The Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s tone at a Durango City Council meeting last week was much different from earlier this spring when SUIT accused the city of Durango at the Colorado Legislature of attempting an illegal land grab of reservation lands.
The city invited SUIT councilors to a proclamation in Smith Council Chambers acknowledging National Native American Heritage Month.
Councilor Gilda Yazzie, a Navajo American Indian and Durango’s first Indigenous city council member, recited the proclamation.
That was followed first by a statement from Daughters of the American Revolution Sarah Platt Decker Chapter’s Patricia Joy, and then by forward-looking words from SUIT council members Marvin Pinnecoose, Margery Barry, Marty Pinnecoose and Andrew Gallegos.
The tribal councilors talked about shared interests and community between the city and the tribe, the importance of the city’s land acknowledgment implemented in September and working forward together.
Barry said SUIT, just as Durango, wants a stable economy, a flourishing country and a positive relationship with one another.
Gallegos capped the tribal councilor’s statements off with another thanks for the city’s invitation and its land acknowledgment.
“We can always build a better working relationship in the future,” he said. “So whatever happened in the past, that’s in the past. I look forward to many more consultations and a better tomorrow.”
Durango Mayor Jessika Buell said the tribe’s positivity was great to hear and exactly what she’s been hoping for. She’s briefly spoken to tribal councilors at events such as a recent ribbon cutting at Durango-La Plata County Airport, for example.
“We’ll have, hopefully, a meeting in the near future where we can all talk about the future and going forward,” she said.
Outreach to the tribe has begun, she said, but no official meeting has been scheduled yet. She said continued back-and-forths and scheduling around the upcoming holidays have made it hard to finalize anything, but she’s optimistic.
The Durango Herald did not receive an immediate response to a request for comment from SUIT.
Yazzie said it would be a positive step into the new year if the city and the tribe opened up communication again, although she’s just one councilor and City Council together would have to approve such an action. But she’s glad SUIT attended the city’s proclamation and she was glad to welcome them.
Communication and joint meetings between the city and tribal councils broke down earlier this year.
The tribe, mistrusting the city’s intentions with long contemplated development plans for La Posta Road (County Road 213) that include the possible annexing of private properties within tribal boundaries, testified to the state Legislature that Durango was attempting an illegal land grab.
The city disputed the tribe’s assertions, and the quarrel resulted in flying tempers, hurt feelings and frozen relations.
“I think that we put it (communications) on a back burner because it was a volatile issue,” Yazzie said.
She said Durango City Council would benefit from a greater understanding of the relationships between tribes, the federal government and complicated tribal boundaries.
“I don’t know what happened with La Posta Road,” she said. “… I guess the city’s desire to push forward with workforce and affordable housing impacted their boundaries.”
La Plata County, she said, is an example of a government with a stronger relationship with the tribe. It has had more opportunities through collaborative projects to learn how to approach negotiations and communications with the tribe.
“(The county) seems to know a lot more about the inner workings of the tribe than the city does,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean the city can’t learn.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
