Determined to influence the Legislature’s redistricting process, a coalition of tribal and pueblo leaders testified Tuesday in favor of a map that will protect their interests and maintain — if not increase — their voter strength in six state House districts.

Their presence at the House State Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee came after all the state’s tribes and pueblos agreed Monday night to come together to support a map introduced by Rep. Daymon Ely, D-Corrales.

That unanimity was historic, several Native American leaders said as they testified before the committee.

“It’s exceedingly rare for tribes to come together and find common ground,” said Keegan King of Acoma Pueblo, co-chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors’ Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee. “The stakes are incredibly high.”

The Native leaders’ efforts are likely to be repeated when state Senate and U.S. House maps are scrutinized during the legislative special session called to address redistricting.

But though the process is just getting started, it became clear Tuesday that new proposals will get swift reaction — both for and against.

Ely said the House map he introduced as House Bill 8 is a slight variation of one of three House redistricting maps proposed by the Citizens Redistricting Committee, which was charged with submitting three proposals for the state House and Senate, Congress and Public Education Commission.

Though the specifics of Ely’s bill will be unclear until the committee convenes Wednesday morning, what little information did emerge indicated the map could change House District 63 in Eastern New Mexico, represented by Rep. Martin Zamora, R-Clovis.

Zamora, who serves on the House State Government Committee, seemed stunned by the proposal.

“Either they are very unorganized or something is being kept from us [Republicans] as a strategy,” Zamora said, referring to the lack of specifics in Ely’s bill.

Earlier in the day, some House Republicans criticized how the redistricting process is playing out, complaining it is being run by Democrats who hold a large majority in both the House and Senate — and want to keep it that way.

Rep. Cathrynn Brown, R-Carlsbad, called redistricting a “shooting gallery to pick off Republicans.”

At the same time, the determination of Native pueblos and tribes to agree on Ely’s proposal is an indication of agreement not always seen during redistricting.

Regis Pecos, a former governor of Cochiti Pueblo and co-founder of the Leadership Institute at Santa Fe Indian School, said the session shows Native Americans “have a unified position, have a unified voice” in how their districts are drawn.

He said that’s the first time in years Natives have come together in force at the start of the redistricting process, rather than “coming back and challenging [in the courts] to reach equity and justice,” he said.

Among other goals, the Native American leaders who testified for House Bill 8 said it allows Native Americans to hold comfortable majority voting blocks in six House districts.

Diné activist Ahtza D. Chavez, who helped facilitate the monthslong effort to bring all the state’s tribes and pueblos together, said they also hope to use their collective weight to send more Native Americans into the Legislature to serve as representatives.

Currently, six Native Americans hold positions in the Legislature. Chavez said she would like to see that number grow to at least 10 to reflect the roughly 11 percent of the state’s residents who are Native Americans.

She said lawmakers will have to consider the collective as the session plays out.

“Any map one tribe signs on to is viable, but when all of them sign on, it is powerful,” she said.