{"id":459394,"date":"2017-11-09T13:13:55","date_gmt":"2017-11-09T20:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=459394"},"modified":"2017-11-10T11:59:43","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T18:59:43","slug":"three-years-after-killings-abqs-native-american-population-remains-vulnerable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/11\/three-years-after-killings-abqs-native-american-population-remains-vulnerable\/","title":{"rendered":"Three years after killings, ABQ&#8217;s Native American population remains vulnerable"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_459411\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-459411\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/7justundone-1170x779-771x580.jpg\" alt=\"Radmilla Cody\" width=\"771\" height=\"580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/7justundone-1170x779-771x580.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/7justundone-1170x779-336x253.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/7justundone-1170x779-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/7justundone-1170x779.jpg 957w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Colleen Keane \/ New Mexico In Depth<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Red Nation activist Radmilla Cody holds a sign calling for a stop to racism during a memorial for Kee Thompson and Allison Gorman in the summer of 2015.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>ALBUQUERQUE\u00a0\u2013\u00a0With cuts and bruises on his face, back and shoulders, Jerome Eskeets frantically told police about the violent assault he barely survived the night before<i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>In his 30s, Eskeets had been sleeping in an empty lot on Albuquerque\u2019s west side with friends and relations, Allison Gorman and Kee Thompson, who like Eskeets were Din\u00e9, as members of the Navajo Nation call themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Soon after talking to Eskeets, police found Gorman\u2019s and Thompson\u2019s bludgeoned bodies. The 2014 crime shocked Albuquerque, the state and occasionally made\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/new-mexico-man-convicted-of-beating-deaths-of-2-homeless-men\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">national news<\/a>\u00a0as the cases against the three defendants eventually arrested in the brutal killings \u2014 youths Alex Rios, Nathaniel Carrillo and Gilbert Tafoya \u2014 worked their way through the court system.<\/p>\n<p>Three years later, the judicial system is nearing an end to the case. Sentencing for Tafoya is scheduled for December, the last of the trio to receive a court judgment. But the vicious murders, which garnered splashy headlines and led newscasts for a few fleeting days as the horrors of what happened in that west side lot came to light, betray deep obstacles that continue for Native people in Albuquerque.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article comes from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmindepth.com\/2017\/11\/08\/three-years-after-attack-urban-indian-population-remains-vulnerable\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Mexico In Depth<\/a>. Sign up for\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmindepth.us6.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=1d2ab093d81b992e50978b363&amp;id=9294743d38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">their newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>In the wake of the murders, Mayor Richard Berry and his administration promised to address broader issues exposed by the crime, including the over representation of Native Americans who experience homelessness in Albuquerque.<\/p>\n<p>Berry created a task force and started some new initiatives, like hiring a tribal liaison, re-establishing the Commission on Indian Affairs and supporting a community health center.<\/p>\n<p>But as Berry prepares to leave office Dec. 1, Native advocates and community members have mixed reactions to his efforts, in large part due to the seemingly entrenched homelessness in Albuquerque, and the violence that accompanies it.<\/p>\n<p>The two men vying to replace Berry as mayor, Democratic state auditor Tim Keller and Republican city councilor Dan Lewis, have floated various ideas to improve the situation should they win the Nov. 14 runoff election. Greater outreach to indigenous homeless population, increased behavioral health services and equal representation in city hall are among the suggestions.<\/p>\n<p>This story is based on observing about 56 hours of in court testimony in Rios\u2019 trial and hearings for the other two youth who savagely beat Gorman and Thompson to death on July 19, 2014; more than 20 interviews, mostly in-person; and a review of hundreds of pages of court and police records.\u00a0Some comments and quotes from family members and friends during the hearings and rally were originally published in the Navajo Times.<\/p>\n<h3>City&#8217;s\u00a0urban\u00a0Native population\u00a0faces more homelessness, violence<\/h3>\n<p>Albuquerque has the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/prod\/cen2010\/briefs\/c2010br-10.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a07th\u00a0largest urban\u00a0Native American population<\/a>\u00a0in the country among places with more than 100,000 citizens, according to the 2010 U.S. census, with\u00a0Natives from a constellation of tribes \u2014 the Din\u00e9, Apache and Pueblo sovereign tribal nations of New Mexico and many other nations from across the country \u2014 making up 6 percent of the city\u2019s population.<\/p>\n<p>But they represent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4165146-CABQ-Native-American-Homeless-Served-2016.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">15 to 17 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the city\u2019s homeless community, according to a 2016 Native American Homelessness Demographic summary from the New Mexico Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The same year Thompson and Gorman were murdered, a survey of homeless people completed by the city of Albuquerque\u2019s Heading Home project found Native Americans within the chronic and medically vulnerable homeless population more vulnerable to violence. Seventy six\u00a0percent\u00a0of\u00a0136\u00a0homeless native people\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4164121-Heading-Home-Violence-Etc-7-23-14-Statistics.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">surveyed<\/a>\u00a0reported being attacked on the streets, compared to 61 percent of the surveyed group as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>Advocates and community members say Albuquerque is no different than other reservation towns that border the Navajo Nation and other tribal communities in New Mexico, where violence against Native Americans \u2014\u00a0particularly those who are homeless \u2014\u00a0has been going on since the first settlers arrived.<\/p>\n<p>Native Americans from various tribes spoke out at a public hearing conducted after the brutal murders by the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC) in December 2014, testifying that they had been assaulted and treated inhumanely by city residents, business owners, the police &#8212; and, at times, other tribal members.<\/p>\n<p>The daylong Albuquerque hearing, which\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nnhrc.navajo-nsn.gov\/PressReleases\/2014\/December\/Press%20Release_12092014.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">focused on law enforcement<\/a>,\u00a0was one of several the commission has held documenting acts of violence, discrimination and bias in New Mexico border towns in the three years since Thompson and Gorman were brutally murdered. The others were in Farmington, Aztec, Bloomfield, Cortez, Gallup, Grants and Torreon. There were also public hearings in Arizona and Utah border towns.<\/p>\n<p>Beaver North Cloud, a tribal health advocate who spoke at the 2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4165167-Navajo-Times-BordertownDine-Speak-About.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hearing<\/a>,\u00a0said \u201ca large part of this is the backlash of not getting services back home. There are no jobs or housing. There are not enough services, especially crises services. (Here), there is mistreatment, profiling and discrimination. I have seen it. I feel hopeless about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frederika\u00a0Benally, who is Din\u00e9 and was homeless at the time,\u00a0testified before the commission.\u00a0\u201cI know people who have been rolled up in a carpet, been overdosed, been shot, everything,\u201d she said. \u201cThey call it (southeast Albuquerque) the war zone, the jungle. The ones who gets discriminated the most (are) Natives.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Violence continues<\/h3>\n<p>Standing on the sidewalk in front of\u00a0First Nations Community Healthsource in late August,\u00a0Jane Terry said she sees evidence of violence regularly.<\/p>\n<p>Every Tuesday for the past 12 years, at 11:30 a.m., Terry pulls up in front of First Nations Community Healthsource on Zuni Road.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s an outreach volunteer with the Glory Bound Christian Center.<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 22, 2017,\u00a0like all the Tuesdays before, she came from Church\u2019s Chicken, where she picked up several orders, each with two pieces of chicken, a six pack of cookies, cran-raisins, jalape\u00f1os, bread and a bottle of water.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey can count on us. I see the heartache and the stress of the people who come. I\u2019ve seen them beat up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Stepping in to add his voice, Danny, Din\u00e9 from Shiprock, who asked to go only by his first name, added that even veterans like himself are attacked on the streets.<\/p>\n<p>Leaning on a walking stick from a recent injury, he said he comes from a long line of military families. He said both his grandfathers were Code Talkers, his brother is in the Navy and all three of his children are overseas.<\/p>\n<p>Seeing a friend of his arrive, he said, \u2018Here\u2019s another military guy. His name is Ol\u2019 Yeller. It\u2019s the same with him, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ol\u2019 Yeller stepped closer. Bent over with long, black matted hair, one of Ol\u2019 Yeller\u2019s eyes was almost swollen shut and his cheeks were red and puffy. He looked cautiously at what was going on and backed away without saying a word.<\/p>\n<p>Listening in, another man in his 40s stepped up and pointed to his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a busted lip. I got shot right here. I got hit on the back of the head, too,\u201d he said nonchalantly.<\/p>\n<p>Then a man who\u2019s street name is Jazz\u00a0chimed in, \u201cI got shot. I got stabbed (several) times in the back and on my forehead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jazz said he doesn\u2019t understand the violence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere we are living on the streets and they come at us (referring mostly to non-Natives), for what? We aren\u2019t doing nothing wrong,\u201d he remarked, the sound of frustration in his voice.<\/p>\n<p>A young Din\u00e9 man in his 20s from Gallup said he didn\u2019t want to say his real name and asked to be called Uriah.