Southern Ute Tribal member Neeka Howe was the Southern Ute Drum’s Youth Employee Program (YEP) student for this summer from late June to early August. During her time as our YEP employee, she worked hand in hand with each of the Drum staff to learn how and why they do their positions. Howe learned how our Graphic Designer Robert Ortiz designs the Drum and his process from start to finish. Howe also worked with Reporter/Photographer Divine Windy Boy to learn the basics of photojournalism and reporting – covering many events alongside Windy Boy such as the Tri-Ute Games and community events. Howe also had the opportunity to work alongside myself; Rosaleigh Cloud, Media Archivist the most in the Drum’s archives, she spent most of her time scanning photos in the archives while learning about the importance of archival practices. 

When Neeka Howe first joined the Drum, she began the digitization of photos in binder #5 of 36. She worked very hard to ensure each photo was scanned properly, while also making sure no photo was damaged in the process. As she went through photos, she was able to learn the proper archival process from using acid-free, pH balanced archive boxes – to using gloves while handling any archival material. Howe quickly learned the process and began digitizing, which led her to scan eight whole binders of photos and nearly began on binder #14. The Southern Ute Drum shares their gratitude to Neeka Howe for her hard work and dedication to her job in such a short time. With her help of digitization, hundreds of photos were made available for easier access to not only the Drum staff but also the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Tribal membership. 

With Howe’s assistance, we were able to get one step closer to our overall goal of the Southern Ute Drum’s Archives which is to have the archives available digitally to the Tribal membership. The Tribal membership is more than welcome to come to my office and see the archives in person, but having the archives digitized will allow for more information to be gathered, such as identifying the people in the photographs. The more Tribal members and elders come to see the archives, the more we can gather names and locations of some historical photographs that we do not have the information for. Again, a huge thank you to Neeka Howe for her hard work! If you wish to visit the archives, please contact me through email at rocloud@southernute-nsn.gov or call me at 970-563-2274.