{"id":16898,"date":"2025-08-15T23:50:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T23:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/controversy-surrounds-letter-sent-to-tribal-leaders-after-a-death-on-the-ute-mountain-ute-reservation\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:02:08","slug":"controversy-surrounds-letter-sent-to-tribal-leaders-after-a-death-on-the-ute-mountain-ute-reservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/controversy-surrounds-letter-sent-to-tribal-leaders-after-a-death-on-the-ute-mountain-ute-reservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversy surrounds letter sent to tribal leaders after a death on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A vehicle from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services is parked adjacent to the Ute Mountain Casino in early July. (Benjamin Rubin\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

After an alleged homicide Tuesday on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation shook the small community, a letter demanding action to prevent gun violence was sent by a group of advocates to tribal leaders. The letter\u2019s message, however, didn\u2019t hold up after two group members departed the coalition, leading to a separate apology emailed to tribal leaders days later.<\/p>\n

The small group of advocates behind the letter, who call themselves The Ute Mountain Gun Violence Prevention Coalition,\u201d formed with ties to the Denver-based Colorado Ceasefire<\/a> and other advocates, including a handful of Ute Mountain Ute tribal members.<\/p>\n

But two women who were initially a part of the small, newly formed coalition \u2013 Monique Terpstra and Alfreda Armstrong \u2013 described a series of miscommunications behind the letter\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

In turn, after the letter was sent, tribal leaders told the two women that they were concerned about the messaging behind the demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat letter wasn\u2019t meant to slam our leaders,\u201d Terpstra said. \u201cThey have a job that\u2019s hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two days after the letter was sent, Laney Sheffer, Interim Executive Director of Colorado Ceasefire released an apology on behalf of the coalition to tribal leaders, attempting to shift responsibility for the first letter away from Terpstra and Armstrong and announcing that the two women had separated from the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was never our intention to cause strain or to disregard the complexities and responsibilities you carry in leading the Nation,\u201d the apology said.<\/p>\n

Death coincides with a gun violence prevention event<\/div>\n

The first letter came after word of Destiny Whiteman\u2019s death rippled through the community Tuesday.<\/p>\n

According to a public affairs officer with the FBI Denver office, early on Aug. 12 the body of a woman was found near North Ute Street and Chief Miller Street in Towaoc after word from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Soon after, Duran Wade Lang was arrested on homicide charges, according to the officer.<\/p>\n

The timing aligned crucially with other happenings on the reservation. Only a week before, a two-day awareness event on gun violence prevention was held at the Ute Mountain Casino<\/a>, led in partnership with Colorado Ceasefire, a Denver-based advocacy group working to prevent shootings in the state.<\/p>\n

People began to take action. Colorado Ceasefire, a few members of the tribe and others organized a group chat to start the Ute Mountain Ute Gun Violence Prevention Coalition. The group then sent a letter to tribal leaders, demanding change around gun safety.<\/p>\n

According to the first letter, sent that evening, the coalition included Wendy Laner, a victim advocate for the tribe and a sister of Whiteman\u2019s. The letter said Whiteman left behind a 5-month-old baby and claimed she had been murdered by the baby\u2019s father. Gun violence was implicated.<\/p>\n

In the letter, the coalition calls on \u201cthe Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Leadership to declare a State of Emergency in response to rising gun and domestic violence impacting the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

After citing statistics on broad rates of domestic violence and gun violence, the letter states that \u201cthese risks are compounded by underfunded services, jurisdictional gaps and delayed responses on tribal lands. Without urgent, systemic intervention, the cycle continues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter was sent Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. and emailed to Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart, Tribal Council members and other tribal officials, as well as several news outlets, including The Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Details emerge behind the letter<\/div>\n

The Journal<\/em> spoke with two people initially involved with the coalition who later severed their ties. The Journal<\/em> also reviewed text messages among coalition members exchanged in the letter\u2019s lead-up.<\/p>\n

