“My junior or senior year of high school, I was looking into trade schools. Honestly, didn’t know what to do after graduation. I remember as early as elementary school, people would always ask, ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ And I never had an answer. I’m a first-generation college student, so I’ve never seen anybody in my family pursue a degree.

High school advisors connected me with tribal early engagement, and I started taking concurrent enrollment at the Utah State University extension campus in Roosevelt. I’m Ute, so I want to be Ute, not only identity- wise, but academically too. I think that was the biggest driver of me coming to the U, just having that correlation with tribal representation and the university’s connection with the Ute Indian Tribe. I’d like to have that duality in that sense.

When I got here, the biggest thing was just finding community, people who have similar interests to me. I’m a big hip-hop fan, so trying to find people who had similar interests to mine was important. I found the American Indian Resource Center, and I was sponsored through the Beacon Scholars Program, which is now called the First-Generation Scholars Program.

I graduated in 2020, and when we came back for spring break, that’s when the pandemic happened. At that point, it felt like there were no campus resources to find jobs or enter the workforce after graduation, so I was kind of sitting around for a little bit. I worked for our Ute Land Trust back home with the Ute Indian Tribe for about a year and a half, maybe two years. And at that time, it was nice working with the community, but I just wanted something new.

One of my friends kept on sending me job postings and a position that was open for Native American engagement at the university. I was like, I know I could engage and connect with the Tribal community since I am Native American, and I did go to college at the U. From that point, I kind of positioned myself to feel that maybe I could do this. I was advising the Inter-Tribal Student Association, where I had been involved as a student. So, that was how do you say, ‘the doorway’ that was open to start engaging.

I think the biggest thing is just learning how to navigate these spaces and working with different folks within tribal nations, as well as outside. Leadership looks different with different communities, so understanding that—as well as the cultural values tied to it for leadership and relationship building—is key when you bring in these different communities and cultures.

I would say my calling is really to tap into those different aspects within our communities and find value in different approaches. How do we leverage ourselves for that visibility and advocacy for different ways of elevating the type of work we do?

I know that our center, in the years that I’ve been working here, has been continually progressing. It’s continuing to advocate and elevate what we already do. We just need to continue to be louder and reach even more people.”

— Kyri Ungatavinekent-Duncan, program manager, Center for Native Excellence and Tribal Engagement