The Four Corners region is a distinct community whose citizens regularly cross state and reservation borders on their way to work, shop or play.
Southwest Colorado residents frequently travel to New Mexico, whether it’s shopping in Farmington, jobs at the Shiprock hospital, or to recreate at Chaco Historic Park, Navajo Reservoir or on the Galloping Goose rail bus in Chama.
It’s Indian Country, and U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., is on the front lines of Native American battles at home and in Washington.
Udall began serving in the Senate in 2009, after two decades as a U.S. Representative and New Mexico State Attorney General. Udall was re-elected to the Senate in 2014, and is now New Mexico’s senior senator. He is the son of the late Stewart Udall, who served as secretary of the U.S. Interior Department from 1961 to 1969.
Udall sits on committees for Appropriations, Indian Affairs, Rules and Administration, Foreign Relations, and Commerce, Science and Transportation.
In the 115th Congress, Udall will serve as vice chairman and lead Democrat of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
“I am enormously proud to represent and defend the sovereignty of New Mexico’s 23 tribes,” Udall told The Journal in an email. “Over my lifetime, I have witnessed the struggles and injustices that Native Americans have faced.”
While there has been progress in Indian Country, there is more work to be done, he said. Udall wants to ensure “meaningful consultation” with tribes on issues that impact them.
“In the next year, we will see what direction the new administration will take with regard to Indian Country,” he said. “I’m pleased to take this new committee position to work more closely with tribal communities in New Mexico and across the country, and I will fight to improve our government to government relationship.”
As vice chair on Indian Affairs committee, Udall said he will fight for the safety and rights of the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters. In a Nov. 30 letter to President Barack Obama, Udall urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider rerouting the pipeline to better safeguard water supplies depended on the by the tribe and other downstream users.
Udall is dismayed about the violence against protesters, and he condemned police tactics.
“Law enforcement and private security forces are using inexcusable means against peaceful demonstrators, including rubber bullets, attack dogs and water cannons in subfreezing temperatures,” he stated in a press release. “A Navajo woman was seriously injured after being shot in the face by a rubber bullet.”
Udall is also fighting for compensation for the Gold King Mine spill victims, which reached into New Mexico and the Navajo reservation.
This September, Udall along with a bipartisan group of senators, passed an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act, which will expedite the reimbursement for emergency response costs and individual claims due to the Gold King mine spill this summer. The amendment also calls for the EPA to pay for water quality monitoring. It was passed by Congress on Dec. 10 and signed by Obama on Dec. 16.
“This amendment holds the EPA responsible for the Gold King Mine spill, and ensures it will make things right with the Navajo Nation and the communities of Northwestern New Mexico,” Udall said. “Many Navajo farmers and others across the region have not seen a dime to compensate them for their losses.”
Udall recently toured Chaco Cultural National Historical Park with Deputy Interior Secretary Mike Conner for a listening session about concerns surrounding oil and gas leasing. Udall supports Conner’s decision to complete a joint review of energy development in the area by the BLM and BIA to protect archaeological resources.
“This is an important step that I hope will result in a balanced approach as the agency writes its resource management plan for the area,” he said.
Udall has also passed regulations that strengthen laws to prevent the illegal sale of sacred cultural items.
On Dec. 9, the House and Senate passed the Protection of the Rights of Tribes to stop the Export of Cultural and Traditional Patrimony resolution.
It condemns the theft, illegal possession or sale, transfer, and export of Tribal cultural items and calls for several measures to be implemented to help identify and stop the illegal trafficking of Tribal cultural patrimony and secure repatriation of exported items to the rightful Native American owners.
“Sacred Tribal cultural items are not art, they are essential to the history, cultures and traditions of Native American communities. They deserve respect at all levels of government,” Udall said. “With this resolution, Congress is telling the federal government that it must make it a priority to understand the scope of the problem, stop the illegal theft and sale of Tribal cultural items and consult with Tribes in the effort to crack down on this practice.”
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
