Stop 12: Other Tribal Connections

A foggy morning in Valle Grande

NPS/Gianna Farrell

While this tour has focused on Hemish connections, Valles Caldera has 38 affiliated tribal nations including the Southern Ute nation. Hear Chris Toya discuss the long history of human occupation in Valles Caldera and the connections of the Southern Ute people to Valle Grande. In this vein, we encourage you to rethink the definition of wilderness. Many National Park sites, because of their natural beauty and splendor, are depicted as untouched wilderness. But they had a long and often hidden human history. As Hemish historian Joe Sando explains, land “is a living entity, the mother of all life, the Mother Earth. All her children, everything in nature is alive: the living stone, the great breathing mountains, the rushing rivers and streams, the trees and plants, as well as birds and animals—and, of course, human beings.”