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s basically every man for himself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere aren\u2019t enough resources. All of the shelters are overcrowded,\u201d Uriah added, saying that what\u2019s worse is how bad he and other tribal members are treated when they do get into a shelter.<\/p>\n<h3>The nightmare unfolds<\/h3>\n<p>In the early morning hours of July 19, 2014, Alex Rios, then 18; Nathaniel Carrillo, then 16; and Gilbert Tafoya, then 15, left a party near Coors and Central, where they had been drinking and taking a type of mushroom that causes hallucinations and altered states of consciousness.<\/p>\n<p>Cutting through an empty lot south of 60th\u00a0street, they took their usual path to Tafoya\u2019s house.<\/p>\n<p>As they walked through the open field, they noticed men lying on mattresses. It\u2019s a familiar scene, according to Tafoya\u2019s testimony. He admitted to beating up other homeless people there before.<\/p>\n<p>At Tafoya\u2019s house the trio decided to put on masks and go back to the field to rob the men. On their way there, around 3 a.m., one grabbed a broken-off table leg.<\/p>\n<p>During the violent frenzy that followed, Tafoya recognized Eskeets, who managed to break away after being hit and beaten.<\/p>\n<p>Tafoya had run-ins with him in the past and knew him by name, but decided it was too much trouble to chase after him.<\/p>\n<p>The trio turned their attention to Thompson and Gorman. Using the table leg and anything else in reach &#8212; a metal pole, tree branches and cement blocks &#8212; they relentlessly attacked the men for about an hour.<\/p>\n<p>Then, they laughed about it.<\/p>\n<p>To make sure they were dead, they went back to Tafoya\u2019s house and got knives. Both Thompson and Gorman were stabbed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStab wounds went right into the heart,\u201d Angela Miller, state medical examiner who examined Thompson, testified at Rios\u2019 trial.<\/p>\n<p>One of the first responders, Albuquerque Police Department veteran detective Geoffrey Stone, recalled the morning he discovered Thompson and Gorman, testifying they were so unrecognizable that he couldn\u2019t tell if they were male or female.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were completely mangled, most violent murder of my career,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The brutality of the murders stunned the Navajo Nation and tribal members who knew the men by their nicknames &#8212; Rabbit (Thompson) and Cowboy (Gorman).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_459415\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-459415\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/1justundone-771x513-771x536.jpg\" alt=\"Alex Rios\" width=\"771\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/1justundone-771x513.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/1justundone-771x513-336x234.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/1justundone-771x513-768x534.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Colleen Keane \/ New Mexico In Depth<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Rios reacts to the building testimony against him during his trial in December 2015.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Families, community want justice and change<\/h3>\n<p>In February 2016, 2nd Judicial District Judge Briana Zamora sentenced Rios, the oldest youth, to 67.5 years in prison following his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/navajotimes.com\/reznews\/jury-finds-rios-guilty-on-two-counts-of-2nd-degree-murder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 2015 conviction<\/a>\u00a0on two counts of second-degree murder. At the sentencing, he expressed sorrow for what he did and pleaded for mercy, but Zamora rebuked him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was torture,\u201d she told him.<\/p>\n<p>Seeing Rios\u2019 outcome, Carrillo agreed to a plea deal and\u00a0Zamora ended up giving him\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4165553-Navajo-Times-Carrillo-Gets-26-One-Half-Years.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">26.5 years<\/a>, down from a maximum of 48 years, at a hearing on Oct. 4, 2016. Then 18,\u00a0he\u2019ll be free in his mid-40s, if he serves the full term<\/p>\n<p>Carillo\u2019s sentence didn\u2019t make sense to Thompson\u2019s sister, Veda Yazzie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s too light. We were expecting a longer sentence,\u201d she told the Navajo Times, remembering her brother and his friend, Gorman, who were in their 40s when they were killed by Rios, Carrillo and Tafoya.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey died too young,\u201d she added, holding back tears.<\/p>\n<p>Tafoya also took a plea deal. His deal gave him an amenability hearing for testifying against his buddies. If judged amenable to treatment, he would get out of lock-up when he is 21.<\/p>\n<p>But on Oct. 18, Zamora dashed Tafoya\u2019s hopes. Judging the murders premeditated, willful and brutal, she ruled treatment out and dismissed the defense\u2019s argument that Tafoya had become responsible while detained the past three years. His sentencing hearing is Dec. 14.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout Rios\u2019 trial and the numerous hearings for the other two youth, Thompson\u2019s and Gorman\u2019s relatives\u00a0sat with their respective families. Their faces were strained, trying to hold back tears. At times they bowed their heads and wiped their eyes as they observed the bloodied materials brought in as evidence and listened to the testimony. Some family members used audio devices to listen to the proceedings translated into the Navajo language.