Nambe Badlands, Pajarito Plateau, Santa Fe County
Current Population: 2,100
Language: Tewa
Early Societal Structure: Agrarian, Patrilineal clans with ritual patrimoieties with kivas for each moiety
Location: 19,903 acres in Santa Fe County
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Nanbé Owingeh served as a primary cultural and religious center for the northern New Mexican pueblo communities and has existed at its current site since the 14th century.
Most of the water for irrigating fields and gardens in this community comes from the Rio Nambe, and the reservoir which contains some of it above the community. In 2012, a wildfire ravaged the other side of the mountain from Nambe, burning the Ponderosa pines to a fine ash. The strong rains that followed washed the ash, as well as boulders, logs and soil, into the reservoir. The ash deprived the fish of oxygen, killing them all. The sand filled in part of the lake, diminishing its capacity, and decreasing the amount of water available to farmers down stream. The Bureau of Reclamation is currently working with the Pueblo to dredge the lake and return it to its former capacity.
Stolen Land
As with most of the other northern pueblo tribes, land and water rights have figured as the most critical issues facing Nambé. The tribe petitioned the Indian Claims Commission for the return of 45,000 acres bordering the Santa Fe Ski Basin they claimed were illegally taken from them by Santa Fe County in 1905 and declared part of the National Forest. After painstaking legal work, tribal counsel won a favorable ruling from the commission, which then began proceedings to determine the fair-market value of the land at the time of its confiscation. The tribe, however, rejected the government’s offer of a cash payment in 1976, holding out for the land instead. This hope has yet to be realized.
Housing
The tribe was the first pueblo to accept HUD assistance for the construction of residential buildings, doing so initially in 1967. In 2004, the tribe received $662,207 from the U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development for housing construction and management. Tribal housing continues to be comprised of traditional homes, some as old as several hundred years, as well as contemporary structures.
