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In 1969, Solimon transferred from Arizona State University,
where he played Division 1-A baseball, to New Mexico State
to gain more of an academic focus. What he discovered, aside
from the challenging academic programs, was a place of opportunity
and camaraderie, especially with the development of the university’s
first Native American organization.
“By getting together socially with other Native American
students, we were able to help each other survive the initial
shock of going to a university,” he said. “We had
all seen others leave the reservation to go to college, only
to watch them come back a few months or a year later because
the environment was so different—it was too much of a
change. We helped each other adjust and succeed.”
Solimon was encouraged to apply for a co-op through the university
and landed an internship position with the U.S. Office of
Education in San Francisco.
“That co-op turned out to be one of the best experiences
of my life,” said Solimon. “My mentor in that diverse
office environment was a Native American woman with a master’s
degree in education.”
During his internship, Solimon was part of a team that helped
establish the Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl University in Davis,
Calif, an institution dedicated to providing educational opportunities
to Native Americans. He also worked to develop a halfway house
for Native American ex-convicts in the Bay area. Both experiences
turned his thoughts to law school.
Before he left for his internship in San Francisco, Solimon’s
grandfather, Jim Solomon (the family’s last name was
changed when a clerk misspelled it on an official document)
gave him a bit of advice. An advocate of a more diversified
economic development plan on the reservation, Solomon suggested
that his grandson use his education and talents to help bring
new economic and business opportunities to the Pueblo. “Your
people need your help,” he told Solimon.
“I started thinking about that and how I could come
home and help out,” Solimon said. “The seed had
been planted.”
After completing law school, he returned to the Pueblo and
worked to obtain federal funding for a start-up business,
a nursing home, a commercial center and a middle school. He
also began researching taxation policies, case law and statutes
relating to Indian tribes.
“There was a lot to be done in the Native American community,”
said Solimon. “I saw the magnitude of issues that needed
to be dealt with— the fences that needed to be knocked
down.”
He has knocked many of them down throughout his career. He
played a key role in negotiating a $48 million settlement
to reclaim Laguna’s Jackpile uranium mine. He was instrumental
in creating legislation that would allow tribally owned businesses
to handle defense contracting work, and went on to establish
and run one of the most successful of these contracting firms,
winning the Small Business Person of the Year for the State
of New Mexico from the U.S. Small Business Administration
in 1989.
Today, Solimon heads the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and
Indian Pueblos Marketing Inc. where he continues to further
the interests of his community through educational programs
and the development of for-profit endeavors such as conference
facilities. He is still looking to his roots—including
the ones he planted and nourished at New Mexico State.
“The positive experiences I had there led to the continued
success I have enjoyed,” said Solimon. “To receive
the kind of nurturing I had at NMSU was wonderful. I have
never forgotten it.”
Heather Feldman
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"By getting together socially with other Native American
students, we were able to help each other survive the initial
shock of going to a university.... We helped each other adjust
and succeed.”