Northern Ute Tribe Ute people

the largest tribes northern ute, live on uintah , ouray reservation in northeastern utah. largest of several groups of ute , shoshone indians relocated northern ute indian reservation during late 19th , 20th century, including northern shoshone, uintah, uncompahgre, white river, , southern ute.

some believe northern ute disfranchised other ute groups when reorganized during mid-20th century , gained control of uintah , ouray indian reservation result. people of u & o reservation aware of own ancestries. lawsuits , litigation have been commonplace between mixed-blood utes , northern ute tribe rights tribal enrollment , privileges. part of federal indian termination policy government partitioned tribe in 1954 automatically classifying tribal member 1/2 or less blood quantum mixed-blood. repudiation of termination policy in 1970, mixed-bloods hoped restoration tribe. since 2002, have been seeking civil action repeal ute partition act. mixed-blood utes lower percentage of ute ancestry have accused tribe of disfranchisement in terms of rights tribal lands , equal legal treatment.

some affiliates, descendants of northern ute families in earlier years decided against enrollment , federal recognition of native ancestry, live on reservation land holdings owned particular families since federal government forced relocation in 1881. affiliate utes have applied federal recognition , involved in litigation united states , northern ute tribe. affiliates should not confused other mixed-blood utes, families did not choose unrecognized. utes of partial descent enrolled northern utes, active members of affiliates.

northern utes can found on world. have learned adapt various societies. northern ute called nuchu. various bands have more complex names , each name has meaning. on years northern ute language has changed extensively combinations of different dialects , english language influences.

the northern ute tribe began repurchasing former tribal lands following indian reorganization act of 1934. gained return of 726,000-acre (2,940 km) hill creek extension federal government in 1948. more recent court decisions of 1980s have granted northern utes legal jurisdiction on 3 million acres (12,000 km²) of alienated reservation lands. discoveries of oil , gas on ute land in utah hold promise of increased living standards tribal members.

uncompahgre ute salmon alabaster ceremonial pipe. ute pipe styles similar of plains indians, notable differences. ute pipes thicker , use shorter pipestems plains style, , more closely resemble pipe styles of northern neighbors, shoshone.

in 1965, northern tribe agreed allow bureau of reclamation divert portion of water uinta basin (part of colorado river basin) great basin. diversion provide water supply bonneville unit of central utah project. in exchange, bureau of reclamation agreed plan , construct unitah, upalco, , ute indian units of central utah project provide storage of tribe s water. 1992, bureau of reclamation had made little or no progress on construction of these facilities. compensate tribe bureau of reclamation s failure meet 1965 construction obligations, title v of central utah project completion act contained ute indian rights settlement. under settlement, northern tribe received $49.0 million agricultural development, $28.5 million recreation , fish , wildlife enhancement, , $195 million economic development.