The Business Committee of the Ute Indian Tribe welcomed a Colorado land owner to a reception last week at the National Congress of American Indians to thank him for a donation of land he made in Southern Colorado. According to the news release, Rich Snyder reached out to the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, explaining that the Ute Indian Tribe’s historic presence on the land overwhelmed him and he considered it a very sacred place. In late September, Snyder signed over the deed to the Ute Indian Tribe and told those who visited the site that the land has given him great joy but he believes it belongs to the Ute people. The land is located in a region known to be Ute ancestral land before the tribe was forced out of Colorado and into Utah. “Every tribe has its own ‘Trail of Tears,” says Business Committee member Shaun Chapoose. “This was ours.” The Ute Indian tribe recently established the Ute Land Trust to help facilitate transfers of land ownership or rights.
