ALBUQUERQUE - Representatives from a national American Indian group, including Derek Valdo of Acoma, urged New Mexico pueblos and tribes to participate in the 2010 Census. The group was in Albuquerque last week. Valdo is vice-president of the National Congress of American Indians' southwest area.

    Valdo spoke on behalf of the national organization at a rally encouraging Indians and other Americans to fill out their census forms. Valdo said the goal of the U.S. Census is to paint a portrait of America and every native person who is counted makes a difference in ensuring the face of Indian Country is a part of this portrait. He added that census data is the basis for more than $1 billion that flows into Indian Country for housing construction, road improvements and maintenance as well as new jobs and training programs.

    “We know Indian Country faces many hurdles to an accurate census. The state of New Mexico, which includes Native America, has one of the highest undercounts in the nation. But our future greatly depends on it,” said Valdo.

    Valdo spoke at a news conference last Thursday in Albuquerque during a 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour.

    The NCAI, the oldest and largest civil rights organization for American Indians, is pleased to participate in the national call to action with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, made up of the Asian American Justice Center, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, the NAACP, and other national organizations. NCAI has created the Indian Country Counts campaign to aid tribes with the census in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure an accurate count of all Native people. Historically, American Indians and Alaska Natives are among the nation's hardest populations to count because of a mistrust of the federal government, as well as linguistic, geographical and cultural challenges. The 2000 Census showed that eight of the 10 poorest counties in America were home to Indian reservations. American Indians were also severely undercounted in past censuses.

    Find more information at www.indiancountrycounts.org.