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Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

  • 20 years after the murder of a Native American man on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation, the FBI says it’s offering a new $10,000 reward for any information about the crime. On January 31, 2004, a Towaoc resident named Avery Whiteskunk went missing and was later found dead near County Road G. An FBI bulletin released on Monday said anyone with information about the individual responsible should contact its Denver field office. Whiteskunk is one of 27 cold case homicides involving tribal citizens in Colorado, according to statistics from a newly-created state office. And the Rico Board of Trustees is considering pursuing dark sky certification for the town. At a trustee meeting earlier this month, a representative from Dark Sky Colorado said that the certification could preserve Rico residents’ views of the starry night sky by changing the land-use code or ordinance that regulates lighting in the town, according to the Ore Cart.
  • Colorado Parks and Wildlife reached an agreement to collect the wolves in Washington for release sometime next winter. However, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southwest Colorado says they were never meaningfully consulted by the state about the reintroduction of wolves or the consequences it could have for tribal ranchers on the West Slope.
  • As many as 15 gray wolves could be reintroduced to Colorado’s Western Slope next winter, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. It’s a move that concerns the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southwest Colorado. CPW reached an agreement with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation last week to collect the wolves on the tribes’ land in eastern Washington. 10 wolves from Oregon were released in Colorado last month, the first batch under the state’s reintroduction plan. However, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe says they were never properly consulted about the decision to reintroduce wolves to the state or the potential impacts it could have on the sovereign nation. And Mesa Verde National Park is asking for the public’s help in locating a 73-year-old man who went missing while hiking on a trail last week. Thomas Irwin was last seen hiking Petroglyph Point Trail last Monday.
  • Energy Fuels Resources says that it plans to stockpile and eventually process the uranium at its White Mesa mill facility in southeastern Utah, the last of its kind still operating in the U.S. A tribe located near the mill facility opposes the increase in uranium production due to concerns over air pollution.
  • The first conventional uranium mining done in the U.S. in eight years is underway at three mines in Utah and Arizona. Energy Fuels Resources says that it plans to stockpile and eventually process the uranium at its White Mesa mill facility in southeastern Utah, the last of its kind still operating in the U.S. Scott Clow is the environmental programs director for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, which is located near the White Mesa mill. Clow says he and the tribe oppose the increase in uranium production, citing the potential for a rise in air pollution for tribal residents living near the mill. He’s also concerned about the contamination of groundwater. Energy Fuels said high market prices for uranium combined with helpful government policies and the high demand for fuel for nuclear power plants also led to the decision to increase mining.
  • Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park is almost double the size of nearby Mesa Verde National Park, and includes dozens of archaeological sites, well-preserved cliff dwellings, pottery sherds and art on canyon walls. The park is a tribal enterprise encompassing the entirety of Mesa Verde’s backcountry and requires visitors to travel with a Ute Mountain Ute guide.
  • On Friday, the activist group Stolen People, Stolen Benefits will hold a walk in Phoenix to continue raising awareness about the displacement of Native American people who were taken to fake sober living homes. Advocates like Reva Stewart who do outreach in Phoenix say they’re continuing to see an increase in the number of unhoused people who need help returning to tribal communities like the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. That’s after Governor of Arizona Katie Hobbs announced the state would crack down on these fraudulent facilities in May. Stewart says that an activist in their group who is a White Mountain Apache tribal member recently lost a close friend to a drug overdose in a Phoenix area group home. Almost one year after the first news stories on fraudulent Arizona group homes broke, it appears many facilities are finding ways to operate and recruit even after having their payments from the state Medicaid agency suspended.
  • On Friday, Montezuma Land Conservancy will screen a documentary film on Native American food sovereignty and the harvest season at KSJD’s Sunflower Theatre in Cortez, followed by a panel discussion. The film – called "Gather" – will also be shown in Towaoc, on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation. Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk is a former Ute Mountain Ute tribal council member and the cross-cultural programs manager for MLC. She’s helping organize the screening, and will speak on the panel afterwards. She says the traditional harvest season for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe begins in springtime, in connection with the spring Bear Dance celebration. Tribal members will sometimes first harvest juniper trees to build the lodge for the Bear Dance, and later in the season, different berries, cedar trees and sage.
  • A community group in White Mesa, Utah, on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation, is holding its annual spiritual walk and rally on Saturday to protest the nearby uranium mill. The White Mesa uranium mill, operated by the mining company Energy Fuels Resources, is the only one of its kind still operating in the United States. The mill is part of a legacy of uranium mining in Four Corners tribal communities, many of which are still dealing with the impacts of widespread environmental contamination as the result of mining activity. Scott Clow is the environmental programs director for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. He says he has concerns that the state of Utah’s regulation of groundwater usage by the uranium mill has been too lax, and has led to the degradation and contamination of the Burro Canyon aquifer underneath White Mesa.
  • Earlier this month, a meeting was held in White Mesa, Utah, on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation, to remember the centennial of the town of Blanding’s attacks on the tribal community. From March 22 to April 29, 1923, Mormon settlers and townspeople from Blanding began a five-week assault that included the theft of Ute lands and children, and the murder and imprisonment of many White Mesa Utes. Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk is a former Ute Mountain Ute tribal council member and the cross-cultural programs manager for Montezuma Land Conservancy. According to Lopez-Whiteskunk, the attack on White Mesa was brought on, in part, by the Homestead Act of 1862, which allowed any American to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land.