Utes thriving after nearly going broke

Traditionally, tribal services like health care are provided through the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs — each tribe gets a chunk of money from the government. But in the Utes' case, that amount did not cover costs.

Because the tribe has no tax base, it had to sell off resources to pay for ongoing services. It's not unlike federal mandates to the states that come without money to administer them.

"The business model for sovereign nations has been the federal government," Jurrius said. "That's an equation to go broke."

So the tribal council agreed to change the way it does business.

One of the first steps was to find out exactly what the tribe's resources were, and when the tribe asked Bureau of Indian Affairs officials, they didn't know.

So the tribe spent months on an excruciatingly detailed inventory of every well, every site where oil or gas had been discovered. It also scrutinized records and found many cases where companies were out of compliance with agreements and few cases where market rate has been paid to the tribe in a transaction, said Cameron Cuch.

The turnaround

Maps cover the walls in the boardroom at Ute Energy offices on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.

The maps include details not found on any state document. These maps are the results of months of research on the tribe's 1.2 million surface acres.

Every well, every gas and oil field, every mineral reserve. Every piece of equipment, every road right of way. Every resource is plotted, managed, cultivated and projected.

A state-of-the-art computer system holds detailed descriptions of the contract, work and potential for every acre.

Jurrius also developed a financial plan, which required approval from the entire tribe. Early on, the tribe voted to restructure itself. It approved the financial plan and agreed to form a business committee that would work closely with Jurrius and his group.

"It was a huge transition," Natchees said.

The tribe set up a venture fund to allow it to invest in bigger projects — even commercial developments.

More than a business model, Jurrius has preached a philosophy of self-respect. In the past three years he has taught tribal leaders how to ask more for their resources and how to negotiate tougher.

It is the difference between passive and active governance.

"In our view, this is the ultimate sovereignty we can have," said Cameron Cuch.

The Ute Tribe sits on the vast Uintah and Ouray Reservation, originally spread across 4.5 million acres in eastern Utah. The tribe maintains hunting and fishing and other rights over that original area, which makes up 8.5 percent of the state.

Oil and gas, tar sands and oil shale are abundant beneath the sage brush-covered landscape of Duchesne and Uintah counties.