Homelands | Until Forever Comes

“We call ourselves Nuuchiu or Nuu’ciu, ‘the people’…We know who we are; we don’t need someone to tell us who we are or where we came from.”

Cassandra J. Atencio, Southern Ute Indian Tribe

Former THPO, Southern Ute Indian Tribe

Long before there was a city of Colorado Springs, this was Nu̍ukanigyatʉtʉvʉpʉ̠ (Ute Homeland). The Ute people are the oldest residents of Colorado. We inhabited the mountains and vast areas of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Eastern Nevada, Northern New Mexico, and Arizona. According to our tribal history handed down from generation to generation, our people have lived here since time immemorial.

Traditionally we lived in bands within our familial groups and moved across our homelands guided by our knowledge of the seasons. Our seasonal rounds corresponded with our celestial calendar and demonstrated our expertise of plants, animals, minerals, and other resources. Over time we became seven distinct bands, occupying traditional use areas which were communal and fiercely defended from those who trespassed.

“A lot of the Ute bands and territories…overlapped one another. It wasn’t like here’s the line…you don’t go over to that side. It all over-lapped and they all visited one another.”

Alden B. Naranjo Jr. (1941-2020), Southern Ute Indian Tribe

Former NAGPRA Coordinator, Southern Ute Indian Tribe

As Ute people we speak different versions, or dialects of the same language. Our language is part of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Traditionally, Ute was an oral language with different dialects spoken by different bands. The landscape dictated how we spoke. Ute became a written language in the 1970s; each of our three Ute tribes have a different written language due to regional differences and the linguists who documented and recorded our spoken words.

Today we are divided into three Federally Recognized Tribes: The Southern Ute Indian Tribe; the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe; and the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation. However, we are all related. Inter-tribal relationships resulted in Utes marrying into other bands and tribes. As Ute people we retain our traditions, language and cultural identity.

We the Nuu’ciu are still here. We live in the modern world and carry on our traditions. We still hunt, pray, and retain our Ute identity. We adapt and find new ways to persevere. We work and go to school. Our ongoing connection to this land sustains us. We look to the future.

Ute Homelands