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Zia_symbol

Pueblo seeks respect for zia symbol
Tribe educates public on sacred image after abandoning trademark attempt

By Wendy Brown | The New Mexican

10/30/2007

ALBUQUERQUE — In the Santa Fe phone book, an advertisement for dentist
Lawrence Larragoite shows the zia symbol rising above molar teeth.

And that's just one example of a local company that uses the symbol in
advertising — the phone book is full of them. The symbol is just about
everywhere in New Mexico. It's on the state flag. And it's on the masthead
of this newspaper.

But Ken Lucero, assistant tribal administrator for Zia Pueblo, located 35
miles northwest of Albuquerque, said he wants people to remember the zia is
a sacred religious symbol to members of the pueblo. The zia symbol includes
a circle with four groups of four lines each emanating outward from the
circle, representing the sun.

Pueblo members think of the zia symbol similarly to the way Catholics think
of pictures of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Lucero said at a lecture at The
University of New Mexico on Tuesday. About 30 people attended, and it
included a showing of The Pueblo of Zia: Home of the Sun Symbol, a short
educational movie about the symbol.

Catholics would likely be up in arms if, for example, a portable toilet
company used an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in an advertisement on the
side of a portable toilet, Lucero said. "That's what we're trying to get at
— that it's the equivalent," he said.

The pueblo recognizes that attempting to obtain a trademark for the symbol
is futile since it has been in fair use for so long, Lucero said.

But the pueblo does appreciate people calling the pueblo for permission
before using the symbol, Lucero said. The pueblo wants people to use the
symbol in a respectful manner, he said. "Generally we are open and
accepting about use of the symbol," Lucero said. "We are proud of it."

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez called the pueblo Tuesday to ask permission
to use the symbol in his campaign for U.S. Senate, Lucero said. Since the
call came in right before the lecture, Lucero said he hadn't learned the
pueblo's response.

Southwest Airlines is one example of a company that successfully asked the
pueblo for use of the symbol, Lucero said.

During the lecture, Lucero outlined the symbol's history in New Mexico.

In 1200 A.D., the Zia people established a tribe at the pueblo's current
location, Lucero. Then, in 1920, someone smuggled a pot used in religious
ceremonies out of the pueblo, Lucero said. The pot had an image on it that
is almost identical to the zia symbol used today, he said, except it had a
face in the circle.

In 1925, there was a contest to create a state flag, and Dr. Harry Mera of
Santa Fe, a physician and an archaeologist familiar with the zia symbol on
the pot, submitted a drawing of the symbol to the contest, Lucero said.

Mera won, but contest organizers thought the face in the symbol was too
busy, so they asked him to modify it, Lucero said.

Mera removed the face, and that is the symbol on the flag, Lucero said. No
one consulted with the pueblo about using the symbol, he said.

Lucero said he salutes the New Mexico flag and is proud the zia symbol is
on it. But the pueblo would like the state to compensate the pueblo for
using the symbol, Lucero said.

In 1994, the pueblo asked the Legislature to compensate the pueblo by
paying $45 million, Lucero said, but was unsuccessful. Other efforts in
1995 and 1999 that asked the state for $1 million for every year the state
has used the symbol were unsuccessful as well, he said.

"It's not about getting a check from the state, but about increasing
services at the pueblo," Lucero said.

The pueblo has steered away from litigating the subject, Lucero said, but
in 1992 objected before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office when Coulston
International Corp. of Alamogordo tried to obtain a trademark for the
symbol, Lucero said.

If the company had been successful, it would have had exclusive rights to
use the symbol, Lucero said. In 1995, the Coulston company decided to drop
the issue, he said.

Gov. Bill Richardson has been supportive of the pueblo's request for
compensation, Lucero said, and began a task force on the issue during his
first term. But the task force hasn't met for more than a year, and there
are no current negotiations, he said.

In the meantime, Lucero said he would like people to call the pueblo before
using the symbol. People can call tribal administrator Peter Pino at
505-867-3304 to ask permission, he said.

"It's respectful to ask before you use it," he said.

Contact Wendy Brown at 986-3072 or wbrown@....