SANTA FE, N.M. — SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An embattled determine in Native American politics has resigned as chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors and ended his exterior consulting work for the state of New Mexico days after he was arrested on suspicion of driving whereas intoxicated.

Data obtained by The Related Press present James Mountain submitted his resignation letter Tuesday to the council, a distinguished advocacy group for 19 Native American communities in New Mexico and one other in Texas. He famous it was efficient instantly.

Additionally on Tuesday, Mountain terminated his work as a contract adviser to the state Indian Affairs Division, mentioned Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokesperson for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Pojoaque Pueblo police arrested Mountain every week in the past on suspicion of driving whereas intoxicated at a tribal on line casino. He was held over the weekend at a Santa Fe County jail after declining a discipline sobriety take a look at, in response to an internet reserving log and the Pojoaque Pueblo Tribal Court docket.

The Related Press left e mail and telephone messages for Mountain on Friday in search of remark. The AP additionally left messages with the All Pueblo Council of Governors. The council’s web site nonetheless listed Mountain as chairman Friday.

It was unclear Friday whether or not Mountain has been formally charged, although the Pojoaque Pueblo courtroom says an arraignment has been scheduled subsequent week. The AP submitted a request for detailed judicial data to the courtroom for a decide to contemplate.

Mountain’s 2023 appointment as cupboard secretary to the New Mexico Division of Indian Affairs below Lujan Grisham angered Native American advocates who work to handle violence and lacking individuals circumstances inside their communities.

They pointed to previous costs towards Mountain that included felony sexual penetration, kidnapping and aggravated battery of a family member. Lujan Grisham’s workplace emphasised these costs have been dismissed in 2010 after prosecutors mentioned they didn’t have sufficient proof to go to trial — and urged these elevating issues about his previous to “respect the judicial course of.”

Lujan Grisham additionally had highlighted Mountain’s management at San Ildefonso Pueblo because the tribe’s governor, and his experience in state and tribal relations. However the state Senate affirmation course of for Mountain stalled, and he left the cupboard submit after serving lower than a yr to work as Lujan Grisham’s senior coverage adviser for tribal affairs.

Mountain left direct state authorities employment on the finish of March, however he settled into related function as a contract adviser — till Tuesday’s contract termination, McGinnis Porter mentioned.

Mountain served as governor at San Ildefonso Pueblo from 2006 to 2007 and once more from 2015 to 2017. He oversaw the completion of the Aamodt Water Settlement, in regards to the pueblo’s water rights, and the Indian Land Claims Settlement in 2006. He additionally ran his personal state-tribal affairs consulting agency lately.

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Related Press author Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.