Talk:New Mexico

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[edit] New Mex. Symbolism

I recently saw Bill Richardson being interviewed on CNN and couldn't help noticing a statue that had been superimposed to his left as background. It was a statue of either an Egyptian or Amero-Indian woman holding two objects. One appeared to be either a sceptre or mushroom and in the other a staff or longbow. At first I thought I should check out the NM seal...but no.

Does anyone out there know what the relationship of this statue is to N.Mexico? mangonorth —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.70.76.26 (talk) 00:54, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] New Mexico Gives Driver's Licenses to Illegal Immigrants

As reported on CNN on May 5, 2008, some of the unknown quantity of people to whom New Mexico has given driver's licenses over the past five years are illegal immigrants from nations on terrorist watch lists. This is just an example of the obvious dangers of New Mexico's extremely misguided policy of handing out driver's licenses to illegal aliens from, well, nobody really knows where. The risks to public safety, and the potential for a national security problem, are all too obvious. New Mexico's tourist personnel sure don't want people to know that New Mexico is now a magnet for people in the U.S. illegally who know that New Mexico is a great place to get a driver's license and begin a chain of documentation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.44.148.23 (talk) 23:55, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Geography section

The site refers one to the Delaware Basin - which to my knowledge is in the Delaware/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area, not New Mexico. I haven't found the original data, so I couldn't change it. Elc3ny 02:07, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, there is a link to the Delaware Basin article compiled by a variety of editors (See history) who must know what they are doing...?? And there is also an ext. link to the same thing, so I have to conclude that this is different from the Delaware River basin to which you refer. Viva-Verdi 16:36, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] One of Our Fifty Is Missing

It's common for New Mexico to have stippers with having a relation to Mexico. Think this warrants a mention? 67.54.145.95 03:07, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

NO. It's nonsense. Viva-Verdi 15:36, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article Clean-Up

The page is becoming slightly messy. Reviewing the standards and revising the page may help. Abqwildcat 04:35, 13 May 2004 (UTC) so i am tell all of ya to do your work so STOP reading this sentence cause it don't have anything to deal with NEW MEXICO!!!!

Didn't help much - just got messier despite efforts. Adding to cleanup. Layout is messy, doesn't follow standards for other state pages, and some images just don't make sense (tierra o muerte gets no blurb and no text introduction, for example). It just looks messy - like a webpage a teenager might make instead of a page about a US State. --ABQCat 05:31, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)
It's a little better, but despire User:68.35.24.246's removal of {{cleanup}}, it's still messy compared to other state pages. If someone has a case for removing the cleanup tag, thinks it's fine, or whatever, post it here. Since the tag was removed without discussion, I'm putting it back up. --ABQCat 00:15, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)
The addition of lists and images which are not referenced in the text of the page doesn't help for the cleanup effort. Again, compare to other US States, and you'll be surprised how this state's entry seems to be a mish-mash of random lists, images, and factoids. If and or when I have more time, I plan to try to overhaul this page, probably at New Mexico/Temp.

--ABQCat 23:42, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Official language

Hi! I did some searching but was unable to find a governmental reference to English and Spanish being the official languages of New Mexico. Does anyone have such a reference? Thanks. :) kmccoy (talk) 01:05, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) live in New Mexico and can't confirm it either - I'll check around in the printed materials I have. A cursory check online finds only other wikipedia mirrors citing Spanish as an "official language" of New Mexico (About.com also, but rather non-authoratatively). While Spanish is a protected language in NM and discrimination on the basis of language spoken is illegal, that's not the same as "official language." For a short(ish) history on Spanish in New Mexico, see ourwold.compuserve.com. I think the state constitution states that NM is a bilingual state, but I don't have the citation available. It's possible, but I've found no decent citation one way or another. --ABQCat 05:17, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I live in New Mexico, and in the state Capital! The State Constitution states that New Mexico is a bilingual state, and both Spanish and English are official state languages. However, it should be noted, the State Legislature does almost all of it's actions in English. Hope I could be of help! :) YourNickname 8 Mar 2005
I should note that since the date of my previous posting, I have actually confirmed this to a point. YourNickname is correct in that Spanish is protected by the state constitution. However, that is the limit of the language. The constitution protects the status of the Spanish language in the state and prohibits discrimination on that basis. Nowhere, however, is Spanish cited as an "official language", but NM is certainly an officially bilingual state. One thing that leads me to believe Spanish may not be an official language (as French is in Canada) is that the state homepage is unavailable in Spanish - something which wouldn't fly if Spanish were truly an official language of the state. Anyhow, read the text of the constitution (searchable at state.nm.us) and you'll see that the term "official language" is never used, but that Spanish is protected. --ABQCat 05:30, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Official language. I searched through the New Mexico Constitution, and I did a quick (but not through) search through the New Mexico statutes. I could find no reference to any official language, neither Spanish or English. I think the myth that New Mexico has two official languages started from the fact that when New Mexico became a state, Spanish was given protection for a period of time (since expired). I can find no evidence that any language is either official or "protected" in New Mexico at present. I'll leave it to someone else to decide if I am correct and edit the page 70.176.142.8 21:21, 20 October 2005 (UTC) Jack Quinn

English is the predominant language spoken in the state of New Mexico today. The Reference Department has checked the state statutes and confirmed with the Supreme Court Law Library that New Mexico does not have an official language.
The first state constitution, which went into effect in 1912, had several provisions in it which provided for a transition from the formerly prevalent Spanish to the acknowledged adoption of English. The provisions were stated in Article XII, sections 8 and 10, addressing the need for the training of teachers in normal schools to become bi-lingual, and the rights of Spanish-descent children to equality in education; and Article XX, section 12, which provides for the publication of laws in both English and Spanish for the first twenty years of effect, and thereafter as the legislature may provide.
Currently election ballots are published in both English and Spanish, the pledge to the New Mexico flag is available in both English and Spanish, and after allowing the Spanish Drivers Manual to become obsolete a new edition has been published. There is an official state song in English "O Fair New Mexico" and a different official state song in Spanish, "Asi es Nuevo Mejico." In 1995, an official "State Bilingual Song" was adopted by the state legislature, titled "New Mexico - Mi Lindo Nuevo Mexico."
Currently about 42.1 percent of New Mexicans are Hispanic according to the census of 2000. 28.7 percent of New Mexicans over the age of 6 counted in the census speak Spanish at home. You can look at the table with that information and other useful language statistics for the state at:
Census.gov
Does this completely answer your question? Please e-mail us again if we can be of further assistance.
Reference Desk/bjm
1209 Camino Carlos Rey
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
505-476-9702
refer@state.nm.us
Thanks to the refdesk. WikiDon 17:23, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

I would figure kind of the best way to say it would be that New Mexico has two de facto standard languages. Usually, it's difficult in some places of New Mexico to find a job where you would need to interact with a lot of customers unless you speak Spanish. While the state over all has a large number of Spanish speakers, many of them are located in the smaller cities. (Not fact, just what I've kind of noticed.) Also, the state continues to have children enter school where they only speak Spanish, usually in an approach called "Bilingual Education", which receives a ton of criticism everytime the English-only people hear about it. Usually, what it means is teaching the child as much English as possible, and teaching other stuff in Spanish only so that the student doesn't fall behind his/her classmates. Anyways, just trying to weigh in that while New Mexico may not have two de jure official languages, it does have two de facto. --Puellanivis 07:18, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

My New Mexico birth certificate is in both English and Spanish. bszoka (talk) 15:59, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] External links

216.138.232.51 just added this link:

-http://www.eachtown.com/state_info.php/stateid/32 New Mexico State Information

I am not seeing much value-added with this one, this person just went through and added a bunch of links to each state, two counties, and one town. Also if you follow the link (s) it has a link that is not correct for New Mexico, and may not be correct for other states as well. WikiDon 15:13, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Totally agree. They've been spam linking every state page. But I've dropped them a note and reverted all the links (a couple of the earlier ones had already been done) . -- Solipsist 16:11, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)
  • Looks like Boris Krylov, User:Bidiot, is doing a commercial plug for his own site. WikiDon 19:05, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] History of New Mexico / Article Size

It looks like a new article needs to be started: History of New Mexico. Then a summary of history needs to be in this article. A timeline would also be nice. The article is now at 39 k, just slightly over the 36 k limit, so something will need to be done soon. Comments? WikiDon 19:45, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] US Army

The snippet U.S. Army (Fort Bliss) I think should also mention WSMR.

--70.59.96.25 02:23, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New Mexico song

When I was growing up in Grants we sang what I thought was the New Mexico state song. It went, in part, "...from the Carlsbad Caverns to Old Santa Fe, from the White Sands to the Rio Grande, I am proud to be New Mexican, New Mexico: the Enchanted Land!" I loved singing this song. I was wondering why it isn't listed? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.53.192.153 (talk • contribs) .

That's not the state song, yo. WereWolf 17:01, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] nm

Εi am doing a report on new mexico can you help me

i can help

            -kitcat531  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.26.191.202 (talk) 03:13, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Reference to "fluent in Spanish"

I have concerns about the sentence, "At least one-third of New Mexicans are also fluent in a unique dialect of Spanish. New Mexican Spanish is rife with vocabulary often unknown to other Spanish speakers."

  • Is there a source for this statement?
  • I know that there is a unique dialect influenced by medieval and Mexican Spanish as well as indigenous languages, but, as discussion elsewhere states, most people speak English and not Spanish.
  • I know many "New Mexicans" who are Hispanic/Spanish/Mexican "culturally" but not "lingustically" (i.e. they don't speak any Spanish).

I think the sentence should be changed to, "There are New Mexicans who speak a unique dialect of Spanish..." with a link to "New Mexico Spanish" (where you can see my recommendations for changes to that article). —This unsigned comment was added by Ron habla hispana (talk • contribs) 3:52, 31 March 2006.


Any comments or discussion on the post above? I think it needs some discusson before changes are made.

Ron habla hispana 12:41, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


Several months have passed with no objections, I'm going to go ahead and make the change.

Ron habla hispana 18:59, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Races add up to more than 100%?

Is this a mistake or is there a citation or explanation?--Silverback 11:53, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

As of the edit this afternoon, the total is up to 103.9, up from 102.9%. I'm impressed. This is so amateurish, however, that I'm kind of disgusted with the section of the article. I'm searching for either a citation (unlikely to come easily) or a template for the section to point out the factual inaccuracy/impossibility. --ABQCat 03:08, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
2000 U.S. census numbers often count people who selected two or more races twice. I'll try and find the official cite. Eluchil404 06:18, 8 June 2006 (UTC)


---I am a political science student doing a research assignment on New Mexico, and I found some figures which contradict some information presented in this article. There is mention that NM has the second largest of native americans/alaskan natives in the country, second to OK. If you go here http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/ and compare NM and OK you'll see that NM actually has a higher percentage. i may be looking at this wrong, and i don't have time to really elaborate. also according to the census site, alaska has the highest overal NA/AN pop. maybe these need to be separated? -m. williams bloodytofu@gmail.com

[edit] Article Length

The Article is getting pretty long. I suggest splinning off the history sections into a daughter article. I thought I'd ask here for comments before doing it myself. Eluchil404 00:16, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Approve! --Rockero 05:27, 12 June 2006 (UTC)
Approve --Murcielago 20:04, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks I have hacked together a basic History of New Mexico article from what was here and Pueblo Revolt which was barely covered in the main section. It could use a look. I also shortened the History section here but welcome further trimming or clarification. Eluchil404 16:23, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Percentage of Spaniards wrong

I checked the Census Data, the percentage of Spaniards (24%) of total population is probably wrong. See : http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFIteratedFacts?_event=&geo_id=04000US35&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US35&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US35&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=040&_submenuId=factsheet_2&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=423&qr_name=DEC_2000_SAFF_R1040&reg=DEC_2000_SAFF_R1040%3A423&_keyword=&_industry= However, if Spaniards are not 24%, about 400,000 Hispanics are just missing. See: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFIteratedFacts?_event=&geo_id=04000US35&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US35&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US35&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=040&_submenuId=factsheet_2&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=424&qr_name=DEC_2000_SAFF_R1040&reg=DEC_2000_SAFF_R1040%3A424&_keyword=&_industry= Somebody please try to resolve that.

According to this document, http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf, the top 5 ancestry groups for New Mexico are not as listed. They are instead Mexican (16.3%), American Indian (10.3%), German (9.8%), Hispanic (9.4%) and Spanish (9.3%)

[edit] Recent edit in need of citation

As of the 16:42, 4 August 2006 edit by IP:195.117.242.66:

"New Mexico has simultaneously the highest percentage of Hispanic Americans of any state, some recent immigrants and others descendants of Spanish colonists, and the highest percentage of Native Americans, mostly Navajo and Pueblo peoples, of any continental United State"

This information sounds fine, but I think I'd need to see a citation for this as neither individual piece of information was previously "highest" or quantitative. Previous versions of this page simply listed "a large" or "significant" proportion. If either the contributer who made the edit can provide a citation or another contributer can help out, that would be great. I'm adding a citation needed template in the meantime.

--ABQCat 22:21, 5 August 2006 (UTC)


http://www.censusscope.org/us/s35/chart_race.html

That site should have what you're looking for.

--hyyttaa 05:11, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New Law

A new law recently passed in New Mexico makes it a felony to assist illegal aliens, and you MUST prove "you're" a U.S. citizen to even recieve basic services. Martial Law 04:53, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

I've got contacts there, mainly to keep a eye on UFO related matters, such as looking for new info. about the Roswell UFO Crash. Martial Law 04:55, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
I've heard nothing about this, and I live there. Let me look into it and we'll get it included in the article in some way or fashion if it's accurate. Do you know the date or name of the piece of legislation? --ABQCat 18:16, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
One contact I have made these claims. Don't know what the name of it is, nor timepoint. He claimed that the law says that you have to prove that you are a US citizen, and assissting illegal aliens in any way is a felony. Martial Law 19:57, 13 August 2006 (UTC)
Please don't misconstrue this as a malicious criticism, but that's almost exactly the definition of original research. If you can find a news story (and I've looked - tho abqjournal.com's archive system is abysmal) I'd be very interested in reading it. For now, lacking substantiation, this needs to stay out of the main article. --ABQCat 03:51, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
Further, the fact that New Mexico recently extended in-state tuition for state universities and colleges to certain undocumented immigrants seems to cast some doubt on this "new law" described. Source here for tuition story. --ABQCat 03:56, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
My contact said that if you que up for any social services, incl. food at a place giving out "commodities", you have to prove that you are a US citizen, and the new law allegedly cut down on people recieving govt. assisstance. Appreciate your assisstance. Maybe some legislator may have more info. I hope this "new law" is not for real. Martial Law 06:37, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New Mexico State Guard

New Mexico has a military unit similar to the Texas State Guard. Website is www.newmexicosdf.org . See Also Militia: State Militia and/or State Guard. Martial Law 23:44, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Can this be placed ? Martial Law 23:45, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
Also see State Defense Forces as well. Martial Law 23:49, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] State Nicknames

My grandmother tells me that when she was younger one of the state nicknames was "The Spanish State". She even showed me some visitor brochures from the 1930s that say that, so I added that nickname to the list. I'm not sure how long that nickname was used, but I'm guessing it popped up shortly after statehood or in the 1920s when there was the big Hispano literary revival.

Also, I'm not sure as to the official spelling, but it seems to make more sense (grammatically) that the official state nickname in Spanish would be "Tierra del Encanto" rather than "Tierra de Encanto".

Miguel Jose Ernst y Sandoval Moya 06:33, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

That's not totally correct. In Spanish from Spain makes more sense "Tierra de Encanto" 68.43.193.30 03:04, 20 January 2007 (UTC)Jose San Juan

[edit] New Mexico an "ethnic autonomous region"?

New Mexico is listed at Ethnic autonomous regions - according to the talk page an 'ethnic autonomous region' specifically for the "Mexicans". That seems to me to be nonsense.Paul111 12:27, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] SOMEONE FIX THIS PAGE NOW

someone has put indecent images all over this page please fix immediatley. I would, but I am new and don't know how to change pictures. Bcody 00:52, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New Sports section title added to updated Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. states format

The Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. states format has been updated to include a new Sports section title, which covers collegiate sports, amateur sports, and non-team sports (such as hunting and fishing). Please feel free to add this new heading, and supply information about sports in New Mexico. Please see South_carolina#Sports_in_South_Carolina as an example. NorCalHistory 13:27, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New proposed WikiProject

There is now a proposed WikiProject to deal with the state of New Mexico at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#New Mexico. Any parties interested in taking part in such a project should indicate as much there, so that we can know if there is sufficient interest to create it. Thank you. Badbilltucker 16:58, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notable New Mexicans: is someone pulling our leg here??

Can anyone confirm that this is all real? It certainly doesn't read that way. Who/what is "Coaches Sports Bar and Grill"??

  • Daniel "Slick" Sandoval, avid University of Oregon fan and employee of University of New Mexico Physics and Astronomy Department. Was recently named "2006 Man of the Year" by Coaches Sports Bar and Grill. Also, a childhood friend of NFL quarterback A.J. Feeley. Partnered with local golfer, Noah Trujillo, to win the 11th Annual Two Ball Battle at the Rio Grande, where they defeated Jeff Joerg and Dana Lehner 10 to 8.

Viva-Verdi 17:31, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pronunciation

The pronunciation is given as nju: which is standard in British English but I think that nu: which is an American variant is more common in the state. Or am I just being misled by my own ideolect? I know that I say nu: but I tend to hear the variants as homophones unless I am paying specific attention. Eluchil404 05:51, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

New Mexican native chiming in here. I would say that the vast majority of New Mexicans would say [nu:], and certainly not [nju:]. Considering American English rules, the statement that it would be [nju:] is entirely unlikely, if not impossible, as American English depalatizes [ju:] before [n]. --Puellanivis (talk) 05:35, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Demographics

The Demographics section says: "Descendants of white American settlers, mostly of Irish and English descent, from other parts of United States..." But then a table follows which puts German ancestry as greater than both Irish and English. The 'mostly of Irish and English descent' apostrophe should probably be changed or removed unless someone can explain this apparent contradiction. AnthroGael (talk) 10:46, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] read it!

new mexico is dry land and a beautiful state. if you are doing a report on it you made a good choce. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.243.136.175 (talk) 19:43, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Religion

The current version of the religion section doesn't add up to 100%. Also, it shows Judaism and Protestantism under the Roman Catholic heading. This edit seems to show the religious percentages correctly (and they add up to 100%), based on a RS added. Thoughts? AgnosticPreachersKid (talk) 01:07, 16 April 2008 (UTC)