In the summer of 2006... …the Pueblos of New Mexico joined Hispanic communities in a declaration of seed sovereignty, reaffirmed seed saving traditions, rejecting patents and genetically engineered seed, and urging the biotech industry to label its seeds and foods. The National Congress of American Indians subsequently passed the declaration, the organization comprised of the elected tribal leadership of federally recognized tribes in October of 2006. In part the declaration notes:
“… Whereas this declaration must be a living, adaptable document that can be amended as needed in response to rapidly changing GE technology that brings about other potential assaults to seeds and our culture.
…Be it resolved by the traditional farmers of Indo-Hispano and Native American ancestry of current-day northern New Mexico collectively and intentionally seek to continue the seed-saving traditions of our ancestors and maintain the landraces that are indigenous to the region of northern New Mexico.
…Be it further resolved that we reject the validity of corporations’ ownership claims to crops and wild plants that belong to our cultural history and identity.
…Be it further resolved that we believe corporate ownership claims of landrace crop genomes and patent law represent a legal framework for the justification of the possession and destruction of stolen cultural property.
…Be it further resolved that we object to the seed industry’s refusal to label seeds or products containing GE technology and ingredients and demand all genetically modified seeds and foods containing GE ingredients in the State of New Mexico to be labeled as such.
…Be it further resolved that we consider genetic modification and the potential contamination of our landraces by GE technology a continuation of genocide upon indigenous people and as malicious and sacrilegious acts toward our ancestry, culture, and future generations.
…Be it further resolved that we object to the cultivation of GE seeds in general but especially within range of our traditional agricultural systems that can lead to the contamination of our seeds, wild plants, traditional foods, and cultural property.”
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