New Mexico Indian leaders cite problems,urge cooperation

Deborah Baker

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2000 | 8:50 a.m.

SANTA FE - Indian leaders urged renewed cooperation between tribes and the state, but the unresolved casino payments dispute loomed large Tuesday.

Sara Misquez, president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, asked state lawmakers to "set aside old stereotypes and begin a new chapter in our governmental relations."

The Mescaleros need state help in building schools, facilities for the elderly and a detention center, she said - needs that other tribes outlined, as well.

"Our futures, whether we realize it or not, are most assuredly intertwined," Misquez told the Legislature on Indian Day.

Misquez, in an interview, declined to discuss gambling issues. She cited the upcoming arbitration proceeding with the state over the tribe's refusal to pay the 16 percent of slot machine proceeds required in 1997 gambling compacts.

But other tribal leaders who spoke to a packed House of Representatives chamber - an annual event - referred to the "illegal 16 percent tax."

Carson Vicenti, a spokesman for the Jicarilla Apache Tribe, said a proposal that the tribes make back payments to the state at the 16 percent rate was "unreasonable, unacceptable and outright wrong."

Many lawmakers have said they will not approve new gambling agreements, with lower payments, unless tribes that are in arrears repay the state in full.

"Tribes are tired of exploitive and excessive revenue-sharing figures," said Vicenti, a former tribal council member.

The Jicarilla Apaches have not made any payments under the 1997 compacts. And the tribe has said it would not sign a new compact if lawmakers were to approve one during this session.

Stanley Pino, chairman of the All Indian Pueblo Council, said casino gambling has been criticized for reducing gross-receipts tax collections by the state and the city of Albuquerque.

But that ignores the contribution of money won or earned at casinos and spent off-reservation, Pino said.

Jemez Pueblo Gov. Raymond Gachupin, representing New Mexico's southern pueblos, urged lawmakers to tackle the problem of inequitable funding of school construction and to do something to help recruit and retain Indian teachers.

"There are decreasing role models, as Indian teachers are on the decline," he said.

Tribes also need help with health care and welfare reform issues, in dealing with youthful offenders, and in figuring out how to care for elders without sending them away, he said.

"Contrary to beliefs, we did not vanish with the collapse of Chaco Canyon or Mesa Verde," Gachupin said. "We are your neighbors. We are your friends. ... We are your constituents. And most importantly, we are your fellow New Mexicans."