Blue Lake Return Act (Taos Pueblo)

What happened

On December 15, 1970, Public Law 91-550 declared a tract of about 48,000 acres to be "held by the United States in trust for the Pueblo de Taos." The text says the Pueblo depended on these lands "since time immemorial" for water, forage, wood and timber, and as "the scene of certain religious ceremonials." The lands had been part of the Carson National Forest.

The law set conditions. The land became part of the Taos Pueblo Reservation and was to be used "for traditional purposes only," such as religious ceremonials, hunting and fishing, water, forage and wood. Apart from those uses it "shall remain forever wild" as wilderness, and nonmembers could enter only "with the consent of the tribe, but not otherwise." The Secretary of the Interior kept responsibility for conservation measures, and the Indian Claims Commission was directed to decide how the value of the land should be credited against any claim.

The National Archives tells the longer story. It says President Theodore Roosevelt made a withdrawal permanent in 1906, making the land a national forest. Requests to return it in 1912 and 1918 were refused. In 1965 the Indian Claims Commission ruled the Pueblo was entitled to nearly $300,000, but the Pueblo offered to waive it for the land, and the Forest Service opposed a transfer. When he signed the bill, President Nixon said "in 1906 an injustice was done" and "the Congress of the United States now returns that land to whom it belongs."

Taos Pueblo's own page calls the signing a restoration that led to the "unhindered continuation" of its culture.

Good to know. Sources differ on when the land was first withdrawn; 1906 is the date both the National Archives and Nixon's remarks give for the permanent withdrawal.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error