Whereas, when New Mexico became a territory of the United States in 1848, the predominant languages spoken were Diné (Navajo), Jicarilla and Mescalero Apache, Keres, Tiwa, Towa, Tewa, Zuni, and Spanish; Whereas the citizens of the New Mexico territory recognized the importance of maintaining Spanish and these Indigenous languages, and rejected and resisted attempts to eradicate these languages as a precondition for becoming a State; Whereas, when New Mexico was finally admitted as a State in 1912, its constitution provided for the education of teachers and students in Spanish; Whereas Indigenous leaders recognized that their language was a gift from their creator which was essential for them to continue teaching successive generations of their purpose, way of life, customs, and laws; Whereas Senator Matías Chacón introduced bill 421, the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act to the New Mexico State Legislature in 1973 in collaboration with several bilingual education advocates including Senator Ray Leger and Mela Leger, the director of bilingual education in the West Las Vegas schools; Whereas New Mexico was the first State to adopt a bilingual multicultural education law, and the New Mexico Bilingual Multicultural Education Act is the only State legislation that acknowledges culture as an important part of language acquisition; Whereas, since 1973, New Mexico has allocated State funds to districts for the implementation of bilingual multicultural education programs, and 70 percent of New Mexico school districts currently implement bilingual multicultural education programs; Whereas the New Mexico 520 Alternative Certificate allows members of New Mexico’s 22 Pueblos and Tribal Nations to teach their respective languages in New Mexico public schools