I am excited about the Río Grande del Norte National Monument. However, I work for one of the tribes in New Mexico, and given my familiarity with Native issues, I always find the position of the Hispanic community in New Mexico to be rather hypocritical. When they state that they have a claim to the land that supersedes other claims, I wonder if the original Spanish settlers gave much thought to the claims of the original inhabitants whose land they appropriated.
Daniel Ginter
Albuquerque, New Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The trouble with original claims.

