Embattled figure in Native American politics resigns as chairman of pueblo governors coalition

James Mountain emcees an American Indian Day event in Santa Fe on Feb. 3, 2023. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)

SANTA FE, N.M. — An embattled figure in Native American politics has resigned as chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors and ended his outside consulting work for the state of New Mexico days after he was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show James Mountain submitted his resignation letter Tuesday to the council, a prominent advocacy group for 19 Native American communities in New Mexico and another in Texas. He noted it was effective immediately.

Also on Tuesday, Mountain terminated his work as a contract adviser to the state Indian Affairs Department, said Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokesperson for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Pojoaque Pueblo police arrested Mountain a week ago on suspicion of driving while intoxicated at a tribal casino. He was held over the weekend at a Santa Fe County jail after declining a field sobriety test, according to an online booking log and the Pojoaque Pueblo Tribal Court.

The Associated Press left email and phone messages for Mountain on Friday seeking comment. The AP also left messages with the All Pueblo Council of Governors. The council’s website still listed Mountain as chairman Friday.

It was unclear Friday whether Mountain has been formally charged, though the Pojoaque Pueblo court says an arraignment has been scheduled next week. The AP submitted a request for detailed judicial records to the court for a judge to consider.

Mountain’s 2023 appointment as cabinet secretary to the New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs under Lujan Grisham angered Native American advocates who work to address violence and missing persons cases within their communities.

They pointed to past sexual assault charges against Mountain, while Lujan Grisham’s office emphasized that charges against Mountain were dismissed in 2010 after prosecutors said they didn’t have enough evidence to go to trial — and urged those raising concerns about his past to “respect the judicial process.”

Lujan Grisham also had highlighted Mountain’s leadership at San Ildefonso Pueblo as the tribe’s governor, and his expertise in state and tribal relations. But the state Senate confirmation process for Mountain stalled, and he left the cabinet post after serving less than a year to work as Lujan Grisham’s senior policy adviser for tribal affairs.

Mountain left direct state government employment at the end of March, but he settled into similar role as a contract adviser — until Tuesday’s contract termination, McGinnis Porter said.

Mountain served as governor at San Ildefonso Pueblo from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2015 to 2017. He oversaw the completion of the Aamodt Water Settlement, concerning the pueblo’s water rights, and the Indian Land Claims Settlement in 2006. He also ran his own state-tribal affairs consulting firm in recent years.

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Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

Morgan Lee, The Associated Press