The Pueblo of Santa Ana officially reacquired 60,000 acres of ancestral land in a historic trust signing ceremony with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on June 12 at the Prairie Star restaurant in Santa Ana.
The land, once called the King Brothers’ Alamo Ranch and historically known as Tamaya Kwii Kee Nee Puu by the people of Santa Ana Pueblo, was purchased by the pueblo from former Gov. Bruce King’s family in 2016 for about $33 million. The purchase doubled the size of the pueblo to 130,000 acres.
The land holds traditional significance to the Tamayame, the people of Santa Ana who refer to themselves in their traditional Keres language. It served as their ancestral farming and hunting grounds, and later, as grazing land for domestic livestock introduced by Spanish colonists.
“It is very humbling and it’s a good feeling to know that this is ours forever,” said Joey Sanchez, former Santa Ana governor. “The vision that we have, is to make it better than what we got.”
The fee-to-trust document, signed by Patricia Mattingly, the BIA Southwest regional director, ensures that the land will be protected and managed for the benefit of future generations of the pueblo. It states that the property will be maintained in its natural state to serve as a habitat for wildlife and a place where tribal members can gather plants and minerals for traditional and domestic activities.
According to the BIA, fee-to-trust land acquisition involves the transfer of land title from a federally recognized tribe to the United States, with the land held in trust for the benefit of an individual or tribe. As of today, there are more than 56 million acres of land held in trust by the United States.
“This is by far the largest acquisition we are taking into trust from the Pueblo of Santa Ana,” Santee Lewis, BIA Southern Pueblos Agency superintendent, said.
The area covers nearly 100 square miles and is bordered by the Rio Puerco and the Pueblo of Laguna to the west, Rio Rancho Estates to the east, the Pueblo of Zia to the north and private land to the south.
The time is now
The ranch property went on sale in 2016 and the pueblo immediately seized the opportunity to buy back the land. Within three months, they had signed the papers for the purchase. However, it took an additional eight years to get the necessary approvals to sign the land into trust.
“The tribal council … stepped up to the plate and did exactly what needed to be done at every critical juncture even though it involved expending considerable tribal resources agreeing to the original purchase, which was by far the largest single capital investment this pueblo has ever made of acquisition of land,” said Richard Hughes, special counsel to the Pueblo of Santa Ana.
According to Santa Ana Pueblo Gov. Myron Armijo, the pueblo wanted to make sure the land was signed into trust this year before the presidential election in November.
“Whoever gets in that office could delay our getting in the trust for this piece of property and that’s why we had to go to Washington right away,” Armijo said.
Preservation
“It’s a little unfortunate that as Native people, the lands were taken away from us back in the day because we’re having to go back and purchase these properties so that we can continue to practice our tradition and culture,” former Santa Ana Gov. Glenn Tenorio said. “We have to preserve we have to protect, because we’re here today but we never know when we’re gonna leave this earth. But when that day comes, what we do today is to protect for the future that’s yet to come.”
Along with the rebounding animal populations, numerous archaeological sites across the Tamaya Kwii Kii Nii Puu landscape were located and had examples of Mesa Verde-style pottery, according to the Tribal Historic Preservation Office.
“We have discovered that many of the fragile cultural sites spread across these lands have been desecrated by looting activities that appear to have occurred over 20 to 30 years ago,” Thomas Armijo, cultural resource technician for the Tribal Historic Preservation Office.
According to Doug McKenna, director of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the pueblo, the wildlife population, including elk, deer and antelope, has significantly increased. This increase not only provides hunting opportunities for community members but also allows them to engage in traditional activities involving these animals.
With the rise in wildlife populations and the presence of sensitive cultural sites on the land, Santa Ana has increased the number of conservation officers patrolling the area to eight.
“The most important thing is being able to protect our historical sites, having a jurisdiction under us means that we’re able to monitor and protect how we want and not rely on outside entities,” Santa Ana Pueblo Lt. Gov. Kevin Montoya said.
One of those conservation officers is former Santa Ana Gov. Nathan Garcia. As a Geographic Information System technician with the DNR, Garcia walked the entire boundary, locating every survey marker to correct a survey of the land after the pueblo purchased it.
“It’s a blessing, now the tables have turned in terms of now I’m here protecting it, you know, and that’s the biggest thing and we’re blessed to acquire this property,” Garcia said.