Ute History

Ute people seem to have lived in the area of North America that is now the states of Utah and Colorado beginning at least as early as 500 AD. They had no stories about coming to this area, which means that they must have been there a long time. Their language was related to the language of other people who lived near them like Comanche people and Shoshone people, but it was also related to the Aztec language spoken in Mexico, far to the south. They called themselves the Nuche, which means "the people" in their language.

Ute people did not have one king or chief, but lived in many small bands that traveled around hunting and gathering their food.

Ute people used plain gray pottery to cook their food and to store water. They also used a lot of baskets, sometimes covered with tar or pitch to make them waterproof.

Some time after the collapse of the Anasazi towns to their south about 1300 AD, Ute people moved south and took over some of the land that the Anasazi had controlled.

To find out more about Navajo history, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library: