The Santa Fe New Mexican from Santa Fe, New Mexico • 25

Phony Indians are a big issue Phony artists Phony writers Phony New Age medicine men and spiritualists But instead of helping the matter a law defining who the real Indians are has plunged the Indian art world into chaos Newhoutt New Service photo Sculptor Denny Haskew look Indian but a controversial federal law says he is Working their way 'round the constitution If it were up to the New Mexico Constitution as it was adopted in 1911 Supreme Court justices would be paid $5000 while state district judges and corporation commissioners each would get $3000 The jobs likely would go unfilled in economy But fret not people regularly line up for the positions and those who are fortunate enough to get them are paid handsomely all because what passes as New 1 3 constitution now bears little resemblance to what voters approved 82 years ago Supreme Court justices today are paid $75000 state district judges $67500 and corporation commission- ers $65000 1 State officials initially got around the constitutional mandates on sala- ries through the sort of maneuvering that has tainted reputations of gov- emment leaders ever since been around Disdained as it is it largely is the way government works everywhere Realizing it was time for pay raises the Legislature in the early 1920s agreed to make Supreme Court justices trustees of the New Mexico Law ILibrary and authorized periodic sal- ary increases to them through their 'new positions Lawmakers later directed state dis- trict judges to double as juvenile judges through which pay raises I were granted to them The Legislature made the Depart- ment of Insurance an arm of the Cor--poration Commission and said com- missioners were to serve as the State Insurance Board Periodic raises were granted commissioners in their capacity as insurance board mem-J-bers i 4 In 1963 legislators concluded it was time to take care of themselves The "Legislative Retirement Act was intro-duced by then-Sen Gordon Melody D-San Miguel calling for pensions to be paid to lawmakers after the age of 60 Lawmakers who had served more than five years were to be paid $250 a year for every year served And so it went until 1988 when then-Attomey General Hal Stratton opined that the law was unconstitutional The constitution says lawmakers are to be paid only mileage and per diem while on legislative business critics accused him of headline-grabbing If the Legislative Retirement Act was unconstitutional why had it gone unchallenged for nearly a quarter century they asked Part of the answer probably rests in the fact that New Mexico Legisla- i tures tend to be dominated by Demo- crats and Stratton was the first publican attorney general in New I Mexico since 1930 James Blackmer a former state i district judge sided with Stratton in 1988 declaring the retirement act to be unconstitutiomd But Blackmer left the bench before issuing a written opinion That left the door open to challenges which led to a rejection of the oral ruling a few days ago New current attorney general Tom Udall Is a Democrat but he has hinted he might stay on course and take the case back to court Udall who likes to play the role of an independent populist already Is disliked by some ranking Democrats I stock with them likely would drop even further if he revives Strat- cose State Insurance Commissioner Fa- bian Chavez says Udall must do what he thinks is right although Chavez is an enthusiastic supporter of legislative retirement Chavez was Senate majority leader when the retirement act passed with all but tw votes in the Senate State Sen Joe Skeen of Picacho now a Republican US repre-sentetive cast one of the two negative 1 votes started off as an opponent and wound up ns a staunch 5 Chavez said this past week was 1 young and idealistic so I thought at first that legislators should pet only what the authors of our constitution said they should get "But thore authors have contemplated retire ment plans be-cau-e bark then only the railroad id anything that resembled a pc nr Ion" Chavez said The initi-c-'r Melody never reaped ray benefits from the law lie dn of cum cr a few tors alter the net rporr the bill betatre be rrrdtd the Chvez rmJ "He ha 1 rights to mtrt of the hij hway billboards mK rtlern New Mexico end was ora of the ftw who d' bn to wnrry about IS AN INDIAN? WHO By JONATHAN TILOVE Newhouse News Service With his blond hair and blue eyes Colorado sculptor Denny Haskew looks more cowboy than Indian He is after all no more than one-eighth Native American But he is an official member of the Pota-watomi tribe And the year before last he was named Indian Artist of the Year Oklahoma painter Jeanne Walker Rorex far browner than Haskew figures about one-quarter Cherokee Her late uncle Willard Stone was a major force in Indian