herds in the ancestral lands of the
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0024|     pueblo of Picuris; and
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0025|          WHEREAS, the Rocky mountain bighorn sheep has been a
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<center>- 1 -</center>0001|     sacred animal to the Picuris people and holds great spiritual
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0002|     significance for them; and
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0003|          WHEREAS, the people of the pueblo of Picuris annually
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0004|     honor the Rocky mountain bighorn sheep and other animals of
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0005|     mother earth by performing the bighorn sheep dance; and
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0006|          WHEREAS, the population of Rocky mountain bighorn sheep
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0007|     in the Pecos wilderness is increasing; and
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0008|          WHEREAS, now would be a good time to develop through
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0009|     government-to-government negotiations between the pueblo of
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0010|     Picuris and the department of game and fish a process that
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0011|     would allow the pueblo of Picuris to again harvest Rocky
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0012|     mountain bighorn sheep in their ancestral lands in the Pecos
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0013|     wilderness;
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0014|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
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0015|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of game and fish be
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0016|     requested to continue discussions with representatives of the
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0017|     pueblo of Picuris and develop potential solutions to satisfy
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0018|     the traditional spiritual and cultural practices of the people
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0019|     of the pueblo; and
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0020|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of game and
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0021|     fish report to the interim Indian affairs committee prior to
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0022|     November 1, 1998 on the progress of the discussions with the
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0023|     pueblo of Picuris and any solutions identified that could be
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0024|     implemented to satisfy the spiritual and cultural needs of the
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0025|     pueblo; and
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<center>- 2 -</center>0001|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
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0002|     distributed to the governor of New Mexico, the governor of the
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0003|     pueblo of Picuris, the director of the department of game and
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0004|     fish and the chairman of the state game commission.
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0005|                               
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