2.3.8.030 Findings

The Council hereby finds and declares that:

(a) The Pueblo of Jemez has filed a lawsuit against the United States in a case captioned Pueblo of Jemez v. United States of America, No. 12-cv-0800 RB/SMV (the "Jemez Lawsuit"), asking the United States District Court to declare that the Pueblo of Jemez has the exclusive right to use, occupy and possess certain lands in the Valles Caldera based on the Pueblo of Jemez's continuing aboriginal Indian title to those lands, and asking the court to quiet the Pueblo's aboriginal Indian title to the lands.

(b) The Pueblo of Jemez has continuously used and occupied its aboriginal lands in the Jemez Mountains, including the area now encompassed by the Valles Caldera National Preserve, for traditional and nontraditional purposes pursuant to the Pueblo's aboriginal Indian title from time immemorial to the present.

(c) In 1860 the United States Congress authorized the heirs of Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca to select lands within the then New Mexico Territory in settlement of the heirs' Spanish land grant claim in the vicinity of Las Vegas, New Mexico.

(d) The United States and the Pueblo of Santa Clara purchased the 1860 American land grant title to the Baca Location No. 1 from the Dunnigan Family on July 25, 2000 to create the Valles Caldera National Preserve and to add lands to the Santa Clara Reservation.

(e) At all times the lands aboriginally used by the Pueblo de San Ildefonso within the Valles Caldera National Preserve have remained subject to the valid aboriginal Indian title of the Pueblo of Jemez, which title has never been abandoned or terminated.

(f) It is not customary for the family of Pueblos, to solve or seek to solve any differences of traditional or cultural matters we might have with other Pueblos using the American court system, but instead rely on traditional and informal agreements between them to address such issues.

(g) The Pueblo de San Ildefonso and the Pueblo of Jemez have reached agreement as tribal sovereigns regarding their respective traditional cultural activities and spiritual uses and in particular, on arrangements as regards the traditional cultural activities and spiritual uses of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso within the Valles Caldera.

(h) The Pueblo de San Ildefonso does not need to be a party to the Jemez Lawsuit against the United States to protect its interests.

(i) The Court can accord complete relief among existing parties without the Pueblo de San Ildefonso being a party to the Jemez Lawsuit.

(j) The United States, both as a party defendant and as the trustee owing fiduciary obligations to the Pueblo people, should not be allowed to pit one Pueblo against another to avoid addressing the aboriginal title of the Pueblo of Jemez to the lands at issue in the Jemez Lawsuit.

(k) The United States recently announced its support of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Article 26, paragraph 1 of the Declaration states that "indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired."

(l) The Pueblo de San Ildefonso is not so situated that disposing of the Jemez Lawsuit without the Pueblo de San Ildefonso being in the lawsuit may or would, as a practical matter, impair or impede our ability to protect any interest the Pueblo de San Ildefonso has.

(m) The Pueblo de San Ildefonso staying out of the lawsuit would not leave an existing party subject to a substantial risk of incurring double, multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations because of any interest our Pueblo has or might have.

(n) Equity and good conscience confirm that the Jemez Lawsuit should continue without the Pueblo de San Ildefonso's participation.

(o) A judgment rendered in the absence of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso would not prejudice the Pueblo or the existing parties.

(p) Prejudice to the Pueblo de San Ildefonso by entry of a judgment in its absence can be lessened or avoided by means other than joining our Pueblo as a party.

(q) A judgment entered in the absence of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso would be adequate as the Pueblo has an adequate remedy based on the agreements heretofore reached with the Pueblo of Jemez, and the Pueblo of Jemez has by resolution formally recognized its duty to honor those agreements with the Pueblo through traditional methods with the Pueblo of Jemez.