The US District Court for the District of New Mexico has denied
Jemez Pueblo’s claim to the Valles Caldera National Preserve in a final
judgment. This is either the end of the Pueblo’s suit to control the Valles
Caldera or the basis for a future appeal.
Jemez Pueblo filed that suit against the US Government in 2013
seeking to take possession of the Valles Caldera National Preserve based on
“aboriginal claims” to the land. They claim centuries of traditional use of the
land by Pueblo members for ceremonies, gathering and hunting give them rights
to it under various laws. The case has been casting a cloud over the Preserve
for years since the court could have taken the Preserve from the public and
given it to the Pueblo had they prevailed in court. Further, the litigation has
strained communication between the Pueblo and Preserve managers.
The case is remarkably complex because of the long history the court had
to examine including myriad Indian law cases, and consideration of
Congressional actions going back to 1860 when Congress authorized the Baca Land
Grant, granting ownership of the Caldera to a Las Vegas, NM family. Because
Jemez Pueblo is considered a sovereign entity by law, its suit is different
than one brought by an organization or company.
Jemez Pueblo asserts that the Caldera should be in its ownership
and control based on their use of the land and their unsettled aboriginal claim
to the land. The Pueblo asserted that they used the Caldera exclusively for
centuries and that the designation of the Valles Caldera National Preserve in
2000 did not extinguish their aboriginal claims to the land. Nor did the 1860
US Land Grant that conveyed the land to a succession of private owners before
federal purchase. However they say that federal management of the land has
interfered with their traditional uses of the area in a way that the private
owners of the Caldera never did.
The Pueblo lost their case before the US District Court in 2014
and appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 10th Circuit remanded
(sent back) the case to the District Court in 2015 and ordered them to resolve
various issues related to the Pueblo’s historic use of the land and other
issues related to the Indian Claims Act of 1946 (among other things).
The District Court issued its Final Judgment on August 31, 2019
stating that the Court “concludes that Plaintiff Pueblo of Jemez does not have
the exclusive right to use, occupy, and possess the lands that encompass the
Valles Caldera National Preserve.” The court based its judgment on
testimony of other Pueblos in the OLE power line case and from the
archaeological record in the Caldera. The judgment settles title (ownership) to
the Valles Caldera in the United States government and dismisses the case.
The Pueblo could appeal back to the 10th Circuit Court but
since that court has already heard the case and remanded it back to the
District Court that may not be a likely outcome. Time will tell.
Congress included special provisions for Jemez Pueblo in the 2015
Act that transferred the VCNP to the National Park Service. The law designates
the tops of various volcanic domes in the Preserve including Redondo Peak as
special areas relative to Pueblo ceremonial practices. While the Act did not
close those areas to non-Pueblo people, it acknowledges the importance of those
domes to the tribe and strongly suggests that the public be respectful of the
Pueblo use and interest in these areas.
Jemez Pueblo has also grazed cattle on the Preserve under the
grazing program Congress mandated in 2015 and the Walatowa Wood Products
Company that the Pueblo operates has had contracts with the National Park
Service and the US Forest Service for processing wood from the congressionally
funded thinning operations in the West Jemez.
Caldera Action has long advocated that the Park Service include
Pueblo perspectives in its development of interpretation programs and hire
tribal members to help staff the Preserve. – Tom Ribe
Jemez Pueblo Lawsuit Denied
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