[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 112 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1614-E1615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PASSING OF PAUL BERNAL, PUEBLO INDIAN ELDER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 24, 2003

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, the Taos Pueblo and Native 
Americans across the country are mourning the loss of an elder, 
statesman, and military veteran. I rise today to pay tribute to this 
extraordinary man, whose death is a great loss not only for all Indian 
Nations but also for the entire country.
  Paul Bernal, a Taos Pueblo leader in the fight for religious freedom, 
died this month at the age of 92. Also known as ``Pa chal ma,'' or Deer 
Catcher, Paul was an activist who devoted his life to returning control 
of the Sacred Blue Lake to his Pueblo.
  In creating the Carson National Forest in 1906, President Theodore 
Roosevelt carved away thousands of acres of Taos Pueblo land. This 
land, viewed as sacred by the Indians, surrounded and included Blue 
Lake, a vital religious shrine in Pueblo religion. Sixty-four

[[Page E1615]]

years passed before the United States returned the land to the Indians.
  According to Pueblo tradition, the Taos tribe was created out of the 
sacred waters of Blue Lake. The lake, a place of ritual worship and 
historical importance, was under U.S. Forest Service control beginning 
in 1906. Instrumental in the fight for the return of Blue Lake and the 
surrounding wilderness, Paul, served as the key interpreter for news 
reporters and government officials.
  Returning the lake to the tribe was strenuously opposed by some 
powerful opponents: U.S. Senator Clinton Anderson, the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, and the U.S. Forest Service. Under the Anderson 
proposal, jurisdiction would have remained with the U.S. Forest 
Service, which the Pueblo considered insensitive to their religious 
beliefs.
  In 1966, Taos Pueblo turned down $10 million and land concessions 
from the federal government to settle the dispute.
  My father, Stewart Udall, former Secretary of the Interior, 
championed the cause of returning Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo. He met 
many times in the 1960's with Paul Bernal and other members of the 
Pueblo. My father has said many times that Paul Bernal was the ``most 
effective leader in the fight to win back Blue Lake.''
  As Secretary of Interior in the 1960's, my father testified every two 
years before House and Senate committees to advocate for the return of 
Blue Lake.
  In 1970, when Senator Anderson was ill and ailing but still in the 
Senate, an extraordinary bipartisan group of senators--Barry Goldwater 
(R-AZ), Fred Harris (D-Okla), and George McGovern (D-S.D.)--came 
together to pass the Blue Lake legislation.
  President Nixon signed the legislation into law on December 15, 1970. 
Reflecting on his career, Richard Nixon later said that making the bill 
law was, ``one of the most significant achievements of my 
administration.''
  Paul was a respected tribal elder, an icon whose knowledge and 
experience carried the native-rights movement forward for many decades. 
He served as Taos Pueblo tribal secretary for 24 years. He was also 
humble and gracious in sharing credit for restoring tribal control of 
the lake. During a celebration in August 1971, Paul was asked about 
being the leader of such a monumental struggle. His reply, ``No one 
man. All together. The governor, the council, all the people.''
  I was honored to have known this distinguished man, and his death is 
a great loss for all of us. However, I am certain Paul would not have 
wanted his death to create a void where his work is concerned. We can 
all learn from this accomplished man and continue his work for Native 
American sovereignty and spiritual integrity of the land. There could 
be no better tribute to such a man as Paul Bernal.

                          ____________________