100 Years of Silence

Breaking 101 Years of Silence: The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s Legacy of Endurance, a new art exhibit that promotes healing and commemorates the 101st anniversary of the “Posey War,” which began on March 19, 1923.

Ute Elders, storytellers, artists, and musicians weave narratives to showcase the indomitable spirit of the Ute Mountain Ute people over the last century. The “Posey War” led to the weeks-long, forcible internment of around 80 Ute women, children, and men in a barbed wire cage in the streets of Blanding; the murder of two Ute men; the loss of access to traditional Ute land in the Bears Ears area; and the coerced enrollment of Ute children in boarding schools.

Never before has the Ute community come together — through history, art, and storytelling — to tell their version of the tragic events that unfolded in March and April of 1923. The 100 Years of Silence project seeks to promote healing by sharing the Ute perspective on the incident, and to showcase their legacy of endurance.

The Leonardo Museum will host an exhibit of seven artists from the Ute Mountain Ute community of White Mesa, who were chosen to make art related to what happened 101 years ago, speaking to memory and hope for the future.