{"id":35402,"date":"2023-03-06T19:59:26","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T02:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/nomination-of-native-american-leader-in-new-mexico-in-limbo\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:24:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:24:40","slug":"nomination-of-native-american-leader-in-new-mexico-in-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/nomination-of-native-american-leader-in-new-mexico-in-limbo\/","title":{"rendered":"Nomination of Native American leader in New Mexico in limbo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Family
Family members of missing and slain Native Americans talk with New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, center, in Albuquerque on Feb. 24, 2022. With two weeks remaining in the legislative session, she has yet to submit her nominee to oversee the state Indian Affairs Department to the Senate. (Susan Montoya Bryan\/The Associated Press)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

ALBUQUERQUE \u2013 New Mexico\u2019s Democratic governor says she believes vetting of her Cabinet members is crucial. But with two weeks left in the legislative session, she has yet to submit her pick to lead the state Indian Affairs Department to the Senate for confirmation.<\/p>\n

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham\u2019s nomination of James Mountain has sent shockwaves through tribal communities<\/a>, particularly among advocates dedicated to stemming the tide of violence and missing persons cases in Indian Country.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Mountain, a former San Ildefonso Pueblo governor, once was indicted on charges that included criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and aggravated battery of a household member. The charges were dropped in 2010, with prosecutors saying they did not have enough evidence to go to trial.<\/p>\n

Native American women who spoke to The Associated Press say they\u2019ve been told by some in their communities to stay quiet about the appointment, but they refuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think relationships are at risk right now that have taken generations for us to build,\u201d said Angel Charley, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. \u201cAnd while we understand the pain and division that this is causing, it\u2019s important to remember that it\u2019s not the women who are bringing this up who are causing the division. We are simply highlighting a concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s much like the narrative surrounding a nationwide movement to confront the disproportionate numbers of missing and slain Indigenous women and how women themselves are being asked to solve a problem they didn\u2019t create, said Christina M. Castro, a founding member of the social justice organization Three Sisters Collective.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not only being tasked with taking this on, but we\u2019re villainized for speaking up,\u201d Castro said.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s office said in a statement Thursday night that it was prioritizing sending appointments for university regents to the Senate during the final days of the legislative session, since regents cannot work without being confirmed.<\/p>\n

Mountain still can serve as head of Indian Affairs without confirmation. If no hearing takes place before the Legislature ends March 18, the next likely opportunity for the full Senate to vote on confirming him wouldn\u2019t come until January 2024.<\/p>\n

A request made a week ago on behalf of the state\u2019s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Task Force to meet with the governor went unanswered, and many state elected officials have remained mum about the governor\u2019s choice not to push for a hearing.<\/p>\n

Advocates call the silence deafening.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really up to the governor at this point to do the right thing and to recognize the pain and hurt it\u2019s creating and look for other nominees who can do the job,\u201d said Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty, a member of the task force. \u201cAnd there\u2019s plenty of New Mexicans out there from different tribal nations who can do this job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren outlined his concerns in a letter sent to Lujan Grisham this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor, I greatly appreciate your strong advocacy on behalf of the Navajo and Indigenous people of New Mexico and across the country,\u201d he wrote. \u201cHowever, on this particular issue, I must stand with our leadership and my people whose voices are so often unheard on concerns like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor has defended Mountain\u2019s nomination, saying those who disagree should respect that charges against him were dismissed. Lujan Grisham spokesperson Maddy Hayden said substantiated allegations against someone in a leadership position would be cause for concern and, likely, disqualification.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are certainly not in receipt of any such allegations nor is anyone else, to our knowledge,\u201d Hayden wrote in an email to The Associated Press. \u201cWe would strongly encourage anyone with substantiated allegations to bring them to light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mountain has not directly addressed the concerns about his nomination, but he has defended himself, telling the online outlet New Mexico in Depth<\/a> that he dedicated himself to reestablishing connections and confidence among tribal communities.<\/p>\n

The Indian Affairs Department declined Friday to share details of Mountain\u2019s vision for the agency but pointed to a letter of support from his daughter, Leah Mountain, that was directed to state lawmakers. She described a devoted father who instilled cultural identity, confidence and aspiration in her after her mother left.<\/p>\n

She said the allegations against him are false.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been painful for only half of this story to be told,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

For some Native American women, trusting the judicial system as the governor has suggested and having a platform from which to raise their concerns have been challenges. Task force members have countless stories about families who are left to search for loved ones when law enforcement didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Having an advocate overseeing Indian Affairs who can relate to survivors and families who are missing relatives would create a pathway for Native women\u2019s voices to be heard, said Ashley Sarracino, president of the Laguna Pueblo Federation of Democratic Women.<\/p>\n

While she comes from a family that empowers women, not everyone has that support, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the women are silent,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of the women experience oppression and, you know, they\u2019re just not willing to speak up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Family
Family members of missing and slain Native Americans gathered to watch New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sign legislation during a ceremony in Albuquerque on Feb. 24, 2022. (Susan Montoya Bryan\/The Associated Press)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mountain had been indicted in sex case<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-35402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82967,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35402\/revisions\/82967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35402"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=35402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}