The Montezuma Heritage Museum has announced a temporary exhibit titled “Ute Knowledge: Colorado’s Original Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,” an immersive, interactive display that opened Saturday, Jan. 10, and will run through Monday, April 6. It is presented in partnership with History Colorado.
The exhibit explores how Colorado’s longest continuous residents, the Ute people, have applied science, technology, engineering and math to live and thrive in the Rocky Mountains from the past to the present, a museum news release said.
Visitors can participate in hands-on activities, including engineering a stick shelter, designing beadwork patterns and testing woven materials.
The exhibit also features maps of traditional Ute lands, historical and contemporary photographs, and quotes. It includes nine short films from collaborative fieldwork conducted in 2017 and 2018. These films document the building of Ute shelters, ethnobotany and rock art.
“In these videos, Ute elders, youth and scientists discuss the integration of Ute knowledge with Western STEM practices,” the release said.
The exhibition is part of the Ute STEM Project, funded by the National Science Foundation. The project ran from 2016 to 2022 and involved the three Ute Mountain Ute tribes, scientists and History Colorado museums, the museum said.
More information about the project is available at www.historycolorado.org/ute-stem.
The Montezuma Heritage Museum is at 35 S. Chestnut St. in Cortez and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday visits are available by appointment. Admission is $5 for ages 12 and older; museum members enter free. For details, call (970) 516-1100 or email execdirector@montezumamuseum.org.
