FORT DUCHESNE — The Ute Tribe elder is giving a blessing to keep him safe.

At a recent powwow, a prayer dance is offered for protection while he is away. Drummers and singers and the hundreds of American Indians gathered in Fort Duchesne honor 21-year-old Maurice Serawop and his family.

In three days, the Ute and member of the Army Reserve will be on his way to Kuwait, leaving his wife and little boy behind.

Serawop joined the armed services to provide a better life for his family. He will go to school when he gets back, then find a job off the Ute Indian Reservation.

"He wants to go somewhere where he says his son can make something of himself," says his wife, Alana.

While her husband is away, Alana and 2-year-old Logan stay with her grandmother, 82-year-old Ruby Atwine, who was the first tribal chairwoman. Alana's great-grandfather was a medicine man.

The young couple is very into tradition, Alana Serawop said. They do prayer sweats, held in a sweat lodge in the heat of lava rocks. They attend the sun dance.

"Even though he's gone, his heart is with his tradition," Alana said. The elders told Maurice before he left: "Your traditions will help you when you are gone."

But the Serawops have decided to keep their traditions away from Fort Duchesne.

In January, Alana and her sister will move to Provo to attend Utah Valley State College together. They will help each other and live together. Alana plans to study accounting.

"We will come back," she says. "But it's time to get away and see what we can do with ourselves."

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E-mail: lucy@desnews.com