UTE INDIANS

THE UTE INDIANS RANGED ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN COLORADO PLATEAU AT LEAST 2000 YEARS AGO. UTE MEANS HIGH LAND OR LAND OF THE SUN. THEY BELONG TO THE UTO AZTECAN LANGUAGE GROUP THEY LIVED IN BOTH THE MOUNTAINS AND THE DESERTS. THE MOUNTAIN BANDS WERE HUNTERS AND GATHERERS OF LARGE GAME AND FISHED. THE UTES FROM THE SOUTHERN ARID COLORADO WERE TRAVELERS WHO WANDERED WIDELY. THEY GATHERED FRUITS, NUTS, BERRIES, AND ROOTS FROM MANY ECOTONES. BY1500 A.D. THEY WERE THEY WERE WELL ESTABLISHED IN COLORADO.

TODAY THE NORTHERN UTE LIVE ON A SMALL RESERVATION NEAR DUCHESNE NEAR NORTHEASTERN UTAH. THE SOUTHERN UTES LIVE NEAR IGNACIO. IN 1897 THE UTE MOUNTAIN UTES MOVED TO THE SOUTHERN UTE RESERVATION INCLUDING LANDS IN COLORADO, UTAH, AND NEW MEXICO.

PRIOR TO THE HORSES THEY MOVED ON FOOT AS HUNTERS AND GATHERERS SEASONAL NOMADS MEN HUNTED DEER , BUFFALO, RABBITS AND SMALL GAME. WOMEN GATHERED SEED GRASSES, NUTS, BERRIES, ROOTS AND GREENS. THEY PROCESSED AND STORED MEAT. SOME LIVED IN BRUSH WIKIUPS WHILE OTHERS MADE BUFFALO HIDE TEEPEES. ONLY THE PAH VANT WERE CULTIVATING FOOD PLANTS DURING SPANISH CONTACT. IN THE 1660'S THEY ACQUIRED HORSES AND RAISED THEM AS WELL AS CATTLE SHEEP. THEY WERE RESPECTED WARRIORS. ONCE MORMONS ARRIVED IN NORTHERN COLORADO THEY PRESSURED THE UTES TO SETTLE DOWN. IN 1854 A WAR STARTED BETWEEN THE MORMONS AND THE UTES. THE UTES WERE REMOVED TO THE UINTAH RESERVATIONS IN 1869. BY 1905 EACH UTE RECEIVED AN 80 TO 120 ACRE PLOT FOR FARMING. IT LIMITED THEIR SUCCESS IN RAISING CATTLE AND LIVESTOCK.

OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT OCCURRED IN 1970 TO 1980'S ON THEIR RESERVATION. THIS BENEFITED THEM WITH JOBS AND MORE OUTLETS FOR MONEY. THE CENTRAL UTAH PROJECT WAS A WATER DIVERSION PROJECT THAT GAVE THEM MONEY AND STORED WATER FOR THEM.

THE SOUTHERN UTES ON 56 MILLION ACRES TODAY HAVE 1500 MEMBERS; THE NORTHEASTERN UTES HAVE 3500 MEMBERS, AND THE UTE MOUNTAIN TRIBE HAS 2000 MEMBERS. THEY WERE NEVER A UNIFIED GROUP WITHIN HISTORIC TIMES. IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THEIR RESERVATIONS WERE WHITTLED DOWN IN SIZE BY MINING INTERESTS. THEY WERE REIMBURSED FOR THEIR LANDS BY VARIOUS GOVERNMENTS.

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