Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sam Bregman made a big deal about landing the endorsement of Sandia Pueblo last month, trumpeting the backing of one of the state’s most powerful tribes in a news release.

Who could blame Bregman, a white man of Jewish descent?

The pueblo, after all, endorsed him over Deb Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo who made history as the first Native American to serve as a U.S. Cabinet secretary.

“To say I’m honored and humbled is an understatement,” Bregman, who is Bernalillo County district attorney, said in a statement issued by his campaign at the time.

As an Albuquerque city councilor and private attorney decades earlier, though, Bregman had a much different relationship with tribes, including when he represented a man who sued Sandia Resort & Casino, wh

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