{"id":43248,"date":"2021-12-15T02:13:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T09:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ute-mountain-ute-elders-fluent-in-the-language-honored-by-tribal-council-in-towaoc\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:12:26","slug":"ute-mountain-ute-elders-fluent-in-the-language-honored-by-tribal-council-in-towaoc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ute-mountain-ute-elders-fluent-in-the-language-honored-by-tribal-council-in-towaoc\/","title":{"rendered":"Ute Mountain Ute elders fluent in the language honored by Tribal Council in Towaoc"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ute
Ute Mountain Ute elders were honored for speaking the Ute language and passing it on during a ceremony held by the Tribal Council. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Ute Mountain Ute elders who speak their native language and are passing it on were honored by the tribal council last month.<\/p>\n

The ceremony was part of the tribe\u2019s launch of \u201cGrowing Utes,\u201d a new spoken word Ute dictionary available online and on a phone app. Visit dictionary.utelanguage.org<\/a><\/p>\n

The project was funded with a Living Languages Grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs as part of the Tiwahe Initiative promoting Indigenous culture.<\/p>\n

Twenty elders helped to create the dictionary, and some also helped produce a short documentary on the Ute Mountain Utes called \u201cWe are Nuchu.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the ceremony Nov. 18, Ute Mountain Chairman Manuel Heart addressed the elders in Ute, and the Red Sky Singer\u2019s drum group performed the Flag Song.<\/p>\n

\"A
A Ute Mountain elder who speaks Ute fluently is honored by the Tribal Council. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe honor our elders, thank you for being a part of this. During the boarding school years, our language was taken away. Today we are bringing it back,\u201d Heart said.<\/p>\n

Out of 2,100 Ute Mountain Utes, it is estimated 110 speak the language fluently.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur culture and history are embedded in our language,\u201d said Vice Chairman Archie House Jr. \u201cOur ancestors had strength defending our land. When we keep our language we gain the power our ancestors had.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new Kwiyagat Community Academy in Towaoc will help preserve and expand the Ute language to the younger generation, Heart added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kids are teaching their parents, they are catching on to it, and learning it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing, sacred.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are subtle differences in the way Ute is spoken, which indicates where a person is from within Ute lands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may say it differently, but we talk together,\u201d Heart said.<\/p>\n

\"Ute
Ute Mountain elder Laverna Summa is presented with a gift for helping with a documentary about the tribe. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The spoken word dictionary is foundation for continuing the language program, said Tiwahe Director Juanita Plentyholes. The second phase will be an online learning platform, which will includes lessons and testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are using technology to keep our language alive, so it will always be here with the tribe,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is never too late to learn your language. When we think about our culture and language, we think about our ancestors, they talked Ute, everything was in Ute and the passed in on generation to generation. Now it is our turn to pass it on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elders shook hands with the tribal council and were given gifts. They signed their name on a document honoring the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tried to take our language and culture, but we are taking it back,\u201d said elder Laverna Summa after the event. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to forget it. When we speak it together, it feels like home. It is easier to speak than English, more direct.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tribe also honored participants who helped to create a new documentary on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe: \u201cWe are Nuchu\u201d the name of the tribe in their Indigenous language.<\/p>\n

It can be viewed on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Tiwahe
Tiwahe Director Juanita Plentyholes speaks during a ceremony in the Ute Mountain Tribal Council chambers honoring elders who carry on the native Ute language. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Our culture and history are embedded in our language\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,198,2681,29,547],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-history","tag-language","tag-newsletter","tag-ute-mountain-ute-indian-tribe"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43248","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=43248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85632,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43248\/revisions\/85632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43248"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}