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe family of Kee Thompson, when they heard what happened, were emotionally torn apart. He was a brother, son, grandfather, father, friend and cousin. It is hard to understand how a person could take his life. No one has the right to do this,\u201d Steven Darden, NNHRC vice-chair,\u00a0told Zamora before she sentenced Rios.<\/p>\n<p>Remembering Gorman, one of his relatives talked about his gentle nature.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was a kind-hearted person and a good son. His family\u2019s hearts are broken as they weep for their beloved Allison. Alex Rios has left a void in their hearts,\u201d said Romero Brown.<\/p>\n<h3>The city response<\/h3>\n<p>Soon after the brutal murders, then-Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly arrived in Albuquerque from the Nation\u2019s capital in Window Rock, Arizona, to meet with Mayor Berry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur meeting signifies our efforts to find a shared solution to addressing the root causes of homelessness in our city,\u201d Berry was quoted as saying in an Aug. 1, 2014, statement announcing the creation of the Native American Homelessness Task Force, which he charged with making a list of recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>A year later, frustrated by city inaction, a Native rights group called Red Nation and other groups rallied more than 100 people in a street demonstration on the one-year anniversary of Thompson\u2019s and Gorman\u2019s deaths, July 19.<\/p>\n<p>Above the traffic din at the busy intersection of Central and Wyoming, Melanie\u00a0Yazzie,\u00a0a\u00a0spokesperson for Red Nation, a coalition\u00a0of Native and non-Native activists and community members that formed to fight back against continued violence, yelled out, \u201cWe are here to tell the city of Albuquerque it actually needs to do something. The city has not responded in any significant way to improve life for Native people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some called for the murders to be considered hate crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Patrick, a spokesman for\u00a0the Bernalillo County District Attorney\u2019s Office, said in an email\u00a0there wasn\u2019t proof Gorman and Thompson were targeted because they were Native American.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was no evidence that they knew the deceased were Native American. It was clear from the police interviews conducted the next day that this was a crime of opportunity,\u201d Patrick noted.<\/p>\n<p>At rallies and protests during the past three years, members of Albuquerque\u2019s urban Indian community appeared to have had a hard time believing this.<\/p>\n<p>At\u00a0the\u00a0July 2015 rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the murders, which included family members and relatives of the two victims, people raised signs that read, &#8220;Stop Racist Violence Against Natives,&#8221; &#8220;How Many More Native Murders Before ABQ Calls It A Hate Crime?,&#8221; and\u00a0&#8220;Another Stolen Life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople need to stop being racist and violent,\u201d Veda Yazzie, Thompson\u2019s sister,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4165585-Navajo-Times-Oneyearafterbrutalmurders.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told the Navajo Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Melanie Yazzie,\u00a0of Red Nation,\u00a0said the hate crime law, which is limited in scope, leaves out the atmosphere that fuels the violence. \u201cIt misses the fact that the person is part of a larger system. Border towns are so violent; this is why these things happen in the first place,\u201d said Yazzie.<\/p>\n<p>A few weeks after the one-year anniversary rally, Berry\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4165586-Navajo-TImes-City-Unveils-Recommendations-Navajo.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rolled out<\/a>\u00a014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cabq.gov\/family\/indian-affairs\/travel-liaison\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recommendations<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cabq.gov\/mayor\/news\/mayor-presents-key-recommendations-from-the-native-american-homelessness-task-force\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tribal liaison was appointed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The recommendations included hiring the tribal liaison and social workers, creating a hub for services, conducting cultural sensitivity training, coordinating with tribes, and expanding access to emergency shelters and transitional housing.<\/p>\n<p>At an August 2015\u00a0press conference,\u00a0Berry presented First Nations Community Healthsource with a check for $300,000 to support a one-stop shop for services. The health clinic is on Zuni Road near San Mateo Boulevard. With the help of the city grant, First Nations completed the construction of a wellness center a few blocks away\u00a0in time for a community dinner celebrating the 2017 new year.<\/p>\n<p>Berry also introduced the tribal liaison (a part-time position) and announced a contract with an indigenous health program at UNM to conduct cultural sensitivity training with city staffers.