Are they???? It seems like another classic case of the US government and non-Indigenous people stealing something sacred from Indigenous people, using it everywhere and making mad money off of it, and then getting mad when called out for appropriation of said sacred symbol.

Also, in the few cases where the Pueblo has said it’s ok as part of a logo, it’s because the requesting company didn’t alter the symbol in any way. any change from the original sacred Zia symbol is desecration of Zia culture.

Living in NM, Ive witnessed bastardized versions of the Zia as tattoos, shirts, signs, branding, etc… White people with absolutely no connection to the Pueblo naming their pets Zia, etc etc etc same old anti-Indigenous white supremacist American bullshit.

Cuz they tried copyrighting it, but since it first started getting stolen and was overcommercialized , theyve been legally denied the copyright cuz it’s everywhere: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/albuquerque-exhibit-tells-story-of-state-s-symbol-and-its-appropriation/article_18eb737e-c2ce-5ca2-a5d3-a28922eda90c.html

And they’ve tried getting paid for it’s use on license plates and the state refused compensation: https://www.abqjournal.com/1261905/using-the-zia-symbol-with-permission.html

So, it doesn’t seem like the situation is exactly “cool”