The different Indians residing within the state shall be subject to render the same services as non-Indians in working the acequias, within the limits of their respective reservations in which they may have a common interest with the non-Indians who live outside their respective reservations, and they shall enjoy at the same time the same benefit and rights of commercial traffic; provided that the Indians shall have no right to participate in the nominations and election of acequia mayordomos or superintendents or acequia or water commissioners in any ditch, whether within or without their reservations, except in acequias constructed entirely by themselves, unless they have paid their proportionate share of the whole cost of the construction of such acequia and unless the lands sought to be voted by the Indians have been duly returned for taxation in accordance with law and state and county taxes paid thereon. In all cases in which non-Indians living outside the reservation have acquired water rights by purchase of land from the Indians, the distribution of the water between the Indians and the non-Indians shall be agreed upon, based upon the customs heretofore practiced and recognized between the Indians and the non-Indians, by and between the governor of the Indian community or pueblo and the commissioners of such acequias in which the non-Indians may have acquired any such rights and, the governors of such Indians and the acequia commissioners shall also regulate the amount and manner of work to be done by the Indians and non-Indians in all such acequias in which all have water rights in accordance with such customs.

History: Laws 1860-1861, p. 24, § 2; C.L. 1865, ch. 66, § 3 [2]; C.L. 1884, § 1305; C.L. 1897, § 1876; Laws 1901, ch. 29, § 1; 1905, ch. 36, § 1; Code 1915, § 5769; C.S. 1929, § 151-439; 1941 Comp., § 77-1437; 1953 Comp., § 75-14-38; Laws 1997, ch. 96, § 1.

Compiler's notes. — The last sentence of this section, in which the word "heretofore" is found, first appeared when the section was rewritten by the 1901 amendment (Laws 1901, ch. 29), which was approved March 16, 1901.

Cross references. — For provision exempting Indian lands from taxation, see N.M. Const., art. XXI, § 2.

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, substituted "non-Indians" for "citizens" and made stylistic changes throughout the section; in the first sentence, deleted "communities of" following "different", deleted "of New Mexico" following "state", substituted "render the same services as non-Indians" for "render their services", substituted "who live outside" for "who live within", and substituted "mayordomos or superintendents" for "overseers"; and in the second sentence, substituted "living outside the reservation" for "living within the limits of such communities or pueblos of Indians shall", inserted "Indian" following "governor of the", deleted "communities or pueblos of" following "governors of such" and deleted "said river or" preceding "acequias".