12/02/2005
By Reed Upton
KOBTV.com
This Zia pot was stolen early in the last century
The Zia Pueblo has begun receiving money for the use of a sacred image that was stolen about 100 years ago and developed without pueblo permission.
The Zia, the sun symbol that graces the state’s flag and works as a symbol for countless businesses, came from a piece of pottery that was stolen from the pueblo early last century.
The pot was returned to the pueblo in 2002.
“Before New Mexico became a state in 1912, the sun symbol was a very sacred image,” says Peter Pino, the tribal administrator for the pueblo. “And when you see it used there by the general public, it hurts us because there was never any agreements, there was no permission for the symbol to be used.”
Yet Pino recognizes what’s been done is done: “There’s no way we can take that symbol back, nor do we want to.”
Pino says about 20 companies, including Southwest Airlines, who feel the pueblo should be compensated, have begun donating money to a fund in exchange for using the Zia.
“It’s a trust fund,” says Pino. “The interest in that is going to be used to give monies to our tribal members so they can pursue a college education.”
Governor Bill Richardson has formed a task force to try to resolve the long-standing conflict with the pueblo over the symbol.