“My mother knew a lot about plants. She knew it from her relatives, her cousins, her mom and her sisters. They all shared their knowledge of what plants do … ”  – Helen Walsh, Ute Indian Tribe, 2008 

Come August, Coloradans crave our Palisade peaches. But before Palisade peaches were a thing, the Ute people – Colorado’s longest continual residents – treasured chokecherries, eaten raw or cooked into a pudding.  

The Ute people’s plant expertise is the subject of a new Ute Knowledge exhibition, now showing at the Tread of Pioneers Museum in Steamboat Springs, one of History Colorado’s Affiliate Network’s inaugural members.  

The exhibition includes videos of Ute elders sharing their plant knowledge with Ute teens and ethnobotanists. And when you visit, you’ll see Northern Ute women describe how Ute people systematically gather and hunt food. They know when and where various plants are ripe. And they know which plants they can share more widely and which they need to fiercely protect – because not all plant knowledge is for non-Natives to know.  

Don’t miss Ute Knowledge, as well as the Tread of Pioneers Museum’s Indigenous pottery, textile, and basketry collection. Then, get out in the beauty around Steamboat as the season changes. If you want to bring the Ute Knowledge exhibition to your museum or school, please let us know!