Congresswoman Stansbury Highlights Conservation Work of NM Tribes and Pueblos
During a Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples hearing, Rep. Stansbury highlighted the need to reinforce Indigenous sovereignty and implement Indigenous-led resource management practices
WASHINGTON—During an oversight hearing of the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States this morning, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) highlighted elevating Indigenous-led resource management practices.
As New Mexico’s communities face the worsening impacts of climate change, Rep. Stansbury’s remarks highlighted the conservation initiatives of Santa Ana and Santa Clara Pueblos, emphasizing the critical contributions of Indigenous communities as stewards of our air, lands, and waters. Rep. Stansbury also spoke to the importance of developing a pipeline of Indigenous leadership in resource management before questioning the witness panel, including The Honorable Michael Fairbanks, Chairman of the White Earth Nation.
“Our Indigenous communities manage the land and water this way because they know it is intrinsically sacred, it is vital to cultural preservation, and it is core to the well-being of our communities and future generations,” said Rep. Stansbury. “As the testimony has highlighted, there is such an important need to lift up Indigenous resource management and support the development of future generations in this work. As a partner, I believe the U.S. government has a fundamental responsibility to acknowledge its dark past, right the wrongs of the past, and acknowledge and honor Tribal sovereignty.”
Rep. Stansbury continued by questioning Fairbanks on the support provided by the federal government. “What do you think the federal government can do to help support Tribal sovereignty, promote traditional stewardship and management of natural resources, and help to develop the next generation and develop a pathway for Indigenous natural resource managers?”
Fairbanks responded, “As a Tribe, we are the stewards of our lands...We’ve been trying to reach out to co-manage our forest with these agencies because we’ve been doing this for a long time. A lot of the Indigenous trees that we want back home here, we’re requesting that they be replanted like some of our cedars that are very sacred to us that are used for so many of our sacred ceremonies...We’re connected and those are just some of the examples of the connection that we have. And management is something that we would love to do...if we can have meaningful consultation.”