Zuni Salt Lake

Infobox_lake
lake_name = Zuni Salt Lake
image_lake = Zunisaltlake.jpg
caption_lake = c. 2000
image_bathymetry =
caption_bathymetry =
location = New Mexico
coords = Coord|34.450000|-108.767738|type:waterbody_region:US|format=dsm
type = maar
inflow =
outflow = "evaporation"
catchment =
basin_countries = United States
length =
width =
area =
depth =
max-depth =
volume =
residence_time =
shore =
elevation = convert|6224|ft|abbr=on|lk=on
islands =
cities =
reference = cite web | url = http://www.clocations.com/cviewmap.aspx?list=region&state=NM&region=Zuni%20Salt%20Lake&lid=1189893 | title = Zuni Salt Lake | publisher = cLocations | accessdate = 2007-07-24 ]

Zuni Salt Lake, also Zuñi Salt Lake or Fence Lake (Navajo: Áshįįh [Wilson, Alan and Dennison, Gene (1995) "Navajo Place Names: An observer's guide" J. Norton Publishers, Guilford, CT, ISBN 0-88432-825-2] ), is a rare high desert lake, and a classic maar. It is located in Catron County, about 60 miles south of the Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, USA. Zuñi Salt Lake is extremely shallow, with the depth only to four feet in the wet season. During the dry season, much of the water evaporates leaving behind saltflats. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. [(nd) [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/NM/Catron/state.html National Register of Historic Places - Catron County, New Mexico] . Retrieved 6/16/07.]

History

For centuries, the Pueblo people of the Southwest, including the Zuni, Acoma, Laguna, Hopi and Taos pueblos, have made annual pilgrimages to Zuñi Salt Lake to harvest salt, for both culinary and ceremonial purposes. Ancient roadways radiate out from the lake to the various pueblos and ancient pueblo sites, such as Chaco. The lake itself is considered sacred, home of the Salt Mother deity, known to the Zuñi as Ma'l Okyattsik'i.

The Zuni Salt Lake was not part of the Zuñi reservation originally recognized by the U.S. government, but the U.S. returned the lake itself, and 5,000 acres (20 km²) surrounding it, to Zuni control in 1985.

Controversy

From 1994 to 2003, there was a proposal to develop a coal mine near the Zuni Salt Lake. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050207202303/http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200211/winona.asp LaDuke, Winona (2002) "The Salt Woman and the Coal Mine" "Sierra Magazine"] ] [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20030904190614/http://www.achp.gov/casearchive/casesspg03NM-AZ.html Legard, Carol (15 August 2003) "New Mexico and Arizona: Construction of Fence Lake Mine" U.S. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation] ] It would have involved extraction of water from the aquifer below the lake as well as construction between the lake and the Pueblo of Zuñi. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20040725084912/http://www.sacredland.org/zuni_salt_lake.html "Zuni Salt Lake" Earth Island Institute (2004)] ] [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20040718185853/www.sacredland.org/Bowekaty.pdf "Testimony of Malcolm B. Bowekaty, Governor of the Zuni Tribe" before the United States Senate, Committee on Indian Affairs, July 17, 2002, Washington, D.C.] ] The proposal was withdrawn after several lawsuits, and is regarded as an important exercise of native rights in the United States.

Notes