Manuel Lujan: “Today I rise to ask my colleagues to support an important measure that will allow the Pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh, in…”

“Today I rise to ask my colleagues to support an important measure that will allow the Pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh, in Northern New Mexico, to expand economic opportunities for their tribal members. Ohkay Owingeh is a small tribal community (Pueblo) in the northern part of my district and is part of the cultural fabric of Northern New Mexico. Since before Spanish rule, and American Manifest Destiny the small pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh used its surrounding lands to provide for its people. As history moved to present day the Federal government and tribal communities entered into trust treaties to provide for the well being of Indian people across our nation. As part of the federal government's trust obligation to tribal communities, putting lands into trust for use by tribal people is something that is fundamental to the government-to-government relationship between the United States and individual tribal communities. In the modern age many tribes develop part of their trust lands to create economic opportunities for their people.”