Ute << yoot >> are a Native American tribe of the western United States. According to the 2020 U.S. census, there are about 8,700 Ute. Most Ute live on reservations in Utah and Colorado. The name of the state of Utah comes from the Ute.
The Ute are governed by tribal councils that are elected by popular vote. Members of the tribe work in agriculture, forestry, and tourism. They are also developing the coal, gas, oil, and other mineral deposits that lie under the reservations.
The Ute once lived in the mountains and plains of Colorado and Utah and in northern New Mexico. They built cone-shaped houses of brush, reeds, and grasses and tipis of buffalo skins. The Ute assigned hunting grounds to families and hunted such animals as antelope, buffalo, and elk and other deer in annual game drives. They also gathered berries, nuts, roots, and seeds.
Each fall, the Ute traveled to New Mexico to trade with the Pueblo and the Spaniards. During the 1600’s, they obtained horses from the Spaniards, which increased the tribe’s mobility. The Ute hunted over a wider area and developed an advanced economy that involved trading meat and hides for other goods. They became powerful warriors and fought the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa tribes.
The best-known chief of the Ute was Ouray, who became prominent in the 1800’s. Ouray spoke Spanish, English, and several Native American languages. He settled disputes between the Ute and the white settlers and arranged the first treaty between the Ute and the United States government. The government assigned reservations to the Ute in the late 1800’s.
