Born and raised in southwestern Colorado, Regina (she/her/hers) is an enrolled member and currently resides on the Ute Mountain Ute tribe reservation in a small community named Towaoc. At an early age, she began to advocate for land, air, water and animals, and she strongly believes that the inner core of healing comes from the knowledge of her land and elders.
In 2002, Regina graduated from Chief Dull Knife College in Lame Deer, Montana. In October of 2013, she was elected to serve as a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal council and later as co-chair for the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition. During that time, she had the opportunity to share one of her first essays in the Red Rock Testimony: “Three Generations of Writers Speak on Utah Public Lands.” This was followed by the publication of several op-eds, essays, magazine articles, book introductions and afterwords with respect to the Indigenous voice of the land.
Currently, as a Master of Environmental Management candidate with Western Colorado University, she is working on authoring the Ute Mountain Ute Traditional Harvest Plan. She has also been working for the Montezuma Land Conservancy as the Cross-Cultural Programs Director since the spring of 2021. She has served on a number of boards including: the Telluride Institute, Torrey House Press, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Women of Bears Ears, Telluride Foundation and the Battle Rock Charter School. Former Secretary Haaland appointed her to serve the Bears Ears National Monument Management Advisory Committee.
She has traveled extensively throughout the country sharing the Ute culture through song, dance, presentations, and she is very honored to continue to protect, preserve and serve through education.