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, more work has been done \u2014 the city Commission on Indian Affairs has been\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cabq.gov\/family\/indian-affairs\/commission-on-indian-affairs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">re-established<\/a>. There\u2019s an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cabq.gov\/family\/income-eligible-services\/homeless-services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">online resource directory<\/a>\u00a0at the city\u2019s website. Tribal affiliation has been included in state databases. Two social workers were hired and 175 city staff and community members participated in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4165591-Final-CABQ-CH-Report-Evaluation-Workshops-1-9.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cultural awareness workshops<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0social workers have been assigned to First Nations Community Healthsource, according to a city spokesperson.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally,\u00a0Lisa\u00a0Huval from the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness\u00a0said this August efforts\u00a0are being made to get federal funds that would include services to Native Americans.<\/p>\n<p>But, there\u2019s still a ways to go before regular communication and coordination takes place between tribal and city, social and behavioral health services,\u00a0which was a key goal of the appointment of a tribal liaison.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Lloyd Lee, Din\u00e9, a member of the Commission on Indian Affairs, said the tribal liaison as a part-time position is stretched to the limit. And, he said, the commission is unfunded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need people and resources to get this done,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n<p>New Mexico\u00a0state Rep. Sharon Clahchischilliage, Din\u00e9, (R-Kirtland), a former social worker,\u00a0said in early October\u00a0that she hasn\u2019t seen any evidence of city and tribal social service collaboration in\u00a0her work as a state legislator, from communication with the Navajo Nation and with her constituents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt can help families find their loved ones and get them the services they need. A lot of times families don\u2019t even know. And they don\u2019t know who to connect with in Albuquerque,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>A situation in late September illustrated Clahchischilliage\u2019s point. Relatives of a 25-year-old man from To\u2019hajiilee, a Navajo community 30 miles west of Albuquerque, were desperately looking for him after he had been missing for more than a week. Yet they were having trouble getting the police to take a report.<\/p>\n<p>The family\u2019s anguish could have been alleviated if they had known who to contact for help in city government, said the man\u2019s aunt Helen, who asked that her last name not be used.<\/p>\n<p>Theresa Galvin, an administrator for Navajo Nation\u2019s Department of Behavioral Health, said through a Navajo Nation spokesperson she had not received any referrals from an Albuquerque homeless shelter she toured a couple of years ago. During the visit, she had asked staff at the shelter to refer to her department tribal members who showed up, so they could get services back on the Navajo Nation in communities like, Shiprock and Window Rock, Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>A city spokesperson, Bobby Sisneros, city planning manager for the Department of Family and Community Services, in an email pointed to the Heading Home program, an initiative to find housing for the most chronic homeless, as progress made under the Berry administration.<\/p>\n<p>It recently provided housing for 700 people, some with families, 89 of whom were tribal members \u2014 or 12 percent of those helped, Sisneros wrote.<\/p>\n<p>But Anita Cordova, executive director of Health Care for the Homeless, said the solution to homelessness is nothing short of permanent housing for all.<\/p>\n<p>Until everyone has a home and can afford to keep it, advocates are calling for a Native American shelter and rehab center,\u00a0which would include culturally relevant services like traditional counseling.\u00a0Berry has said in the past a dedicated shelter is something the city would consider in the long-term.<\/p>\n<h3>Hope for change from Albuquerque\u2019s next mayor<\/h3>\n<p>There is no guarantee that existing reports from the city and organizations that work with the homeless are accurately capturing the numbers of Native Americans living on Albuquerque\u2019s streets, however.<\/p>\n<p>Some people don\u2019t want to be found and others stay with relatives or friends, said Ambrose Ashley and Priscilla Jim, both Din\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>Ashley conducts Alcohol Anonymous groups at the Albuquerque Indian Center, while Jim, who was homeless for several years, volunteers whenever she can.<\/p>\n<p>During a ride around the city in late August, Ashley took side streets off Central Avenue as Jim pointed out numerous places where the homeless Native community members hangs out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose are the places I hung out, while I was on the streets,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Jim said\u00a0she had First Nations Community Healthsource to thank for her recovery and for finding a place to live.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been off the streets and sober for three years now. I really appreciate First Nations. My heart is strong. I am very thankful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>During the ride, Ashley passed bus carousels, street corners, more parks and road strips tucked away from everyday pedestrian traffic.<\/p>\n<p>At each location, Jim recognized tribal members whom she identified as homeless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere they are,\u201d she said, recognizing a group of about 10 people sitting together in a circle under a tree in a park; a couple of shopping carts full of stuff nearby.