| Contacts: | Erin Curtis, BLM, (970) 244-3097 | |||
| Curtis Swift, CSU Extension, (970) 244-1836 |
Ute Indians Host Grand Junction Pow Wow
Grand Junction, CO -- A mini Pow Wow to be held by members of the Ute Indian Nations on Saturday, June 12 will give visitors a chance to dance with the Ute Indians and learn about their way of life when they lived in western Colorado.
The event at the Mesa County Fairgrounds will include native arts and crafts as well as a silent auction.
Formal activities will start at 10:30 a.m. with the Grand Entry, when flags and staffs of the visiting Northern Ute and Ute Mountain Indian tribes will be carried into the site by members of these Tribes.
At 11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Ute Indian dancers, singers and drummers will perform. Visitors will be encouraged to join in the dancing.
Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., visitors will be escorted on tours of the Ute learning gardens. Tour guides will demonstrate the use of traditional cooking hearths, the ‘Three Sisters’ garden, wickiups and the teepee.
Two water colors by Ute Indian Artist Kessley LaRose will be available for purchase by silent auction.
The suggested donation for entering the Learning Garden is $3 per person or $5 per family.
The Ethnobotany Ute Learning Garden is a joint project of the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, Mesa State College, Colorado State University Extension and its Colorado Master Gardener program and the Northern Ute Indian Nation, Uintah and Ouray Reservation.
An ethnobotany garden is a demonstration and teaching garden that displays how native cultures used native plants in daily life.
For more information about the learning garden or the mini Pow Wow, contact the Colorado State University Extension office at 244-1836 or visit the web site at http://WesternSlopeGardening.org.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
2815 H Road Grand Junction, CO 81506