Mt. Taylor mapping pact advances
Mount Taylor near Grants is seen in this May 9 file photo. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Land Department would provide Geographic Information Systems mapping services to further the permanent classification of Mount Taylor as a Traditional Cultural Property under a cooperative agreement approved Monday by the Resources Committee.

The Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, and the Pueblos of Acoma, Laguna and Zuni would share in the $143,841 cost for the mapping under the agreement and use the information to pursue the permanent nomination of Mount Taylor as a Traditional Cultural Property.

The New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee granted a one year emergency listing of Mount Taylor on June 14. The boundary for the emergency designation is the summit and mesa tops set at an 8,000 foot elevation line, but includes Horace Mesa at 7,300 feet.

The current emergency designation boundary, as well as the proposed permanent nomination boundary does not include privately held land.

The nominating tribes hope to complete the application for permanent designation of Mount Taylor as a TCP and submit the application to the state committee. One aspect of the process is determination of a proposed boundary for the application. On Aug. 18 the nominating tribes agreed to use an amended version of the boundary proposed by the U.S. Forest Service.

The Navajo Nation, through the Land Department, has agreed to produce all maps required for the application at cost.

Resources member Norman John II, sponsor, said the resolution still must be approved by the Intergovernmental Relations Committee. “It’s going to be a little hard to pass IGR because of the amount that is set — $143,000 — and we don’t know how much the other tribes are committing to,” he said.

Resources Chairman George Arthur said the goal is to establish the Nation’s interest into the argument as to how and why they believe Mount Taylor is a sacred symbol in Navajo traditional values and teachings. “If we don’t do it, then we have limited input to stand on. It is incumbent on the Nation to move forward with this position.

“My problem isn’t so much the cost. If the Navajo Nation has to pay a million dollars to argue their point that this is indeed a symbol in Navajo religion and Navajo traditional values, so be it,” he said, adding that his concern is what might happen down the road if they acknowledge the Hopi interest.

“We need to make sure that there is some understanding that this does not give the Hopis the magic wand to go say, ‘This is like this and now, therefore, this is my land holdings and my territory.’ We do need some advisement on that.”

Arthur said the mapping would establish the geographical interest in reference to the tribes. For Navajo, Mount Taylor has been a part of the religious symbols throughout the generations, he said. “We do have physical evidence in various parts of the mountain.

“The whole mountain is considered sacred, no ifs or buts about it. It’s a symbolic shrine that has always been there. It doesn’t say pieces of it. I’ve never heard it being referred to as certain pieces of it are sacred to us. It’s the whole mountain,” he said.