Tribal Government Background
Ignacio, Colorado
The last hereditary chief of the Southern Utes, Buckskin Charlie died on May 8th, 1936 and was succeeded by his son, Antonio Buck Sr. As hereditary chief, Antonio Buck Sr. became the first elected Chairman of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.
The Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council is the governing body of the Tribal Government as established by the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act by Congress (commonly called the Wheeler-Howard Act).
The Constitution of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe approved November 4th, 1936; revised and adopted September 26th, 1975 defines the governing body as the Southern Ute Tribal Council composed of seven members (a Chairman and six council members).
The Tribal Chairman is elected by the Tribal membership every three years. Two Council members are also elected each year for a term of three years.
The following is general information compiled by the Executive Office of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. In some cases additional information is available from tribal departments. Hypertext links to this additional information are provided where appropriate.
tribal enrollment
tribal language
major cities, towns and community centers
transportation systems information
tribal economics/businesses