The Petroglyph Fight and Albuquerque’s Future
Laurie Weahkee, SAGE Council
November 14, 2005

For us, the struggle to protect the Petroglyphs from the six-lane commuter highway known as the Paseo del Norte Extension started around my family’s dinner table about ten years ago, when tumbleweeds still outnumbered the homes on the Westside. My father, Bill Weahkee, was Director of Five Sandoval Indian Pueblos at the time. He asked that we become involved in this important fight.

Home to over 20,000 petrolgyphs, or etchings in volcanic rock, Petroglyph National Monument is a sacred site still in use today by the area’s Pueblo tribes for religious practices. The All Indian Pueblo Council, the Navajo Nation, the National Congress of American Indians and thousands of individuals and organizations have all expressed their firm opposition to the Paseo Extension.

Now, a decade later – ironically in the midst of his year-long Tricentennial celebration - Mayor Martin Chavez will begin construction of the Paseo del Norte Extension through Petroglyph National Monument.

The fight over the Paseo Extension became one of the most visible issues in Albuquerque’s history. It pointed out – poignantly, for many – the difficulty of protecting Native American sacred areas from the threat of development, with a constant reminder of the incredible cultures, histories and lives at stake.

It also became a symbol, if not a catalyst, of Albuquerque’s decade-long debate over growth. The Paseo debate pitted Mayor Chavez, the chief architect of Albuquerque’s current sprawl, and his developer contributors, versus a host of citizens and neighborhood leaders calling for saner, more planned management of our growth.

For the city, the debate over this road brought out passion from longtime and new residents, Westsiders and Eastsiders, Democrats and Republicans. How could one deny any road to those who sit in traffic for an hour each day of their commute? But yet, how could one deny calls to preserve irreplaceable spiritual shrines that people have used continuously for thousands of years?

Of course, a solution could have been brokered over a decade ago that not only would have provided immediate transportation relief to Westside residents, but would not cause Albuquerque to do the unmentionable – destroy a nationally significant Native American religious area. That solution – during the original environmental impact process in the mid 1980s had the active involvement of the city, the federal government and the national park service. Unfortunately, this attempt to reach a win-win solution was shelved by politicians who wanted to make a name for themselves rather than find a compromise. In its place we will soon have hard asphalt and the forced moving of spiritual practices that have gone uninterrupted for millennia.

As Albuquerque continues to promote its diversity, its environmental beauty and its Native American culture to the outside world, we know that within the city, a fierce debate still rages about how we grow and how we treat one another with respect, regardless of your race, where you live or whether you make campaign contributions.

That debate will continue on as the Paseo debate comes to an end.