Frustrated Native American leaders recently walked out of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting in Santa Fe as members overwhelmingly voted to advance new redistricting maps for New Mexico.
In the aftermath of the 7-2 vote, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) told KRQE, “In the Senate, we try very hard to collaborate and work together as an entire body, not just one party.”
While the new maps were made in collaboration with GOP lawmakers and in the name of making sure incumbents wouldn’t be forced to run against one another, Native American leaders charge the new maps violate the consensus that all tribes came to agree on over the last several months.
“We demand that the state legislature respect the rights of Native American votes, and that includes the right of the sovereign nations to exercise self-determination by developing maps during this redistricting process,” said Attorney Preston Sanchez with ACLU of New Mexico.
Stewart says her proposed map does still include much of the tribal consensus map and both the Senate and the House have approved a redrawn map for the state’s three congressional districts that is expected to soon reach the governor’s desk.
As the process continues to play out, critics contend the map introduced by Stewart stands to alter the layout of districts in Northwestern New Mexico, where the Navajo Nation and other tribal nations are located.
Members of the coalition and elected tribal leaders showed up in force at a recent meeting with as many as 20 speakers taking the microphone to speak out against the amended map, including arguing that the changes disrespected tribal autonomy and their hard work, Source NM reported.
As part of the agreement they spent eight months meeting with the state’s 23 pueblos and tribes to hammer out, coalition members add they sought to preserve Native American majorities of at least 65% in the legislative districts where they are already the majority, while honoring tribal boundaries and distinct communities within each district.
While they now have large majorities in Senate districts 3, 4 and 22, Stewart’s map would mean that Native Americans would comprise 72% of district 3, 62% of district 4 and 62.2% of district 22, all in Northwestern New Mexico.
According to the latest census figures, nearly 12% of the state’s population identifies as Native American, a rise from 9.4% in 2011. That uptick came despite many acknowledging pueblos and the Navajo Nation were undercounted due to pandemic lockdowns.