SLVEC honors that the San Luis Valley is the ancestral territory for many Indigenous nations including the Ute, Navajo, Comanche, Cheyenne, Jicarilla Apache, Hopi, and northern Pueblo (Santa Clara, Tewa, Tesuque and Taos). Alongside our mission, SLVEC aspires to always celebrate the first stewards of this beautiful landscape, as well as the thriving Indigenous communities that continue to enhance Southern Colorado.