After a hushed room observed a traditional blessing from Terry Knight, a decorated Towaoc leader, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd explained why he came: “We’re here for a specific purpose, which is to honor 27 years of dedicated service.”
Monday at lunchtime at the Ute Mountain Ute casino, the Republican congressman from the state’s 3rd Congressional District honored Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart for decades of service in tribal government.
“Probably longer than that, but 27 years of formal, dedicated service,” Hurd said, adding, “Chairman Heart, thank you so much for your model and expertise.”
Hurd’s recognition carried a personal tone. During his speech, he tied Heart’s career to his earliest moments in office. He told the roughly 30-person crowd that the first government to government relationships he formed were with Southwest Colorado’s tribal leaders.
He said he called Heart for guidance when he was first named chair of the House Indian and Insular Affairs Subcommittee, crediting the chairman’s role and expertise in shaping priorities for the reservation. On Sept. 19, Hurd formalized Heart’s retirement honor during a legislative session by entering remarks into the official Congressional Record so it could be “preserved in the National Archives,” he said.
That same September day, an American flag flew over the U.S. Capitol in dedication to Heart and was later handed to him at Monday’s event.
Heart accepted the folded flag with thanks, gesturing in several directions and pointing first to the east, then west and north.
“Thank you guys,” Heart said when taking the flag. “Sunrise, the warm side, sunset,” he was saying, pointing west and “to the north when the winter comes.”
He then added, “Thank you so much. I appreciate it from my heart. I used to write all my own speeches for a lot of things that I was facing or that were challenging.”
From there, Heart began a speech on the long arc of leadership, offering advice and gratitude for friends, family, supporters, political colleagues and other government leaders. He closed by reiterating support for current tribal council members. Members of the Southern Ute tribe also were in attendance.
“I want to start off by thanking Terry Knight for the opening prayer and my blessing for all of us, not just me, but for each and every one of us,” Heart said.
“For me, I was elected in 1994,” he began. “At that time I was 34 years old, and it was my first time becoming a tribal council member.” He described early frustration over securing a needed backhoe for the Public Works department.
“We worked on water lines, sewer lines, the main infrastructure for the tribe,” he said, connecting it to ongoing needs: “Today, we face a lot of infrastructure needs and a lack of funding to get them replaced.”
It was a demanding role.
“The tribal council is a huge responsibility, taking care of the tribal members and the land,” he said, offering gratitude to his family, especially his wife of over two decades, for their sacrifices due to his work commitments. Some weekdays, he recalled, council meetings went all evening.
“I would have to come home, change, suitcase and then take off again. She’d be at home feeding my horse, getting things ready at the house,” he said.
Heart was elected chairman in 2005. Since the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe adopted its constitution in 1940, only 11 people have held the position.
His speech moved into work defining his chairmanship, aspects Hurd highlighted as well such as securing tribal water rights and furthering education development in Towaoc. Heart sat on government committees and testified before the U.S. Congress on issues near and dear.
“Water has been one our priorities,” Heart said. “When I was chairman, we had five priorities: health care, education, economic development, water and housing. These are our challenges, but we're always underfunded.”
He placed the region in a larger crisis. “We all recognize today that we are facing a 25-year drought here in the Colorado River basin,” Heart said. “We do not have enough snow supply to meet the demand.”
He closed by thanking the attendees, namely his wife, children, brothers and sisters, for coming to Monday’s ceremony.
“What it comes down to is the hard work in our personal path in life. When a person succeeds in life or in a career, they have all that support from family and our colleagues that we work with,” he said.
Later, in a one-on-one interview with The Journal about an upcoming trip to Washington’s Capitol Hill, Heart described his aim to speak with legislators. This time, after retirement, he is urging national monuments be protected and shielded against further uranium mining.
“They gave me a call and asked if I wanted to go out and be a part of their team,” Heart said, referring to an invitation in early February connected to Bears Ears National Monument from a Washington group.
“They're going to meet with freshman congressman from Colorado and Congressman Hurd will be one of them,” he added.
Heart described Bears Ears as a place already reshaped by federal decision making, and his goal of preserving other cultural landmarks and heritage sites from being damaged.
“Trump reduced it by 80%, so he can do uranium mining,” Heart said. He was referring to the administration’s decision to shrink the monument’s protected area, opening land to gas and oil, mining and other development.
He said he is headed to Washington with a full packet and aims for preservation and protection: “Keep the monuments the way they are designated, have more local control or tribal control and a management plan.”
