The Pueblo Revolt

Never Ended

1680 to Infinity

Our Fellowship Announcement!

Greetings Relatives!

PAA is excited to announce the 2025 Cultivating Roots and Resistance (CRR) fellowship! As we near the end of this year's CRR fellowship, we are honored to share how proud we are of our fellows and to be able to accompany their growth as young Pueblo leaders! The CRR fellowship has been structured to foster young Pueblo leaders by empowering them with resources, outdoor learning experiences, and popular political education to become grounded in Indigenous grassroots organizing and community base building. CRR aims to bridge traditional lifeways with grassroots organizing skills, build community and professional networks for Pueblo youth, and foster innovative voices that address social and climate justice issues our tribal communities face today.

In 2025, we will be selecting our next cohort of CRR fellows, 4 Pueblo youth who are ready to engage in shared learning spaces! These youth will get monthly learning stipends of $300 and a $500 scholarship awarded upon completion of the fellowship. We ask that applicants are able to meet all the eligibility requirements and complete the application in its entirety. Find the application in our Link Tree and website!

We are accepting applications right now up until Friday February 14, 2025 at 10pm MST. If you have any questions or trouble with link, please email Program Director, Reyes DeVore at reyes@puebloactionalliance.org with subject line "ATTN: CRR Fellowship".

Be sure to get the application process started sooner than later and share with the Pueblo youth in your life!

Community is building unity amongst Pueblo territory and beyond.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 16, 2024


Indigenous Grassroots, Youth, Climate Justice Advocates and New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition Heads to New York Climate Week

Contact:

Alejandria Lyons: No False Solutions Coordinator, (505) 903-3383, nmnofalsesolutions@gmail.com

Ennedith Lopez: YUCCA Policy Campaign Manager, (505) 226-4994; ennedith@earthcarenm.org

Reyes DeVore: PAA Program Director, (505) 382-2636, reyes@puebloactionalliance.org

Gracie Aragon: PAA Communications Manager, (505) 414-4515, gracie@puebloactionalliance.org

Krystal Curley: Indigenous Lifeways Executive Director, (505) 469-7647, krystal@ourindigenouslifeways.org

A small delegation from New Mexico, made up of Pueblo Action Alliance, Indigenous Lifeways, YUCCA, New Mexico Social Justice & Equity Institute and the New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition, will be on the ground in New York City for Climate Week to convey an Indigenous analysis around false solutions and a just transition. The delegation is attending New York Climate Week under the membership of Just Transition Alliance, an organization who serves people of color, Indigenous peoples, and low-income communities living under the threat of polluting industries.

This year’s return to New York is building momentum off of the 2023 March to End Fossil Fuels that New Mexico delegates also attended with more than 75,000 people across the country to demand for just transition solutions grounded in decolonization, grassroots feminism, Indigenous sovereignty, the defense of human rights and climate reparations, and to intervene between the promotion of false solutions by corporate, governmental and big green NGOs. Ahead of the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit, a representative of New Mexico’s 2023 delegation delivered the New Mexico Grassroots Declaration for Climate Justice – which outlines actions the Biden and Lujan-Grisham administrations must take to secure a just and liveable future for New Mexico – to the U.N. Assistant Secretary General as an act of urging world leaders to prioritize a phase out of fossil fuels.

This year’s purpose is straightforward: to center an Indigenous analysis with Environmental Justice principles on real climate solutions, which includes having Southwest representation at the table when it comes to energy transition and debunking false climate solutions such as hydrogen, carbon capture & storage (CCS), geoengineering, biofuels, produced water reuse, and anything else intended to extend the life of the fossil fuel economy. The New Mexico delegation stands unified in calling for climate accountability and decommodification of Mother Nature.

Representatives of the delegation argue that New Mexico is being used as a resource colony. In this year alone, Indigenous and grassroots organizers were faced with combating local legislation on false solutions, such as hydrogen hub production and produced water reuse. A seat at the national climate table will therefore help to inform the national conversation on a just transition: to divest from harm, and invest in care. 

Later this week, on September 20th beginning at 10AM, the delegation will announce their purpose at this year’s Climate Week in a virtual NM No False Solutions Climate Week press conference. 


