TRIBAL ISSUES
US House passes bill to return former sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Indian School land to pueblos
The federal legislation, which transfers 10 acres to a tribal trust for economic and cultural development, now heads to a Senate committee
A measure to return three tracts of land from the former sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Indian School campus to a trust for New Mexico鈥檚 19 Pueblos passed the U.S. House last week and advanced to its first U.S. Senate Committee.
, titled the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Indian School Act, would transfer 10 acres of a former boarding school to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, which provides a museum, cultural programming and events serving the state鈥檚 19 Pueblos. Monique Fragua, the president and CEO of the, said the land would be used for an entrepreneur complex, and would also include light industry and manufacturing spaces.
Lead sponsor Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., issued a statement noting that the action brought the delegation 鈥渙ne step closer鈥� to making the transfer 鈥渁 reality.鈥�
The bill received a hearing Wednesday in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, during which co-sponsor Sen. Ben Ray Luj谩n, D-N.M., expressed his support for the bill. The committee has not yet scheduled a vote on the bill.
sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Indian School was part of a network of federally run schools that removed more than 18,000 Native American children from their families . Children faced forced labor, assimilation, abuse and death. were buried in unmarked graves in sa国际传媒官网网页入口. The sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Indian School.
Members of New Mexico鈥檚 congressional delegation said the return of land is more than just a land transfer.
鈥淚t is about putting a small but important piece of land back where it belongs 鈥� with New Mexico鈥檚 19 Pueblos,鈥� lead sponsor Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said in a statement. 鈥淭he development of these under-utilized parcels of land will create jobs, foster entrepreneurship, and expand business services for Pueblo communities and the broader public.鈥�
In a statement, co-sponsor Rep. Teresa Leger Fern谩ndez, D-N.M., said the land transfer transforms 鈥渁 painful history into a future built on cultural sovereignty, opportunity, and respect.鈥�
