Joe A. Garcia (2023), advocate for Native American tribal sovereignty
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2 min readJoe A. Garcia was an Ohkay Owingeh leader among the Pueblo people in New Mexico and former president of the National Congress of American Indians who advocated for sovereignty for Native American tribes.
- Died: May 11, 2023 (Who else died on May 11?)
- Details of death: Died in New Mexico at the age of 70.
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Joe A. Garcia’s legacy
Garcia was a member of the Ohkay Owingeh tribe and a prominent Native American leader in New Mexico, serving in an array of positions and advocating for greater sovereignty for indigenous people. An electrical engineer by trade, Garcia earned a degree in engineering from the University of New Mexico, then spent 25 years working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory before retiring in 2003.
Throughout his life, Garcia fought for Pueblo educational sovereignty, as well as critical infrastructure for Native Americans, including broadband Internet, access to healthcare, and more. In pursuit of those goals, he was a former chairman of the All Indian Pueblo Council (now called the All Pueblo Council of Governors), and he was a vice president of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Indian School.
Garcia was also a three-time governor of the Ohkay Owingeh and was the tribe’s head councilman when he died. He was also a two-time president of the National Congress of American Indians, self-described as the oldest and largest organization of American Indian and Alaska Native governments in North America.
Tributes to Joe A. Garcia
Full obituary: Albuquerque Journal
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