In a ceremony being held today, a woman self described as an author, speaker, teacher, and activist is personally “returning what was stolen”, as she phrases it, to the Ute Tribe in Fort Duchesne. According to the Ute Tribe’s Press Conference Announcement, Dr. Christine Sleeter will be presenting the tribe with $250,000 dollars which was money she inherited from a family land sale in the early 1900’s. “Her ancestors homesteaded in the area just outside of Craig, Colorado in about 1881, the same period that the Ute Tribe was being expelled from Colorado,” shares the announcement. “Dr. Sleeter’s great-grandparents sold that land and bought up property in what was becoming Steamboat Springs. That land was eventually sold in the early 1900s and the profits were invested. The estimated amount being returned to the Ute Tribe by Dr. Sleeter today is $250,000 dollars.” Dr. Sleeter is hoping that her example will push other families who inherited money from Indian land sales to also “return what was stolen.” The Tribe has said they will use the funds to invest in improvements of tribal educational facilities.
