This great comment was posted by a community member to the comments section for the article we currently had in the Journal (article link here)
We thought it needed to be shared -
"Guadeloupe de Hildago is the International Treaty that applies to
Aamodt.. it states that property rights existing at it's inception will
be respected. This specifically includes water.The Pueblos were not
"dependent sovereign nations" or wards of the government (via the BIA
)but Equal Citizens under both Spanish and Mexican law. There were no Priority
Water Calls under Spanish and Mexican Law. This is a later invention of
the US Government. "Aboriginal water rights"( priority calls) are not
found in or before Guadeloupe de Hildago. This international Treaty
between nations has evidently never been higher than District Court in
New Mexico. How could that be a definitive ruling ?The current Aamodt
Settlement is a racially based preferential treatment establishing water
rights that historically did not exist. The US Gov has aided in unfair
representation in the courts by providing for one groups legal costs and
attorneys while the other groups have had unequal and inadequate
representation. Some say Santa Fe County's interests are contrary to
many Pojoaque and Nambe residents interests because of the water rights
in the Aamodt Settlement being moved downstream for Santa Fe County to
manage. Potentially taking from Pojoaque and Nambe residents to aid in
further new Santa Fe County growth. The notion that there will be four
Pueblo members of a managing Water Board with one Santa fe County member
further illustrates the inadequate representation of Pojoaque and Nambe
residents rights. A deeply flawed settlement."
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