Southern Ute Tribal Council Affairs hosted the General Meeting, Thursday, July 13, at the Sky Ute Casino Resort — kicking the meeting off with a welcome address provided by Chairman Melvin J. Baker and Tribal Council. The General Meeting serves to provide tribal membership with updates from various divisions and departments within the tribal organization. The event proved successful with a large attendance, both in person and via WebEx.
Baker welcomed attendees ahead of the invocation, delivered by Southern Ute elder Byron Frost, followed by introductions from Tribal Council members: Vice Chairman Lorelei Cloud, Treasurer Marvin Pinnecoose, and Council members Marge Barry, Linda K. Baker, Dr. Stacey Oberly, and Vanessa Torres. Chairman Baker provided the State of the Tribe and Pinnecoose presented the Treasurer’s Report. All remaining Council members gave their individual updates to the tribal membership as well.
Key updates from this year’s General Meeting included presentations by the Sky Ute Casino Resort, the Cultural Preservation Department, Tribal Housing, Construction and Project Management, Water Resources alongside Vice Chairman Lorelei Cloud. Attendees first heard from Cultural Preservation Director, Crystal Rizzo, who presented the 101st Southern Ute Tribal Fair update.
This year’s theme is “Bread of Unity” designed by Southern Ute tribal member, Yllana Howe. Howe’s logo depicts a single piece of frybread held by two multicolored hands–colors inspired by the Medicine Wheel– filled with designs of Native art. In the 101st Southern Ute Tribal Fair Premium Book, Howe’s artist statement reads, “besides the controversy with frybread, I always looked on the brighter side, the frybread we all consume and brings us native people together, no matter the location.” As the Tribal Fair approaches, the community can look forward to events such as the fishing derby, softball and basketball tournaments, archery, Native Rez-olution Youth Concert among many other events. Also announced for this year is the Southern Ute Tribal Fair Rodeo set to occur the following weekend. Premium books containing all fair information will be distributed throughout the beginning of this month.
Following the presentation by Rizzo, Sky Ute Casino Resort General Manager, Andrea Taylor presented the Casino’s update to the tribal membership. The Casino has successfully completed its first full fiscal year since reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic, throughout the winter, hours were strategically managed for the slower season. In the spring the Casino gaming floor opened to 100% capacity leading to a good peak summer season. The membership can expect changes to the gaming floor layout and new winter, summer, and fall hours. Taylor also announced the closing of the Sky Ute Sportsbook due to challenging economic conditions and an increasingly cost prohibitive marketplace with large national competitors.
Following the lunch break, the membership then heard from Construction & Project Management (C&PM) Manager, Yumi Johnson and Tribal Housing Director, Gavin Martinez. Opening with an introduction to the membership, the pair shared insights and goals from the Construction and Project Management division. C&PM helps to facilitate the management of a project’s process for their clients and users of the spaces within tribal buildings. C&PM also partners with Facilities and Maintenance as well as other departments as needed. C&PM currently has eight projects in the works as well as several housing projects in the pre-development phase. The division will continue to provide technical assistance to tribal members for housing projects and other individual needs.
The General Meeting concluded with a tribal water update provided by Vice Chairman Lorelei Cloud and the Tribe’s Water Resources division, as well as the question-and-answer portion of the meeting led by the Tribal Council Affairs staff. Southern Ute tribal members who were not in attendance and would like more information regarding the General Meeting can contact Tribal Council Affairs at 970-563-2319.