Monique Terpstra, a Ute Mountain Ute, and Alfreda Armstrong, who is Southern Ute, Southern Cheyenne and Caddo Nation are both deeply rooted in the community through the Western Slope Native American Resources Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to helping with social service access for Natives, the center\u2019s priority has been on facilitating Wellbriety healing circles, especially since Whiteman\u2019s death hit the community.<\/p>\n

\"Wellbriety
Wellbriety advocate Alfreda Armstrong, left, and Western Slope Native American Resources Center director Monique Terpstra burn sage after a Wellbriety healing circle in Towaoc. (Benjamin Rubin\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Although both women were initially involved with the gun violence coalition, they said the letter had been rushed, and not everyone was on board with it.<\/p>\n

Armstrong\u2019s names, phone number and email were placed at the end of the letter as a media contact, seemingly leaving her alone on the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t appreciate how my name was the only name on the letter,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt like I was used as a scapegoat for Colorado Ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both women said they felt the responsibility for the letter had been placed on them.<\/p>\n

They also said the letter was sent prematurely, based on unclear texts, and they couldn\u2019t properly review everything. Some group messages encouraged members to comment before the letter was sent, however.<\/p>\n

Terpstra and Armstrong said that in the days since the letter was sent, they\u2019d been in conversations with members of the Tribal Council.<\/p>\n

Tribal officials felt the demands implied they hadn\u2019t taken sufficient action in response to Whiteman\u2019s death, the two women said.<\/p>\n

Neither the Ute Mountain Ute chairman nor the Tribal Council responded to emailed questions from The Journal <\/em>regarding the letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cCouncil should have actually got that (letter) first and then went over it before it was sent out to the media,\u201d Terpstra said. \u201cWe could have all worked together to put something out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terpstra and Armstrong both noted that a support resource known as Community Critical Stress Debriefing was available on the reservation.<\/p>\n

Terpstra, who said she is related to Whiteman, also noted that steps had been taken to investigate the death and that Whiteman\u2019s family had been given additional support.<\/p>\n

An apology letter soon follows<\/div>\n

Two days after the first letter, Terpstra, Armstrong and members of the coalition communicated with one another, then released the second letter to tribal leaders. This time around, the letter finished with the interim executive director of Colorado Ceasefire, Laney Sheffel.<\/p>\n

Sheffel declined to comment for this article, but directed The Journal <\/em>to Sarah Tallbird-Watts, a coalition organizer and a Ute Mountain Ute tribal member.<\/p>\n

Tallbird-Watts acknowledged that there had been miscommunication before the first letter was sent, but no harm was intentional.<\/p>\n

Tallbird-Watts said, however, that there had been \u201ca lack of response on behalf of council,\u201d with regards to shootings in Towaoc generally. Tallbird-Watts declined to comment on the coalition\u2019s reasoning for the apology.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the Ute Mountain Ute Gun Violence Prevention Coalition, I want to sincerely apologize for any undue pressure our previous communications may have placed on the Tribal Council and Tribal Leadership,\u201d the letter begins.<\/p>\n

The letter goes on to say that the coalition aims to work collaboratively. Respect for the sovereignty of the council and recognition of the leadership\u2019s efforts to address gun violence are priorities for the coalition, the apology letter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, I would like to clarify that while Wellbriety and WSNARC were involved in the gun violence prevention events held at the Ute Mountain Ute Casino, and were considered a part of our coalition, they were not the leads for the dissemination of the letter sent on Tuesday, the 12th. They should not be held solely accountable and have since asked to be removed from this coalition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using Wellbriety, there\u2019s more work to do to address the collective grief, alongside the lingering traumas present for those in the community, Terpstra and Armstrong said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to start healing from the inside out,\u201d Armstrong said.<\/p>\n

Bailey Duran, a reporter with The Journal, contributed to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n

This article was updated Friday night to correct the title of Laney Sheffel, interim executive director of Colorado Ceasefire and to include Alfreda Armstrong\u2019s tribal background.<\/em><\/p>\n

This article was updated Saturday morning to correct one instance in which Destiny Whiteman\u2019s last name had been misspelled. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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