The cultural traditions of Utah's first people are now being shared at This Is the Place Heritage Park.

As the morning sun started its climb Saturday, a space of land nestled in the foothills at the mouth of Emigration Canyon was blessed by Navajo medicine man Roy Bagey to invite the spirit to the area and pay homage to the indigenous ancestry of the West.

At the Native American Village are re-creations of traditional dwellings used by Navajo and Shoshone Indians so visitors can see how those tribes lived prior to the arrival of Utah's pioneers.

"The goal with this site was to give the tribes a place to tell their stories," said Matt Dahl, executive director of the park. "We want to represent all the natives of Utah and tell what this land was like prior to settlement."

To mark the dedication, a grand entry by participating tribes led to a flag ceremony with honor and victory songs. Representatives from the Native American community offered remarks about the site while sharing their tribes' history in the Salt Lake Valley and surrounding areas. At the event more than 50 people meandered through Navajo hogans and Shoshone tepees, learning the significance behind construction methods and the materials used to create the space.

"Our goal here is to give a hands-on experience, not other museums where you are behind a velvet rope," Dahl said. "We want you to experience what life was like."

The Native American Village is being constructed in cooperation with the Utah Division of Indian Affairs and various tribal leaders to ensure the different heritages and traditions being presented are true to their source. Lorin Cummings, the park finance director and member of the Navajo tribe who built the hogans at the park, said the culture of the tribes couldn't be represented otherwise.

"This is an opportunity to reconnect with heritage," Cummings said. "With the tribes of this state here to tell the stories in their history we can really share our traditions."

Dahl said the Native American Village will grow as installations for Ute, Piute and Goshute tribes are incorporated into the area. As the site grows, crafts and activities will be added to the site, including necklace making, a bow and arrow range and cooking. A specific timeline of development wasn't immediately available.

The village will be staffed by historical interpreters who are members of participating tribes, and many of the stories and songs shared at the site will be spoken in the language they originated in. Dahl and Cummings said the strength of This Is the Place Heritage Park is its ability to let people interact with aspects of culture and history they couldn't have before.

View Comments

"This is a vision that all of us ought to have," said Elder M. Russell Ballard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "This park can become one of the greatest in the United States or the world. We have an important history here and it should be shared."

This Is the Place Heritage Park is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the park, visit www.thisistheplace.org or call 801-582-1847

E-MAIL: cnorlen@desnews.com

Twitter: Thisis_this

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.