ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Community members gathered this weekend to remember the life of a former U.S. senator and UNM professor who made a big impact on New Mexico.

Fred Harris was born in Oklahoma in 1930 and started his political career there in 1957, serving as a state senator there for seven years. As a Democrat throughout his career, Harris advocated for Native American rights and even formed an unlikely alliance with then-President Richard Nixon to restore land to the Taos Pueblo, including Blue Lake.

Harris served in the U.S. from 1964-1973 after winning special election in 1964 and reelection two years later. In 1972, he declined to seek another term and ran for president. He ran again in 1976 before becoming a professor at the University of New Mexico.

Many people turned out Saturday to remember his life at a memorial in Albuquerque.

“Because of him, I am able to practice our culture and religion – and to us, that is our church, is Blue Lake and Wilderness Area, so I am greatly appreciative of all the hard work him and his whole team has done,” a person from Taos Pueblo said.

Harris lived to be 94 years old. He lived out the last years of his life in Corrales, where neighbors said they will remember him for his vegetable garden and raising chickens.