March 31, 2010
Tom Udall and the Indian School
I don’t know what Stewart Udall thought about the All Indian Pueblo Council’s secretive and almost surely illegal decision to demolish (in collusion with sympathetic officials at the Bureau of Indian Affairs) the historically significant campus of the Santa Fe Indian School. (Here is the background for those new to the tale.) Throughout his career, the elder Mr. Udall focused less on preserving buildings than on preserving land. Fair enough. But I fear that his son Tom, New Mexico’s newest United States Senator, may treasure political expediency and political correctness over investigating substantial allegations of federal misconduct.
On March 5, I sent him this fax:
Senator Tom Udall
110 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510
Dear Tom,
On October 8, 2009, I received a phone call from a member of your
Washington staff, Raven Murray, who was following up on a letter I
sent you on June 8 regarding my request for an Interior Department
investigation of what appear to be clear and deliberate violations of
the National Historic Preservation Act in the demolition of the
historic Santa Fe Indian School campus. (The details are described in
the enclosed copy of my letter to the department dated September 25,
2008.) Ms. Murray said she had been in contact with Interior and had
been assured that a legal opinion from the Inspector General's office
was forthcoming. I've heard nothing since.
It has now been a year and a half since I first contacted Interior
about this matter. I am asking that you again inquire about the status
of the case.
Thank you very much.
There has been no response.
George Johnson
The Santa Fe Review
On March 5, I sent him this fax:
Senator Tom Udall 110 Hart Senate Office Building Washington D.C. 20510 Dear Tom, On October 8, 2009, I received a phone call from a member of your Washington staff, Raven Murray, who was following up on a letter I sent you on June 8 regarding my request for an Interior Department investigation of what appear to be clear and deliberate violations of the National Historic Preservation Act in the demolition of the historic Santa Fe Indian School campus. (The details are described in the enclosed copy of my letter to the department dated September 25, 2008.) Ms. Murray said she had been in contact with Interior and had been assured that a legal opinion from the Inspector General's office was forthcoming. I've heard nothing since. It has now been a year and a half since I first contacted Interior about this matter. I am asking that you again inquire about the status of the case. Thank you very much.
There has been no response.
George Johnson
The Santa Fe Review