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, I just see a lot of young ones, in their 20s, 30s and even younger. I\u2019ve even seen some with babies in strollers,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n<p>Albuquerque community member Lisa Lucero, who hosts drum circles around town, said it\u2019s easy to see there are \u201ctoo many homeless, far too many homeless.\u201d \u201cEverywhere you look, you see people on the streets, sleeping in the parks, sleeping on the door fronts. Obviously, we are not doing enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lucero spoke to New Mexico In Depth and the Santa Fe Reporter during a park gathering to meet the mayoral candidates this past summer.<\/p>\n<p>She hoped the incoming mayor would look at the gaps in services.<\/p>\n<p>During a panel a week before the October general election, Keller and Lewis promised to make the city a safer place and improve the quality of life for tribal members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to double down. I would like some of the behavioral health dollars to go specifically for counseling and support given to Native communities. There\u2019s a whole lot more support that could be given out of that office,\u201d said Lewis.<\/p>\n<p>Keller said the task force recommendations were well intended. But if the city had been paying attention to what was happening, they wouldn\u2019t have been needed in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was needed was a formal outreach to those folks, so they (Eskeets, Gorman and Thompson) wouldn\u2019t have been there,\u201d Keller said. \u201cWe talk about disparities and one of the biggest areas that are lacking is our Native American community in terms of jobs at the city and in leadership. I very much want to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After becoming candidates for the runoff election, Lewis and Keller were asked\u00a0by this reporter if they would support the construction of a Native American shelter and rehab center.<\/p>\n<p>Through a campaign staffer, Lewis said he would. Keller didn\u2019t respond to a request for an interview.<\/p>\n<p>The election is Nov. 14.<\/p>\n<h3>Unspoken causes<\/h3>\n<p>Lee, the Indian Affairs commission member, supports the bulleted to-do list\u00a0the city rolled out in 2015 and wants the incoming mayor to follow up.<\/p>\n<p>But Lee, who also is an associate professor in UNM\u2019s Native American Studies program, said history has to be dealt with, too.<\/p>\n<p>Too often when violence occurs against indigenous people, he explained, superficial reasons like \u201chaving fun,\u201d are accepted and not questioned, Lee said during an interview.<\/p>\n<p>Historical attitudes and stereotypes reinforced by our society\u2019s institutions and educational systems probably played \u201ca huge role on how these individuals (Rios, Carrillo and Tafoya) saw these men (Thompson and Gorman),\u201d Lee added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s called internalized colonization,\u201d Edwin Gonzalez-Santin, director of the Office of American Indian Projects at Arizona State University\u2019s School of Social Work, explained during a phone interview in late October.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese dynamic tensions are there between groups. It\u2019s very difficult to overcome the inertia,\u201d Gonzalez-Santin added.<\/p>\n<p>To break through, Gonzalez-Santin said, people have to \u201cshine a light on it.\u201d Awareness will help lead to understanding and change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s needed. Too many people are getting hurt,\u201d said Lee.<\/p>\n<p>Many organizations are working to end homelessness in New Mexico, as are\u00a0community members who help by providing food to the homeless on a regular basis.<\/p>\n<p>There are also random acts of kindness. One day last summer, a young woman with strawberry blonde hair noticed a man shivering from the cold and rain in front of the Satellite Caf\u00e9 on Central Avenue. She bought him a sandwich and a drink.<\/p>\n<p>Roz Carroll from the Navajo Nation seemed to speak for many when she spoke of the importance of seeing the humanity in every person.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are one no matter what color we are,&#8221; Carroll said. &#8220;We need to get involved at all levels. Don\u2019t be afraid to speak out. It will have a ripple effect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Colleen Keane is a New Mexico freelance writer\/photographer whose stories have appeared in the Navajo Times, Santa Fe Reporter and New Media Street Press. Previously, she worked for several years in Navajo communities teaching journalism, writing grants and organizing conferences to inform\u00a0 parents of rights under a federal law, the Indian Child Welfare Act. She holds a master\u2019s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. Her master\u2019s thesis was \u201cThe River That Harms,\u201d a full length television documentary about the 1979 United Nuclear Corp. radioactive waste spill in Church Rock, a Navajo community 10 miles east of Gallup.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Mayor Richard Berry prepares to leave office Dec. 1, Native advocates and community members have mixed reactions to his efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":459411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,142,709],"class_list":["post-459394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-albuquerque","tag-crime","tag-native-americans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}