City Council formally recognizes the burial ground for Albuquerque Indian School students

Albuquerque city councilors made an official step forward to assist with the next steps of the Native American grave site at 4-H Park. 

A resolution recognizing the cemetery where students from Albuquerque Indian School are buried at the city-run park was passed with a unanimous vote at the Monday, Oct. 4 Council meeting. 

Councilors Lan Sena, Isaac Benton and Cynthia Borrego sponsored the resolution. It is expected to be signed by Mayor Tim Keller on Monday, Oct. 11, during the city’s Indigenous People’s Day celebrations.

“I know that it doesn’t exactly bring justice to what has occurred,” Sena said during the meeting. “But I think it’s important that we do acknowledge what has happened and the trauma that continues to be experienced by our Indigenous communities.”.

This follows an official apology offered from the city that was read by Keller on Saturday, Sept. 25.

The issue drew attention again in June after someone noticed the disappearance of  a bronze marker identifying the park as a burial site between 1882 and 1933 for Albuquerque Indian School students from “Navajo, Zuni and Apache tribes.” City researchers also determined children — and maybe some adults — from the nearby Indian Health Services Hospital were also buried on the site. City officials from the Parks Department eventually said the plaque was reported stolen back in 2019. It had never been replaced.

“It didn’t seem appropriate just to replace the plaque,” Albuquerque Native American Affairs Coordinator Dawn Begay told city councilors. 

Begay’s office leads the city’s response. They’ve hosted several public meetings, conducted outreach with many tribal nations and assist the Parks and Recreation Department with appropriate measures to maintain a memorial created by the public this year at 4-H park marking the burial ground. 

The city’s Commission on American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs also outlined clear information about suggestions so far for what’s next for the gravesite and park, including an effort to close the site and limit recreation.

The idea to stop recreation at 4-H Park was supported by Councilor Benton. 

“If we know the boundary, plus some room for error, to know how to go in and close the stuff to recreation, I would support doing that as soon as possible,” he said, “again with the guidance of our Native American Indigenous (community).”