Link to register: bit.ly/2024_NFS_Climate_Week_PR

Cultivating Roots & Resistance Fellowship

Pueblo Action Alliance and our Youth Justice Organizer are excited to announce the 2024 all Pueblo youth fellowship. The foundation of the Cultivating Roots and Resistance Fellowship has been structured to cultivate young leaders by empowering them with tools and education needed to be grounded in Indigenous grassroots organizing and community building. This fellowship aims to bridge ancestral lifeways, build networks for Pueblo youth, and foster young innovative voices to address the needs of our communities. 

-Stipend given upon completion

-Traveling Opportunities

-Leadership Development

There’s no such thing as new water

An Op-Ed by Alliance Director Julia Bernal

PAA Presents: A Collaboration with the

New Mexico No False Solutions Coaliton

Local News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 11, 2024


Santa Fe National Forest Releases Decision Notice (DN), Findings of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Final Environmental Assessment (EA) regarding the Los Alamos National Labs 14-mile long Transmission Line / Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) Project 

Contact:

Reyes DeVore, Program Director, reyes@puebloactionalliance.org (505) 382-2636

Julia Bernal, Executive Director, julia@puebloactionalliance.org (505) 220-0051

Gracie Aragon, Communications Manager, gracie@puebloactionalliance.org (505) 414-4515

Our organization, Pueblo Action Alliance, is disappointed with the recent news regarding the Department of Energy (DOE), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Los Alamos National Labs (LANL), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Santa Fe National Forest’s (SFNF) finding of no significant impact during their environmental assessment in relation to LANL’s proposed 14-mile long transmission line project.

View SFNF Supervisor Shaun Sanchez’s signed objection letter

Indigenous grassroots leaders, youth, community members, 

Pueblo leadership, and climate justice advocates have participated in the collective opposition of the electrical power capacity upgrade (EPCU) project, noting numerous federal executive orders that protect culturally sensitive and archaeologically significant areas under threat. Additionally, the All Pueblo Council of Governors (APCG) recently passed a resolution to call for a tribally-led ethnographic study of the Caja del Rio traditional cultural landscape. With LANL’s violent legacy of harming Indigenous peoples, the lab’s contribution to the greater nuclear arms race through plutonium pit production, along with significant disregard for community input and Indigenous sovereignty, this Decision Notice (DN) is a perpetuation of disrespect to Indigenous peoples who are the original stewards of this land.

The Caja del Rio landscape is managed and protected by the Santa Fe National Forest. However, this agency is blatantly abandoning its responsibility to protect the Caja del Rio and impacted communities, by favoring industry and extraction over community health. We call upon Shaun Sanchez, the SFNF Forest Supervisor, to take shift action in protecting public health and protecting cultural resources, as Sanchez has the ultimate decision-making power to push the electrical power capacity upgrade project (EPCU) forward.

Typically, Pueblo Action Alliance’s community call to action is submitting public comment in opposition of these findings. However, considering that these agencies have made the Objection Filing a difficult, inaccessible and nearly impossible process to follow, we are calling on our community members and tribal leadership to follow up to express their concerns and opposition of this process by submitting an email to June Galloway (june.galloway@usda.gov) or calling (505) 438-5350.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Caja del Rio Coalition Urges U.S. Forest Service to halt Los Alamos National Labs’ 14-mile Transmission Line Project

Contact:

Reyes DeVore, Program Director, reyes@puebloactionalliance.org (505) 382-2636

Julia Bernal, Executive Director, julia@puebloactionalliance.org (505) 220-0051

Gracie Aragon, Communications Manager, gracie@puebloactionalliance.org (505) 414-4515

SANTA FE, NM – In July, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Los Alamos National Labs (LANL) held a public town hall meeting at Buffalo Thunder Resort, Pojoaque Pueblo, to seek input from citizens regarding a 14-mile transmission line project through the culturally and ecologically significant Caja del Rio plateau. Plans include expanding the production of plutonium pits for the country’s nuclear weapons arsenal and established missile silos. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) had prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) Project, which would result in the construction of a new transmission line across lands managed by the Santa Fe National Forest, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service on the Caja del Rio Plateau.

Today, in a letter to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) written by the Caja del Rio Coalition, a coalition of Tribal, Hispano, faith, veteran, elected officials, conservation and Indigenous climate justice leaders, members jointly expressed opposition to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project. The harm at play is that the Caja del Rio is an ecologically rich and culturally significant plateau, therefore any projects with plans to disrupt the natural state of this land base would threaten precious ecosystems, sacred sites, wildlife corridors, and the cultural heritage of surrounding Pueblo communities. Many Pueblo tribal leaders have also expressed the encroachment of federal policies that help protect culturally sensitive areas, as well as failure from NNSA to adequately engage or practice Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) with Tribes directly connected to the area.

