Ute

Ute, Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Shoshonean group of the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the early 19th cent. the Ute occupied W Colorado and E Utah. Ute culture was typical of the western part of the Plains culture area (see under Natives, North American); they lived in tepees, which were frequently decorated with brilliantly colored paintings, or in brush or sod shelters. The bear dance and the sun dance were important features of their culture; the Ute also became adherents of peyotism.

The Ute were fierce, nomadic warriors, who, after the introduction of the horse, ranged into New Mexico and Arizona, menacing and sometimes destroying the villages of the Pueblo. Once they discovered that the Spanish were conducting slave raids against Native Americans, they entered the market, taking their captives to sell in New Mexico. Early in 1855 the Ute began to attack Mexican settlements in the San Luis Valley of Colorado; they were put down by U.S. troops, and a treaty was extracted. Retaining their hatred for their traditional enemies, some of the Ute fought with Kit Carson during the American Civil War in campaigns against the Navajo.

In 1868 they were placed on a large reservation in Colorado. A group of Ute killed (1879) the Indian agent Nathan Meeker and several employees of his agency, but serious repercussions were avoided, mainly through the peaceful efforts of Chief Ouray. By a treaty signed in 1880 the Ute were moved from rich mineral and agricultural lands to areas less desirable to white settlers. Today, although some Ute own land individually, most live on reservations in Colorado and Utah; their income is derived largely from lucrative oil and gas leases and farming and raising livestock. In 1990 there were over 7,500 Ute in the United States.

North American Indians living mostly in Colorado and Utah, U.S. Their language belongs to the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, and their name means “hill people.” Their traditional homeland included western Colorado, eastern Utah (whose name derives from Ute), and parts of New Mexico. They eventually joined into a loose confederation of seven bands. Until the 19th century, the Ute had no horses and lived in small family clusters, subsisting by food collecting. They were virtually indistinguishable from the Southern Paiute. When the Ute acquired horses in the early 1800s, they became organized as loose bands of hunters, often targeting livestock. After the Indian wars of 1864–70, most Ute were settled on reservations. Early 21st-century population estimates indicated more than 10,000 Ute descendants.

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Ute may refer to:

• Ute Tribe, an ethnically related group of American Indians now living primarily in Utah and Colorado
• Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, descendants of the Weminuche band who moved to the western end of the Southern Ute Reservation in 1897
• Utes, name for University of Utah's athletic teams

Science and technology

• 634 Ute, a minor planet orbiting the sun
• C-6 Ute and U-21 Ute, military variants of the Beechcraft King Air Model 90
• Ute, symbol for Untriennium, an unsynthesized chemical element with atomic number 139.

Vehicles

• Utility vehicle, in Australian English
• Holden Ute, a coupe utility vehicle by Holden, a subsidiary of General Motors in Australia
• Nissan Ute, a badge engineered version of the Ford Falcon ute sold by Nissan in Australia, from 1989 to 1992
• Ute muster, an Australian activity that embraces its large Ute culture in remote, flat, rural councils

People

• Anneli Ute Gabanyi (born 1942), Romanian-born German political scientist, literary critic, journalist, and philologist
• Ute Berg (born 1953), German politician and member of the SPD
• Ute Christensen (born 1955), German actress
• Ute Geweniger (born 1964), East German breaststroke and medley swimmer
• Ute Hommo, German track and field athlete
• Ute Lemper (born 1963), German chanteuse and actress
• Ute Noack, East German cross country skier
• Ute Thimm née Finger (born 1958), German track and field athlete
• Ute Wetzig (born 1971), German diver

Places

In the United States:

• Southern Ute Indian Reservation, in southwestern Colorado, along the northern border of New Mexico
• Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County, along the Soldier River
• Ute Mountain (or Ute Peak or Sleeping Ute Mountain), a peak within the Ute Mountains, a small mountain range in the southwestern corner of Colorado
• Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation, an Indian reservation in southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah
• Ute Pass, a high mountain pass west of Colorado Springs, near Divide

Entertainment

• O-Ton Ute, 1999-2005 Berlin literature, music and performance group
• Yoot Saito, Japanese computer game program designer
• Yut, a traditional board game played in Korea

Acronyms

• UTE (Usinas y Terminales Eléctricas), Uruguay's government-owned power company
• UTE, the abbreviation of Újpest FC, the Hungarian sports club "Újpesti Torna Egylet"

See also

• Jute
• Jutes
• Pah-Ute County, Arizona