sculpture But Rorex is ineligible to compete for Indian Artist of the Year because she is not enrolled in the Cherokee tribe In fact if she persists in calling herself Indian she could wind up in jail For two-and-a-half years it has been a federal crime punishable by up to a million fine and five years in jail to sell arts and crafts as Indian-made if the person who made it is not quite literally a card-carrying Indian Although not a single regulation has yet been written to implement the law and the FBI has yet to make a single arrest the law some bona fide Indian artists into a psychoethnic limbo where they can no longer say who they are It is they say both un-American and un-Indian is America There is freedom of says Rorex She paints gentle somber pictures of Indian women and children in a traditional Oklahoma flat style And yet here is the US government telling her she call her art Indian says Rorex "It is Indian Haskew who lives and works in an old church In the quiet town of Loveland north of Denver finds the whole debate disturbing More Irish than Indian Haskew was reluctant to make much of his Indian-ness when he started sculpting eight years ago However he found that the Potawatomi in him sometimes showed up in his art and he quickly learned that his heritage opened shows to a starting artist Haskew says he has always felt accepted in the Indian art world But he wor- Please see INDIAN Page D2 has plunged the Indian art world into a panic Shows have been canceled friendships destroyed careers and reputations damaged More than that it has escalated the longstanding hostilities in Indian country over just who is an Indian And it has placed the federal government in the unusual role of combatant on the side of those Indian activists and tribal leaders who want to wash clean their culture of what they view as a plethora of fakes phonies and profiting from the current vogue in all things Indian According to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 the question of who is an Indian Is not a matter of biology or genetics of race or ethnicity It Is simply a matter of law An Indian is an enrolled member of a state or federally recognized tribe Period No matter how pure his or her Indian blood an artist who is not enrolled in or otherwise certified by a tribe is not an Indian To its victims and critics it is all a nasty little excursion into what some of them have called an "ethnic that has thrown Don't pass up opportunity to own water utility any changes but we are confident that as voters wo will have an opportunity to control the activities of our local government The consulting firm of Ernst Young retained by the City of Santa Fe estimates that the water rates will Increase approximately 6 Vi percent should the city purch-ve the utility and further estimates that purchase by a private-sector firm would necessitate an increase of from 16 to 22 percent in Older to pros ide a piofit Santa Fo Is currently able to borrow money at approximately 4 percent less than a private company Naturally On Tues ay the citizens of Santa Fc will determine whether to ermit the City of Santa Fi to pursue the purchase of the Sangre dc Crista Water Company presently owned by the Public Service Company of New Mexico for Public is on organization which recommends public ownoithip of our water utility It is our considered opinion that tins Is a once in a-Iiirtime opportunity for our citizens to control one of our most impnitnnt rcsnutcci vs ufer We clearly understand sonic problems miht at as they do ith citizens will have a direct impact on future policy decisions made by the utility Consider the alternative perhaps higher rates from a profit-seeking private sector company We sincerely hope that our elected officials will quickly provide our voters with answers to any pending questions before May 18 After examining the options we are convinced that for protection of this most valuable resource citizen ownership of the utility Is in the interest of our community Louise lx op oU end Joe Ruiz are coi hairs cf Citizens for Rubhc Ownership a private company will seek to recover the additional costs directly from the consumers It is important to emphasize that since municipally-Owned utilities arc cxrmpt from some state and federal taxes some taxes appeal lug in current rates would no longer be charged We arc also confident that the bond underwriters will work to in sure that the value of the utility Is equal to the amount offered to purchase the company The vote on May 18 will clearly demonstrate that our citizens do In fact have an opportunity to determine trie future of our water utility Should they adopt transfer of the water utility to the city it will mean that our citizens will have direct access to our represent at ivn on the City Council As a consequence.