Background roamed throughout Colorado, Utah, northern Arizona and New Mexico in a hunter-gatherer society, moving with the seasons for the best hunting and harvesting. In the late 1800’s, treaties with the United States forced them to move into southwestern Colorado. Currently there are three Ute tribes— the Northern Ute Tribe in Northwest Utah, the Southern Ute Tribe in Southeastern Colorado and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (UMUT) in Montezuma County (Towaoc), Colorado and San Juan County (White Mesa), Utah. H I S T O R I C A L LY, T H E P E O P L E O F T H E U T E N AT I O N
The UMUT people have lived on this land for over 100 years. Today, the homelands for the Weeminuche, or Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, are slightly less than 600,000 acres. The Tribal lands are on what’s known as the Colorado Plateau, a high desert area with deep canyons carved through the mesas. Towaoc is secreted away southwest of Mesa Verde National Park and northeast of scenic Monument Valley.
The UMUT people have lived on this land for over 100 years. 16
In addition to the land in Colorado and New Mexico, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe also has a presence in southeastern Utah, on allotted trust land. These lands, or allotments, cover 2,597 acres and are located at Allen Canyon and the greater Cottonwood Wash area as well as on White Mesa and in Cross Canyon. Some of the allotments in White Mesa and Allen Canyon are individually owned and some are owned by the Tribe as a whole. The Allen Canyon allotments are located twelve miles west of Blanding, Utah and adjacent to the Manti La Sal National Forest. The White Mesa allotments are located nine miles south of Blanding, Utah. The Tribe also holds fee patent title to 41,112 acres of land in Utah and Colorado.
