History and culture buffs, mark your calendars: a free three-day pop-up exhibition is coming to the Aspen Historical Society (AHS) next week, providing an in-depth exploration of the technologies of the native Ute people — also called Nuche. Titled “Ute Knowledge: Colorado’s Original Science, Technology, Engineering & Math,” the exhibition will teach visitors how the Ute survived and thrived in the Rocky Mountains with a rich understanding of math and sciences.
The exhibit will be hosted in the AHS archives building at 620 W. Bleeker Street, July 16-18. Complete with short films, interactive experiences and stories from Ute youth and elders, it promises to be an engaging and immersive experience for all residents of the Roaring Fork Valley.
“Ute Knowledge” was created as a collaboration between History Colorado, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, archaeologists and ethnobotanists as part of the Ute STEM Project. The Ute STEM Project explores the fusion of Western science and Ute traditional ecological knowledge through exhibitions as well as field work and school programs.
AHS’s own traveling exhibition, titled “Seasons of the Nuche: Transitions of the Ute People” will be displayed alongside the visiting exhibit. “Seasons of the Nuche” traces the lifeways and celebrations of the semi-nomadic Ute people as they moved across the land in conjunction with the changing seasons.
Since its inception in 2018, “Seasons of the Nuche” has travelled across Western Colorado. For its return to Aspen, AHS has updated graphics and other aspects of the exhibit to make it more accessible to visitors.
AHS worked with Ute tribal representatives through the whole process of creating its exhibitions. “This is their culture, and we wanted their voice to come through, not our voice,” said AHS Vice President and Curator Lisa Hancock.
This pair of exhibitions is the first collaboration between History Colorado and AHS. “It is part of our mission to tell the story of the Ute people,” said Hancock. “We felt like this was a great opportunity to fulfill that part of our mission.”
In addition, Roaring Fork Valley resident, AHS educator and Northern Ute tribal member Skyler Lomahaftewa will be hosting “Ute/Indigenous Culture Conversations” in conjunction with the exhibitions’ opening day, July 16, from 3 to 4pm, as well as on July 22 from 11am to noon and July 23 from 3 to 4pm.
“Conversations” audiences are invited to come with questions for Lomahaftewa, who will share contemporary experiences and historical perspectives on the Ute and Native Americans in general. Each of the “Conversations” will be a unique experience tailored to the curiosities of those in attendance. While visitors of all ages are invited, Lomahaftewa is especially well known by students up and down the Aspen and Roaring Fork school districts for his engaging school presentations and traditional drum performances.
With guidance from Ute representatives, AHS aims to present an objective picture of living Ute culture and the difficulties Ute tribal members face today.
“They’re not a past-tense culture. People are so used to looking at black and white photos … and they think of [Indigenous people] as just existing in the past,” said Hancock. “They’re still here, and they’re still fighting to survive and thrive … It was important to the tribal members we talked to [that we] tell it like it is, and that they are current tense.”
Although settlers displaced Ute people from the Roaring Fork Valley over a century ago, the Ute are Colorado’s longest continuous residents, and AHS looks forward to sharing their living history with everybody sharing this land today.AHS asks educators in the Roaring Fork Valley to get in touch. AHS hosts educational field trips free of charge, and can be contacted at outreach@aspenhistory.org