Remember Trujillo this Indigenous Peoples Day
All weekend long, the sounds of drums and singing filled the air on the Santa Fe Plaza. To celebrate the original residents of this place, a day isn’t enough — this was Indigenous Peoples weekend, with events Saturday and Sunday.
On Monday, instead of Columbus Day, Santa Fe continues to mark Indigenous Peoples Day.
This is a day to remember the land on which we live once belonged to someone else. The transfer of property was not peaceful. The land was stolen and occupied. That’s just reality.
Accepting that reality is how we proceed to create a better country for all who live here. There’s no need to deny what happened; we can learn from the past, and progress has been challenging on many fronts.
Take voting, a right that belongs to all Americans, although it hasn’t throughout our history.
The Snyder Act of 1924 admitted Natives born in the United States to full U.S. citizenship. Despite the 15th Amendment, which granted all U.S. citizens the right to vote in 1870, it wasn’t until 1924 that Native people could vote.
In New Mexico, it took longer. Miguel Trujillo of Isleta Pueblo came home after fighting as a Marine in World War II, only to learn he could not vote. The state constitution incorrectly had barred Native people from casting ballots — supposedly because they did not pay taxes.
Trujillo hadn’t fought for his nation to be denied his constitutional rights once he came home. He sued and won in 1948, securing voting rights for the Indian citizens of
New Mexico. The ruling from a three-person U.S. District Court panel of judges affected some 18,000 Native voters in New Mexico, people who lived on reservations and pueblos.
Judge Orie Phillips, speaking for the three-judge panel, stated: “[The constitution of New Mexico] says that ‘Indians not taxed’ may not vote, although they possess every other qualification. We are unable to escape the conclusion that, under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, that constitutes a discrimination on the ground of race. Any other citizen, regardless of race, in the State of New Mexico who has not paid one cent of tax of any kind or character, if he possesses the other qualification, may vote. An Indian, and only an Indian, in order to meet the qualifications to vote must have paid a tax. How you can escape the conclusion that makes a requirement with respect to an Indian as a qualification to exercise the elective franchise and does not make that requirement with respect to the member of any race is beyond me.”
Today, Native voters make up an essential slice of the electorate.
Candidates visit tribal leaders asking for support and seeking endorsements and cash. That’s because they can decide elections. Tribal citizens also are running to serve — and they do, whether in the state Legislature or on local county commissions, city governments or school boards. New Mexico sent current Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to Congress before her Cabinet appointment; U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell, a Republican who represents the 2nd Congressional District, is an enrolled member of the Cherokee tribe. Back in the 1980s, Republican Hal Stratton, also a Cherokee citizen, was elected attorney general of New Mexico.
Miguel Trujillo understood voting matters. His victory came on Aug. 3, 1948, a day still set aside to honor him in New Mexico. This Indigenous Peoples Day, remember Miguel Trujillo. Oh, and be sure to vote: Early voting begins Tuesday.