Embattled figure in Native politics resigns as chairman of pueblo governors council in New Mexico
Santa Fe, NM – Santa Fe, NM (AP) – A besieged figure in Native American policy has resigned from his post as president of the Governors’ Council of the All Pueblo and ended his external consultation work for the state of the New Mexico after his arrest for suspicion of driving.
The files obtained by the Associated Press show that James Mountain submitted his resignation letter on Tuesday to the Council, an eminent defense group of the 19 Amerindian communities to the New Mexico and another in Texas. He noted that it was in force immediately.
Also on Tuesday, Mountain ended his work as a contract advisor to the Indian Affairs Department, said Jodi McGinnis Porter, spokesperson for the governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Pojoaque pueblo police arrested Mountain a week ago, suspected of driving when she was in intoxication in a tribal casino. He was detained during the weekend in a Santa Fe county prison after refusing a sobriety test on the ground, according to an online booking newspaper and the tribal pueblo pojoaque court.
Friday, the Associated Press left emails and telephone messages for Mountain to ask for comments. AP also left messages with the Council of Governors All Pueblo. The Council website has always listed Mountain as president on Friday.
On Friday, it was not clear if Mountain was officially charged, although the Pueblo Pojoeaque court said that an indictment had been scheduled for next week. AP submitted a request for detailed judicial files to the court so that a judge can consider.
Appointment of Mountain in 2023 as secretary of the cabinet to the Department of Indian Affairs of New Mexico under Lujan Grisham has angry the Amerindian defenders who work to fight against violence and the cases of disappeared persons within their communities.
They underlined the accusations passed against Mountain which included criminal sexual penetration, a kidnapping and aggravated battery of a member of the household. Lujan Grisham’s office stressed that these accusations were rejected in 2010 after prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence to be tried – and urged those who raised his past to “respect the legal process”.
Lujan Grisham had also highlighted the leadership of Mountain in San Ildefonso Pueblo as governor of the tribe, and his expertise in state and tribal relations. But the confirmation process of the State Senate for Mountain has stalled, and he left the post of cabinet after having served less than a year to work as the Main Policy Advisor of Lujan Grisham for tribal affairs.
Mountain left the employment of the government of the direct state at the end of March, but he settled in a similar role as a contract counselor – until the termination of the Tuesday contract, said McGinnis Porter.
Mountain was governor in San Ildefonso Pueblo from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2015 to 2017. He supervised the completion of the Aamodt Water Colony, concerning Pueblo’s aquatic rights, and the Indian land colony in 2006.
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The writer Associated Press Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, in New Mexico, contributed to this report.
