Three sister tribes unite for the Tri-Ute Games, an annual youth sports event

KSJD | By Clark Adomaitis

Published July 22, 2024 at 8:50 AM MDT

Youth from the Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Ute Indian tribes line up at the grand entry of the 2024 Tri-Ute Games.

Earlier in July, the Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Ute Indian tribes got together for their annual friendly sports competition for youth. Youth athlete registration numbers soared as this year’s Tri-Ute Games was the first time the event included all three sister tribes since the COVID-19 pandemic, and some registration requirements were opened to second tribal descendants.

At the Ignacio High School gymnasium, young people from three tribes played volleyball against each other at the annual Tri-Ute games. This year, the Southern Ute tribe is hosting its sister tribes, the Ute Mountain Ute and Ute Indian tribes, in Ignacio, Colorado.

K’ia Whiteskunk is the recreation director for the Ute Mountain Ute tribe. She says the three sister tribes' gathering for this annual event shows unity and gives young people a chance to meet friends and relatives.

“We have relatives from the other tribes that we don't get to see. But this is a time that helps youth get to know each other and come together that maybe normally wouldn't. I think also health-wise, difficulties and different diseases and like diabetes… so keeping the kids active is important,” said Whiteskunk.

Youth from the Ute Mountain Ute and Ute Indian tribes play volleyball in the Ignacio High School gymnasium at the 2024 Tri-Ute Games.

Over at the Southern Ute Bear Dance trail, athletes in colored shirts run the Ute Warrior challenge.

Darnell Muniz is a recreation specialist at the Sun Ute Community Center. He’s guiding kids running along the road after they've slid down a slip-and-slide.

“The challenge is having them running bout half a mile on our Bear Dance trail all the way to the community park… we have various events like army crawl, slip and slide, and three-legged race,” said Muniz.

Youth run the Ute Warrior challenge, a half-mile run through the Southern Ute Bear Dance trail featuring a slip-and-slide and a three-legged race.

Muniz says that this year’s Tri-Ute games was the first one since the COVID-19 pandemic to see all three tribes reunite.

This year’s Tri-Ute games were the first one since the COVID-19 pandemic to see all three tribes reunite. In July 2022, the Ute Games only included two tribes. Temperature checks and COVID masks were mandatory on the host reservation at the time.

This year, the Southern Ute and Ute Indian tribes opened youth registration for this year’s games to descendants of tribal members. Muniz says over 200 youth athletes participated this year.

“It's bringing these kids together because like a lot of them probably don't know that they have cousins there or,, relatives in and around those areas, and cousins meeting up, or friends meeting up,” said Muniz.

Next year’s Tri-Ute Games will likely be hosted by the Ute Indian tribe in Fort Duchesne, Utah.