Editorials

By Ruben Leyva

Historically, people have not viewed the Gila Apache as residing as far north as the Navajo's southern boundary or imagined the Navajo traveling as far south as the border between the U.S. and Mexico. I will elaborate on how allies and adversaries shifted from cooperation to conflict. These records also highlight instances of negotiation and strategic coexistence. The Gila Apache adeptly navigated changing alliances with the Catholic Church and Spanish military presidios, leveraging these relationships to secure resources, protect their families, and uphold cultural traditions.

David M. Brugge, the late author of *Navajos in the Catholic Church*, published in 1983, examined writings by European Christians in New Mexico that documented the conversions and sacraments received by the Apache and our distant relatives, the Navajo, then documented as 'Apaches de Navajó.' As a result, many Apache, Navajo, and other tribes in the Southwest have Spanish-Christian surnames. While not all baptismal, burial, and marriage records specified the tribal affiliation of Indigenous peoples, many did. According to Brugge, the Apachean groups (Navajos and Apaches) significantly surpassed other tribes in New Mexico, with a recorded total of 2,652 baptisms between 1700 and 1870.

The Navajo accounted for the majority, with 1,623 baptisms. The records mention that specific Apache groups embraced the faith. Whether these individuals accepted conversion freely, under duress, or for how long they observed the faith after baptism varied. We know that once it became a part of our custom, some Apache willingly engaged in Catholic sacraments at birth, death, and periodically marriage. In *Apache at War and Peace* William B. Griffen insists, "After the mid-eighteenth century, Spaniards drew finer distinctions between Apache living west of the Rio Grande."

County Resolutions Target Antiquities Act Abuse

• Property Theft by Presidential Decree
• Get Your County to Adopt a Resolution for Reform

The Antiquities Act of 1906 preceded the creation of land management agencies currently in existence.  During the 18th century, profiteers purchased or stole historic objects and lands.  Congress, fearing the loss of historic locations and relics, gave the President sole authority to protect antiquities with some stated limitations, primarily that the land taken be "confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected."

Despite the good intentions of Congress, the 1906 Antiquities Act allows the President alone to steal private land in the name of the government and does not provide redress for local governments and private landowners whose property and livelihoods were confiscated.  The provision limiting the amount of land to be taken has been largely ignored. 

Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis of Utah introduced the Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act to modernize the Antiquities Act of 1906 and end the executive branch's abuse of its monument designation authority (more on the bill below).  The bill gives Congress the sole power to modify or revoke national monument designations and prevents the President from making unilateral decisions regarding national monuments, thereby promoting a more balanced approach to land management.

Senate Bill 176, which proposes three patient-centered reforms to New Mexico's medical malpractice law, continues to gather momentum and has now picked up 20 bipartisan sponsors:

Democratic Sponsors of SB 176
Senator Martin Hickey (D-Abq)
Senator George Muñoz (D-Gallup)
Senator Bobby Gonzales (D-Taos)
Senator Liz Stefanics (D-Santa Fe)
Rep. Anita Gonzales (D-Las Vegas)
Rep. D. Wonda Johnson (D-Rehoboth)
Rep. Patricia Lundstrom (D-Gallup)
Rep. Marian Matthews (D-Abq)

By Ruben Leyva

In Spanish, the nickname "Red Sleeves" translates as Mangas Coloradas. Some attribute the name to the Apache leader's red colored shirt he acquired during a raid. I will not include his Apache name in this editorial.

On January 18, 1863, U.S. Army troops killed this tall, imposing leader after torturing him at Fort McLane. His body was dismembered, and his skull was sent to the Smithsonian for phrenology. The Apache believe he took his desecrated body into the Apache afterlife. He was 70 years old when the troops tortured and murdered him. 

By Bob Ippel, Executive Director of the New Mexico Association of Non-Public Schools

Recently I turned 65 and joined the ranks of those on Medicare. I was impressed with the wide array of options available to my wife and me as we chose plans and providers that would be best for our situation. I was thankful that there was not a cookie cutter approach for all seniors when it came to their healthcare.

By Senator Crystal Brantley

Progressives in New Mexico have always been off the mark when it comes to solving our crime crisis in New Mexico.

In the last decade there has been a trend in the majority party of the Legislature to do everything short of keeping the worst repeat offenders off of our streets and in prison. Call it social justice, call it rehabilitation advocacy, call it whatever you'd like—the truth of the matter is we have yet to act decisively. There is a chance to change that, but here we are discussing another misdirected campaign that does anything but make New Mexicans safer.  Nick Paul,  Ant Thornton and I —the Republicans of the Senate Judiciary Committee—are working hard to make sure the priorities of our committee are kept fixed on upholding the constitution and the rule of law.

Senate Bill 279, known colloquially as the 'GOSAFE ACT,' is set to be heard before our committee in the coming days. Clocking in at 20 pages long, the elaborate bill squirms and writhes to be anything but what it is: a blatantly unconstitutional measure that targets at least half of all New Mexicans.

By Carter Swanson

More and more New Mexico chooses to stockpile money in permanent funds, rather than spend. The total value of these funds is currently a mind-blowing $58 billion. This means that the New Mexico State Investment Council has one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world (according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute). There are only two states, Texas and Alaska, that have larger funds. It is speculated that in the coming decades, revenue from these permanent funds will surpass revenue from oil and gas.

On its face this sounds like a very good thing, right? And, to an extent, it is. Policymakers like Speaker Javier Martinez say New Mexico is preparing for the future. Given the volatile nature of oil and gas, that is a prudent thing to do.

By Ruben Leyva

I have ancestors from the Chihene (Red Paint Apache), whose homeland is in the Black Range Mountains, west of the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The Chihene are one of four bands within a larger group historically known to themselves as the Chi'laa (Gila) Apache. The Chihene were organized into local groups of several extended families. One of the most notable Chihene leaders was Victorio. From 1879 to 1880, the military relentlessly pursued Victorio on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Archaeologist Karl Laumbach's book Hembrillo: An Apache Battlefield of the Victorio War details these encounters.

On October 14-15, 1880, Lieutenant Colonel Joaquin Terrazas's troops attacked Victorio and most of his band at Tres Castillos in northeastern Chihuahua. U.S. Colonel George Pearson Buell, whose troops pursued Victorio south across the border, returned to the U.S. only to learn that Victorio and several of his followers had been killed. Many women, children, and elders were captured and taken to Chihuahua City, where they were sold into slavery. Some escaped capture and fled to the Sierra Madre Occidental, the western boundary between Chihuahua and Sonora. During a recent visit to Chihuahua, Mexico, a conversation with contemporary Apache leader Cristobal Rojas reminded me of something I had heard long ago: Victorio's Segundo (Lieutenant) Nana (also known as Nané) was likely related to me through my Elías line. I humbly recognized that this issue required further investigation.