As a result of historically failed Tribal consultation, the Caja del Rio has already suffered fragmentation from the Norton and Reeves transmission lines, which run along the boundaries of the Caja del Rio and currently serve LANL

Coalition members submitted a 52 page document stating numerous deficiencies in NNSA’s analysis and challenging the NNSA’s inadequate assessment of the cultural, historical, archaeological, geological, and ecological impacts that the proposed Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) project would have on this remarkable landscape. Additionally, coalition members made an apparent rebuttal to the NNSA’s conclusion that, “the proposed transmission line will not cause significant adverse impacts to the human and natural environment.” 

“What is the purpose of national security if it directly contradicts and negatively impacts our culture, heritage, and history, ancestral and familial ties to cherished landscapes, and the deep spiritual and cultural values our communities hold so dearly?” as questioned by the Caja del Rio Coalition

Due to the obvious flaws in NNSA’s environmental assessment process, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) offers two avenues for the Department of Energy (DOE) and the NNSA: to choose no action, or to conduct a complete Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Choosing to conduct an EIS would prompt the NNSA to identify reasonable alternatives that would still allow Los Alamos National Labs to accomplish its mission of national security without sacrificing the sensitive and ecological resources of the Caja del Rio. Further, coalition members state this alternative would steer the Forest Service away from exacerbating the lack of adequate resources and personnel to address similar issues. 

With the Santa Fe National Forest’s (SFNF) special designation of the Caja del Rio’s management area in the 2022 Land Management Plan (Forest Plan), which consisted of dedicated advocacy and collaboration of community members, Tribes, and elected officials with the U.S. Forest Service, this plan strongly prohibits any new utility corridors. Therefore, coalition members argue the EPCU Project “cannot move forward without the Santa Fe National Forest approving both an amendment to the Forest Plan and issuing a special use permit allowing NNSA to construct and operate new transmission towers and lines across our federal public lands.” Coalition members call on SFNF’s Supervisor, Shaun Sanchez, to apply the laws and regulations that apply to the Forest Service such as denying NNSA’s request or requiring a more comprehensive and thorough analysis. 

Members of the Caja del Rio Coalition urge USDA leadership to support informed decisions by the Forest Supervisor that complies with NEPA, which includes rejecting a Forest Plan amendment or special use permit. Members also call on USDA leadership to, “respect the will of the larger community and honor our nation’s Tribal treaties and sovereignty.”

What NNSA is proposing is nothing short of a desecration of the sacred grounds on which our communities rely

For these reasons set forth, Pueblo Action Alliance strongly opposes the proposed 14-mile transmission line project through the Caja del Rio plateau as well as the extension of the production of plutonium pits as it will perpetuate and continue a legacy of harm on our communities, lands, water, and plant and animal beings. This is a direct threat to their cultural and sacred landscape and therefore a direct threat to our cultural and traditional lifeways. 

Los Alamos National Labs continues the legacy of harm: Environmental Racism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Reyes DeVore, Program Director, reyes@puebloactionalliance.org (505) 382-2636 Julia Bernal, Executive Director, julia@puebloactionalliance.org (505) 220-0051
Gracie Aragon, Communications Manager, gracie@puebloactionalliance.org (505) 414- 4515

[Santa Fe, NM] – [7.26.24] – Citizens gathered on Monday, July 22nd from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm MST at a Town Hall meeting at the Buffalo Thunder Resort, Pojoaque Pueblo, to voice community concerns on the Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) and National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) agenda to construct a 14-mile transmission line through the culturally and ecologically significant Caja del Rio plateau to expand the production of plutonium pits for the country’s nuclear weapons arsenal. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) had prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) Project, which would result in the construction of a new transmission line across lands managed by the Santa Fe National Forest on the Caja del Rio Plateau.

Listen to the Town Hall - LANL Admits to future Plutonium Pits if approved.

