Economic Impact of Alternative Resolutions of New Mexico Pueblo Indian Water Rights (Volume II)

Volume II – An Economic and Demographic Profile of New Mexico Pueblo Indians: An Historical Perspective

This Volume provides a reference for the specific implementation of Pueblo Indian water rights quantification based upon different legal scenarios. As explored in Volume I, quantification can take the form of historic use of water, an expanding use to water based upon an expanding Pueblo economy and/or practicably irrigable acres. In each instance specific data are required concerning each Pueblo for determination of an appropriate quantity of water right. Volume II, then, presents a comprehensive picture of the Pueblo Indian economy from earliest recorded history to the present day. Historical data series are included for population, irrigated acres, and where possible, crop values and livestock inventory. A thorough search of all available literature on the Pueblo Indians from the history, political science, anthropology and economics fields was made. The data are sometimes conflicting and many gaps in the historical series occur. The quality of data on the New Mexico Pueblo Indians is quite inadequate. One expects this of their earliest recorded history, but it is true even of data from the 1980 Census. Substantial revisions of the 1980 population estimates were made in 1982, and there is much confusion in the data between Pueblo Indians living on and off the reservation. Recent federal welfare assistance programs have provided incentives for distortions in Pueblo Indian data. The Pueblo Indians themselves measure labor force and unemployment data which are used in the allocation of federal assistance funds. There is a great incentive to overstate unemployment in order to receive a greater share of federal assistance. Thus, you observe great discrepancy between data reported by the Pueblo Indians through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and data reported by the New Mexico Employment Security Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor.