Native American Issues

Reservation lands receive delivery of sheep

Hundreds of live sheep were delivered to needy families on the Navajo Reservation on Memorial Day as part of the “Farmers Feeding Utah” project. The distribution was for families in the Montezuma Creek, Aneth, Red Mesa, and Tódahadekanii areas. An additional distribution of live sheep will take...

It’s black and white

It started with a “Splat,” then came “Black Hole,” “Boomerang,” and most recently, “Diné Diamonds.” What can all those things possibly have in common? Well, when it comes to Twin Rocks Trading Post, the likely answer is Navajo baskets, and baskets it is. First, a little context. Several years ago,...

The irony of ignorance

As I look back on the early days of Twin Rocks Trading Post, I am reminded what Orson Welles said shortly after the release of his cinematic masterpiece Citizen Kane. When asked what allowed him to write, produce, direct, and star in Kane, the 26-year-old novice filmmaker commented that ignorance...

Traders, agents, weavers in book by McPherson

Local author Bob McPherson has recently published the history Traders, Agents, and Weavers: Developing the Northern Navajo Region (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2020). The book centers around the story of Navajo economic and cultural development through the testimonies of traders,...

San Juan County and Navajo Nation sign road agreement

San Juan County and the Navajo Department of Transportation (NDOT) have come to an agreement about the maintenance of a handful of roads used as school bus routes in the southern portion of the county. An agreement between the two entities was signed on February 24 at a ceremony at Teec Nos Pos, AZ...

More details on the Ute Reservation story

DUST IN THE WIND I hope you enjoy Andrew Gulliford’s story about the possible movement of the Ute Reservation to San Juan County about 125 years ago. (See page A4.) This is a story that has fascinated me for many years. • • • • • From a Utah perspective, the timing of the effort to move the...

San Juan County almost became a Southern Ute Reservation more than a century ago

Whenever I hike in Bears Ears National Monument, I think about how it almost became an Indian reservation. Over a century ago Durango businessmen actively campaigned to remove the Southern Utes to San Juan County, UT. Most of that county would have become a new 2.9 million-acre Ute Indian...

$2 million project may bring water, power to Westwater area

The Utah State legislature is being asked to contribute to a development effort for the Westwater community west of Blanding. The project could total $2 million, with the legislature asked to contribute $500,000. The contribution will be added to similar $500,000 contributions from the Navajo...

On the Trail of Tiny Tubers: Tracking the Four Corners potato

For years we’ve learned that Ancestral Puebloans depended upon corn, beans, and squash, nicknamed The Three Sisters, for sustenance. Well, move over sisters. Little brother spud is about to take the stage. With a $225,000 National Science Foundation grant, researchers at the University of Utah hope...

San Juan School District embraces heritage of all students in the district

The San Juan School District (SJSD) embraces the heritage of all students in the district. In November, SJSD schools share the culture and language of students of American Indian descent, which are Navajo, Ute, and other tribes represented in our schools. Some events and activities that have...