IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1634 
Congratulating Taos Pueblo, its leaders and its people, on the 40th 
Anniversary of the return of their sacred Blue Lake lands. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 16, 2010 
Mr. LUJA´N submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
RESOLUTION 
Congratulating Taos Pueblo, its leaders and its people, on 
the 40th Anniversary of the return of their sacred Blue 
Lake lands. 
Whereas Taos Pueblo Indians have occupied their present 
homeland in northern New Mexico since time immemo-
rial, and their central village there is the oldest continu-
ously inhabited structure in North America; 
Whereas Spanish rule was established over the Taos Pueblo 
territory in 1598 under laws recognizing Indian 
possessory rights; Mexico occupied and assumed sov-
ereignty over the territory in 1821, confirming Indian 
possessory rights; and, in 1848, sovereignty over the ter-
ritory passed to the United States under the Treaty of 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, which guaranteed protection of all 
property rights recognized by Spanish and Mexican law; 
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Whereas, nevertheless, in 1906, illegally and without the con-
sent of Taos Pueblo, the United States Government ap-
propriated the Pueblo’s sacred Blue Lake lands and 
made them a part of Carson National Forest, a serious 
threat to and interference with the free and unmolested 
practice of their religion by the people of Taos Pueblo; 
Whereas Taos Pueblo began at once after this illegal taking 
a long and courageous and, at the time, seemingly hope-
less struggle to regain title to these lands, sacred to them 
and an integral part of their cultural and religious life; 
Whereas, in 1965, the United States Indian Claims Commis-
sion affirmed that the United States Government had un-
justly taken Taos Pueblo’s Blue Lake lands and prepara-
tions were made to compensate the Pueblo in money for 
the illegal taking, a move which the Pueblo rejected, still 
demanding, instead, a return of the lands themselves; 
Whereas because of the steadfast efforts of the Taos Pueblo 
leaders and people through the years, their unanswerable 
moral and religious arguments, and their principled re-
fusal to accept nothing short of return of the Blue Lake 
lands, more and more American organizations and lead-
ers, public and private, began to join in the Blue Lake 
cause and to take to heart the words of the great old Ca-
cique of Taos Pueblo at the time, the late Juan de Jesus 
Romeo: ‘‘Our Blue Lake wilderness keeps our water holy 
and by this water we are baptized . . . If our land is not 
returned to us, if it is turned over to the government for 
their use, then it is the end of Indian life. Our people will 
scatter as the people of other nations have scattered. It 
is our religion that holds us together’’; and 
Whereas almost unbelievably and against all odds, because of 
their own unyielding fight and because their cause was 
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just, the people of Taos Pueblo finally won out, and legis-
lation returning 48,000 acres of their sacred Blue Lake 
lands to them cleared its last congressional hurdle and 
passed the Senate in December 1970 and, the same 
month, was signed into law by the President of the 
United States, who said at the time: ‘‘This bill indicates 
a new direction in Indian affairs in this country . . . in 
which there will be more of an attitude of cooperation 
rather than paternalism, one of self-determination rather 
than termination, one of mutual respect’’: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) congratulates Taos Pueblo, its leaders, and 
its people, on the 40th Anniversary of the return of 
their sacred Blue Lake lands; 
(2) recognizes the long and courageous struggle 
of the Taos Pueblo leaders and people through the 
years that brought about this ultimate and greatly 
important success; and 
(3) encourages the observation of this anniver-
sary, so important to Taos Pueblo as well as to all 
American Indians and tribes, with appropriate cere-
monies and activities. 
Æ 
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