{"id":21398,"date":"2025-07-15T13:54:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T19:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/were-still-here-ute-tribes-reclaim-narrative-in-new-museum-installation\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T19:54:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T19:54:46","slug":"were-still-here-ute-tribes-reclaim-narrative-in-new-museum-installation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/were-still-here-ute-tribes-reclaim-narrative-in-new-museum-installation\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019re still here\u2019: Ute tribes reclaim narrative in new museum installation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\u201cUntil
\u201cUntil Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland\u201d is a new permanent exhibit at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs that honors and elevates the Ute culture and history in Colorado. (Hayley Sanchez\/CPR News)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A new permanent exhibit at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum invites visitors to experience the past and present of the Ute people \u2013 on their terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland\u201d is the result of a five-year collaboration with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cUntil
\u201cUntil Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland\u201d is a new permanent exhibit at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs that honors and elevates the Ute culture and history in Colorado. (Hayley Sanchez\/CPR News)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cUntil forever comes, it\u2019s \u2026 a saying that some elders say about Ute people. And it really is a testament to our resilience,\u201d said Crystal Rizzo, cultural preservation director of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. \u201cSo often we forget that Ute people are the original inhabitants here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through intricate beadwork, family photographs and interactive displays \u2013 including the scents of campfire, Ponderosa Pine and leather \u2013 the exhibit sends a powerful message: \u201cWe are still here.\u201d<\/p>\n

That phrase appears throughout the installation and serves as both declaration and reminder, said Southern Ute Indian Tribe Vice Chairman Marvin Pinnecoose. For him, the exhibit helps correct common misconceptions that the Ute people live only on a small reservation tucked into Colorado\u2019s southwest corner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey identify that reservation and then they say, \u2018Well, that\u2019s probably where they lived.\u2019 But when you really expand beyond, you\u2019re talking about migration routes, hunting grounds,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was an oral history of mapping out where those key places were.\u201d<\/p>\n

That deep connection to the land is a running theme. A life-size horse sculpture greets visitors at the entrance, accompanied by stories and items reflecting the tribe\u2019s close bond with horses, considered vital members of the community.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cUntil
\u201cUntil Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland\u201d is a new permanent exhibit at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs that honors and elevates the Ute culture and history in Colorado. (Hayley Sanchez\/CPR News)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cOur relationship with the horse is really important,\u201d Rizzo said. \u201cWe take care of them, they take care of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recalled stories from elders who used to ride horses into town, tie them outside the store, and head back home on horseback.<\/p>\n

The exhibit\u2019s blend of historical and contemporary artifacts makes clear that Ute culture is not frozen in time.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cUntil
\u201cUntil Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland\u201d is a new permanent exhibit at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs that honors and elevates the Ute culture and history in Colorado. (Hayley Sanchez\/CPR News)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u201cUntil
\u201cUntil Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland\u201d is a new permanent exhibit at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs that honors and elevates the Ute culture and history in Colorado. (Hayley Sanchez\/CPR News)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe had some elders who created beadwork, the dresses. We had a really young person create some of the beadwork,\u201d Rizzo said. \u201cIt was a really strong representation of all three Ute tribes.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Pinnecoose, that intergenerational aspect created moments of reflection.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou couple it with the idea of pieces that were also put in the cases by people who are no longer here \u2026 it brought about a sense of nostalgia that really crosses generational lines,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cUntil
\u201cUntil Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland\u201d is a new permanent exhibit at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs that honors and elevates the Ute culture and history in Colorado. (Hayley Sanchez\/CPR News)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Language preservation is another focal point of the exhibit.<\/p>\n

The Southern Ute Tribe has developed its own writing system, passed a resolution supporting orthography and even graduated 27 certified Ute language teachers through a partnership with Fort Lewis College. But revitalizing a language is more than logistics \u2013 it\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re putting a lot of resources into creating fluent speakers, starting with our children,\u201d Rizzo said.<\/p>\n

Visitors are encouraged to slow down and engage deeply.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cUntil
\u201cUntil Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland\u201d is a new permanent exhibit at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs that honors and elevates the Ute culture and history in Colorado. (Hayley Sanchez\/CPR News)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cYou have to really take time to dive into those \u2026 and not be distracted,\u201d Pinnecoose said. \u201cYou have to slow your life down.\u201d He compared it to being with elders. If you sit quietly long enough, they\u2019ll offer you something meaningful, he said. The exhibit asks the same of its audience \u2013 to sit, look closely and listen.<\/p>\n

That approach extends to the broader mission of the museum, which Rizzo said has evolved significantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city of Colorado Springs has \u2026 worked to improve their consultation process,\u201d Rizzo said. \u201cFrom the very beginning, the museum wanted us to be able to tell our story.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what does she hope visitors walk away with?<\/p>\n

\u201cFor non-Native people \u2026 that this really pushes back against some of the negative stereotypes,\u201d Rizzo said. \u201cFor our own Ute people, I look forward to more tribal members going and seeing that. \u2026 It helps us to also see ourselves \u2013 the value and importance of all of our traditions and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cUntil
\u201cUntil Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland\u201d is a new permanent exhibit at the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs that honors and elevates the Ute culture and history in Colorado. (Hayley Sanchez\/CPR News)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exhibit highlights language, tradition and resilience<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,629,547],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-21398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-southern-ute-indian-tribe","tag-ute-mountain-ute-indian-tribe"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21398"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=21398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}