utes

The Ute are a Native American people whose traditional homeland covered the Rocky Mountain region of present-day Colorado, Utah, and parts of New Mexico and Wyoming. The name Ute is an exonym used by neighboring peoples; the Utes themselves historically organized into several bands and communities, with commonly cited divisions such as the Northern Ute, Southern Ute, and Ute Mountain Ute.

Today, three federally recognized Ute tribes govern most Ute communities: the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in northeastern Utah; the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in southwestern Colorado; and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe with a reservation near Cortez, Colorado. Additional bands have historic recognition or have been incorporated into these federally recognized groups.

In pre-contact times, Ute groups were primarily hunter-gatherers who moved seasonally across mountain and desert landscapes. After contact with Europeans, they adopted horses, which increased mobility and facilitated regional trade and raiding among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Throughout the 19th century Ute lands were increasingly restricted through treaties and government policies, culminating in reservation systems that reorganized governance and land tenure.

Linguistically, Utes speak Numic languages within the Uto-Aztecan family, with Northern Ute and Southern Ute varieties representing major dialect groups. Culturally, Ute communities have maintained ceremonial practices, crafts, and social structures tied to family and band affiliation, alongside adaptation to changing economic and political circumstances.

In the modern era, Ute tribes exercise self-governance, operate educational and cultural programs, and engage in economic development, including natural resource management. The state name Utah ultimately derives from the Ute people.