U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery recently visited with the Accord Pueblos comprised of Pueblo de Cochiti, Pueblo de San Ildefonso, Pueblo of Jemez and Santa Clara Pueblo.
Office of Environmental Management
May 28, 2024
minute read time
Pueblo of Jemez Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Christopher Toya, center, provides U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery, right, a tour of a pueblo cultural site situated in the distinctive red rocks surrounding the pueblo.
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery recently visited with the Accord Pueblos comprised of Pueblo de Cochiti, Pueblo de San Ildefonso, Pueblo of Jemez and Santa Clara Pueblo. Avery shared a meal with members of Pueblo de San Ildefonso, including Gov. Christopher Moquino and Lt. Gov. Raymond Martinez. Pueblo de San Ildefonso is the only pueblo that shares a boundary with EM’s legacy cleanup mission in Los Alamos. Close coordination with the pueblo has been essential, particularly when addressing a hexavalent chromium plume at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Avery visited Pueblo de Cochiti, where he toured the pueblo and Cochiti Lake, received a cultural presentation and met with leadership. He also visited Pueblo of Jemez, where Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Christopher Toya provided a tour and a cultural presentation. Clarice Madalena, the pueblo’s Natural Resources Department (NRD) director, shared information regarding the NRD's work, which is supported, in part, by the Los Alamos Pueblos Project funded by DOE. At Santa Clara Pueblo, Lt. Gov. Charles Matthew Sisneros and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Ben Chavarria provided a tour of the Second Pond area, which has been significantly impacted by wildfires in recent decades, and Puye Cliff Dwellings. Avery saw the Santa Fe Indian School and its greenhouse, and received a presentation on the school’s Community Based Education Program supported by DOE.
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery, center right, and staff were hosted by Pueblo de Cochiti leadership on a visit to Cochiti Lake located south of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Pueblo leaders explained the history of the installation of a dam there and its impacts to the pueblo’s traditional ways of life.
Kai-t Blue-Sky, teacher at the Santa Fe Indian School Community Based Education Program, shares his classroom with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery, right, highlighting the integrated approach to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education at the school. The Community Based Education Program is supported by DOE.
Santa Clara Pueblo Lt. Gov. Charles Matthew Sisneros and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Ben Chavarria are pictured at Puye Cliffs with U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery, center right. Puye Cliffs Dwellings was home to 1,500 pueblo people who lived, farmed and hunted game there from the 900s to 1580.
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