“Protect Caja del Rio: A Living, Cultural Landscape” - Video

A Legacy of Harm, a Call for Change
The Caja landscape faces imminent danger as this project threatens to harm precious ecosystems, sacred sites, wildlife corridors, and the cultural heritage of surrounding Pueblo communities. With sovereign Tribal nations’ opposition to this project, like Tesuque Pueblo, some have voiced an undermining of tribal sovereignty and Free, Prior and Informed consent. The All Pueblo Council of Governors recently passed a resolution to call for a tribally-led ethnographic study of the Caja del Rio traditional cultural landscape. Additionally, New Mexico’s Congressional delegation, in a letter to NNSA, noted that the public comment/community input timeline “provides insufficient opportunity for NNSA to gather feedback on its proposal and consult with Pueblos who have cultural and spiritual ties to the Caja del Rio.”

Stand Up, Speak Out
The Caja del Rio holds immense cultural and spiritual significance for Indigenous communities, particularly the Pueblos of the Rio Grande. The proposed transmission line would disrupt this connection and encroach on federal laws protecting culturally sensitive areas. Additionally, the project would fragment wildlife corridors and further damage the already fragile desert ecosystem.

With Santa Fe National Forest-managed land included in this proposal, “The DOE/NNSA town hall meeting was a poor display of community participation and the acknowledgment of tribal leaders. While in attendance, there was no agenda available, limited time allotted for public comment and no recognition of tribal leadership, even though the town hall was at Buffalo Thunder Resort, a tribally owned entity of the Pojoaque Pueblo. We can’t ignore the federal agenda to increase its nuclear weaponry and nuclear arms race which will continue harming Indigenous communities, frontline communities and the overall landscape of New Mexico. We can not allow these projects to continue this legacy of
harm and demand that LANL, NNSA and DOE cancel this project altogether, otherwise it will rob our future generations of the right to clean air, clean water, right to culture and a livable future.” - Julia Bernal, Executive Director, Pueblo Action Alliance

Here's how citizens can take action:

  • Demand respect for tribal sovereignty and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes.

  • Advocate for a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the project's true impact.

  • Urge LANL to explore alternative routes and renewable energy solutions.

We must stand together to protect the irreplaceable Caja del Rio from further desecration.

Additional Resources:
Caja del Rio: cajadelrio.org
Protect the Caja del Rio, Pueblo Action Alliance [https://www.puebloactionalliance.org/caja-del-ro]
All Pueblo Council of Governors Resolution No. APCG 2024 – 01 Social Media: Follow and share information from @cajadelrio, @losalamosstudygroup, and @puebloactionalliance

Together, we can ensure a future where the cultural and ecological treasures of the Caja del Rio are preserved for generations to come.

Recent News

O’GAH P’OGEH (SANTA FE, NM) – Indigenous, frontline, youth and environmental groups held a press conference at the State Capitol today to voice their opposition to the Lujan-Grisham Administration’s investment plan to seek a $500 million investment during the 2024 Legislative Session to create a “Strategic Water Supply” (SWS). Through the SWS, the state will purchase treated wastewater from the oil and gas industry and use it for hydrogen production…

2024 Indigenous Women’s Day at the New Mexico State Legislature

In Case You Missed It

 

1st Virtual #WaterBack Event

Watch the recorded livestream to learn more and hear from Julia Fay Bernal (Alliance Director) and Marcus Trujillo (Communications Designer).

“Here in the Southwest, we can’t have #Landback without #WaterBack.”

COVID-19 & Fracking: CLASHING PANDEMICS IN THE GREATER CHACO REGION

“President Biden’s recent executive order to pause oil and gas leasing on federal lands is a step forward toward ensuring clean air, water, land, and our culture for future generations. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty for cultural landscapes like the Greater Chaco region, where Indigenous communities are still impacted by adverse environmental and health injustices.”

National & International News

The Continuation of White Supremacy in Brazil: Religious Persecution with Guarani-Kaiowa Relatives

“What is happening in Brazil are acts of modern day genocide. Religious persecution is a form of assimilation as it is an attack on our birthrights as Indigenous peoples to carry out our lifeways.”

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Many of us hear the words “free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC)” within Indigenous organizing spaces, but what does it actually mean? 



Community Engagement

When we think of capacity building we want folks to be involved, but we also want to meet them halfway. Pueblo Action Alliance accomplishes this in many ways. From popular education, community workshops, community forums, and several coalition initiatives.

We thank and appreciate all our funders and donors!

Kherkem/Ha-wu! Tekanompa! Hoo-eh/Nytrah! Dawa’ae! Tah-ahh! Thank you!


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