While written “Indian” policies date back as far as the mid-1700s, this exhibition will look at federal and state policies from 1912 to 2012 that have had positive and negative impacts on the Pueblo tribes.
Among the 33 key policies that will be examined are:
The 1970 Return of Taos Pueblo Blue Lake – a congressional action that restored 48,000 acres of sacred worship grounds back to the Taos Pueblo that had been taken away from them by the U.S. government in 1906; and the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act (or Snyder Act), granting legal citizenship to America’s indigenous people; and the 1948 New Mexico constitutional change giving American Indians the right to vote; and the 2006 Native American Languages Preservation Act which authorizes funding for programs for tribes to use to prevent the loss of heritage and culture.
“Very few people in this country and perhaps in the world, know to what degree Pueblo people have been impacted through policies conceived by the United States in ways that really threaten one of the oldest indigenous communities in this world.” said Regis Pecos (Cochiti Pueblo), co-director of the Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School.
“There’s just hundreds of different kinds of policy actions that have taken place that have really driven who we have become nowadays and it also drives us to really take a look at our core values again to really see from whence we came and perhaps from whence we need to return.” said Ron Solimon (Laguna Pueblo), the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center’s executive director.
Visitors will be presented with intimate interviews with contemporary pueblo people reflecting on how they are living the core values of love, faith, compassion, service and community today. Pueblo youth have also weighed in their thoughts about how they will meet historic and future challenges for themselves and for their communities in the next 100 years.
A large conclave of Pueblo educators, linguists, health representatives and leaders from the northern and southern pueblo tribes assisted in developing the exhibition’s public programming and educational component for first to 12th grade. The curriculum references state standards and will be released in early March 2012. Study guides for teachers will be available online at
http://indianpueblo.org/100years
The year’s panel discussion schedule is online now beginning with “Changing Roles: Women in Leadership, Health, Education and Art on March 14.
The exhibition will include an interactive media component and throughout the year, updated interviews and lecture podcasts will be placed online as well. A short video about the 100 years exhibition is available online at http://indianpueblo.org/100years/.
“This special exhibition is only the beginning in a larger vision to help in the planning and development of a new permanent exhibition called, The Pueblo Experience.” said Ron Solimon.
100 Years is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, New Mexico Humanities Council and in-kind support from our Pueblo community members, and the New Mexico Centennial Foundation. The School for Advanced Research http://sarweb.org/index.php and the Leadership Institute http://www.sfis.k12.nm.us/leadership_institute both located in Santa Fe, also contributed and collaborated on the exhibition and post exhibition continuing education.
100 Years Project Director, Travis Suazo (Laguna/Acoma/Taos Pueblos) said, “This is a great opportunity to be part of Pueblo Indian history. This historic exhibition is being initiated from a tribal museum, from our Pueblo Indian perspective to educate and inspire. It’s our contribution to the New Mexico Centennial celebration.”
The exhibition will be unveiled at 2 pm on February 4, 2012 after a short introductory program that begins at 1 pm.
The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is owned and operated by the 19 Pueblo tribes of New Mexico and is located at 2401 12th St. NW in Albuquerque.