This collection documents the activities of a non-profit organization that existed for twenty years in New Mexico. New Mexico Indian Education Association's main goal was curriculum development. The organization existed in Albuquerque from 1981 and then in Santa Fe and various locations near and in Santa Fe after 1989. The organization’s board changed over time, but many key people such as Julia Nathanson, Catherine Coulter and Wilson Romero stayed involved. The NMIEA’s original directorship consisted of individuals who were concerned with the quality of New Mexico Student Education and how the students were taught history through only one view.

The NMIEA was very active in obtaining funds not only for its own continuation and projects, but for other local groups focused on similar objectives. The Association was fairly self-sufficient after sales of curriculum volumes started to take place. The Administration Series would be useful to individuals searching for examples on the set-up and organization of a non-profit, as well as good examples of successful grant writing procedures.

Administrative records are represented from 1986 although there is one short memo from 1984. There is a large group of Administration documents missing from NMIEA’s records. When NMIEA was in the process of moving from Albuquerque to the College of Santa Fe’s campus in 1989, their computers and other office equipment were stolen. According to a note written by Julia Nathanson dated October 5, 1993 the equipment was possibly stolen by in-house security persons. This accounts for missing records and reports from 1985 to 1989.

Board activities and Minutes were actively kept from 1992 to 1994 but most years there were no meeting documentation. This doesn’t mean there were no meetings, just that the documentation was not included in this collection. NMIEA documents show that the organization filed Federal as well as State tax forms from 1986 to 1994. IRS form 2758 was filed from 1988 to 1994. In the 1991-1992 tax year, The reason NMIEA gave for filing IRS form 2758, a request for extra time to file taxes was: “No money, no staff, the two volunteers who take care of business were out of state at the time. During the week of the date due, we were presenting at conferences.” No IRS forms were filed in 1999 because John Roberts, the financial Manager said NMIEA did not have enough income.

NMIEA’s focus was to show school children that there were historical perspectives other than the ones usually taught in Public Schools. This was accomplished by producing and publishing eight different volumes of New Mexico History books and teacher guides for distribution to local schools, both Indian and public. The books were approved by the New Mexico State Instructional Materials Division which means they were available to all educators statewide. These volumes are:

"Indian Perspectives in New Mexico History." This publication was developed to address the need expressed by educators and parents for instructional materials that reflect the presence and contributions of the indigenous cultures of the southwest from 1692-present. The text was designed for seventh grade New Mexico History Students.

"Activities For Indian Perspectives." This publication was developed as an accompanying teacher’s guide for Indian Perspectives in New Mexico History.

"Visions and Life Journeys" Vol. I-IV These volumes were developed specifically for Native American Adult Learners. They were written for elementary reading levels with stories that would appeal to adult interest. The volumes contain interviews with contemporary New Mexican Indian leaders in different fields such as tribal administration, education, business, arts sciences, etc. The interviews focus on the challenges and choices each had made as well as their contributions and roles within their communities. Volume I focuses on different professional life stories; Volume II focuses on Leadership concepts, Volume III is about overcoming handicaps or obstacles and Volume IV deals with environmental awareness and understanding

"The Teacher Activity Guide to Visions and Life Journeys." This publication was developed to accompany and expand upon the Visions and Life Journeys volumes.

"Walking the Path to Prevention: The Mysterious Disease." This publication was written by Phil Belone of the Navajo Nation. This small printed booklet was produced while NMIEA was acting as the head of the NMIECE. Its purpose was to help Native people understand how to avoid contracting Hauntavirus.

The collection of publications is particularly strong in biographical information on individuals highlighted in the Visions and Life Journeys Series, including many photographs of each individual. This is unique because many people interviewed in this series had never been interviewed before, and many would never have consented to interviews if not for the connection with NMIEA board members and staff

NMIEA utilized a computer based accounting system and records were kept on a MacIntosh computer using Quicken to keep track of expenditures and income. Pagemaker 1.2, 2.0 and 4.2, Word 6.0 and Works were all used for the production of text for the educational volumes. The Media Series of this collection contains a large group of backup microdisks from these programs.

This collection has a small group of ephemera which includes stationary, envelopes and rubber stamps. The oversized series contains original artwork on paper produced for inclusion in the volumes, original proofs of the volumes and large transparencies mainly for the production of the "Hantavirus" booklet.