Sage Douglas Remington was a political and environmental activist whose causes ranged from gay rights to water rights in Colorado.
Sage Douglas Remington was born in Ignacio, Colorado on May 22, 1942. His parents were Avon Rabbit and Annabelle T. Eagle. He was raised by his mother (a tribal judge) and stepfather, Clifford House Eagle. He had two brothers and four sisters. Sage grew up in southwestern Colorado on both the Ute Mountain Reservation and the Southern Ute Reservation. He learned to speak the Ute language fluently and over many decades he took part in the traditional Sun Dance ceremony. As a young man, he joined the Peace Corps, where he was exposed to different cultures and people in South America.
Sage also became involved in political activism in the 1960s and 1970s. He participated in protests defending the rights of Native Americans, including being present at the 1969 occupation of the abandoned federal prison at Alcatraz. Sage marched with Cesar Chavez to defend the rights of migrant farm workers seeking fair wages and for the right to unionize. He also participated in marches to secure the rights of gay people. Sage was born a two-spirit person (called tozusuhzooch in Ute). Historically, some Native American tribes had different terms for various LGBTQ people, but in recent years the tribes that support the LGBTQ community have come to refer to such people as “two-spirit” in English. As a gay man, he also struggled with the loss of his partner during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.
In the 1980s, Sage was involved in established spiritual conferences where members of the tribe were encouraged to “purify the mind and body” and discuss one’s responsibility to their culture and their own well-being. His desire for peace and well-being also led him and other members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) to seek peace with those they had previously opposed during intense protests. In 1992, Sage and AIM had protested the celebration of Columbus Day because of how Columbus treated Native people. The following year, Sage and AIM sought reconciliation and harmony between members of the larger Denver community. To do so, AIM donated aspen trees to be planted in Civic Center Park.
In 1994, Sage received a La Gente Award from La Gente Unida for his work for gay rights as part of the Two-Spirit Society. He would also speak out at events and gatherings about the struggles of gay youth experienced growing up in a society that did not always welcome them. To celebrate Thanksgiving 1994, Sage, a member of the Living Waters Indian Church, came together with Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Hindus, Muslims, and other groups to celebrate a shared humanity and love of one another. A year later, in 1995, he received a Cinco de Mayo Civil Rights Award for his work defending gay housing rights at a time where there were many unfair housing policies.
“I believe in community empowerment. It’s time for gays and lesbians to receive recognition as many have done grassroots organizing for years behind the scenes.” - Out Front, May 3, 1995
The 1990s were also a time of intense debate over a reservoir project that had been planned in the 1950s. The Ute Mountain Tribe and Southern Ute Tribe have long fought for water rights in Southern Colorado, granted to them by treaties with the United States. At the same time, the U.S. government was working to provide cities and farmers with a steady supply of water. Sage, as part of the group Four Winds Survival Project, sought to ensure that the tribes received the benefits of any new reservoir while not creating a negative impact on the environment. Sage believed it would be better for the state and Native people to simply provide access to land and water rights more directly to tribes. Many like Sage believed the massive project would encourage white development and non-Native farming near Ute reservations, while not actually delivering the water promised to the tribes.
Sage also helped establish the Southern Ute Grassroots Organization that suggested the creation of a state fund rather than the $744 million dollar federal reservoir project. The fund would ensure tribes would have access to all the water they required while having a smaller environmental impact. Eventually, leaders of the project provided a smaller proposal Ute leaders could support. The proposal focused on water for Native people rather than non-Native farmers, but it also provided less to the tribes than what was in the original proposal. The reservoir would end up costing over $500 million and was completed in 2007, and the new reservoir, Lake Nighthorse, was filled in 2011. While tribes have a right to the water, there are no pipelines directly connected to either Ute reservation.
Like his activism on water issues, Sage’s activism on fossil fuels in the early 2000s also brought him into conflict with other members of his tribe, including many leaders. Sage, like other members of the tribe, received monthly payments from natural gas that oil and gas companies pumped out of the ground on the reservation. As of 2001, there were 1,400 gas wells across the Southern Ute reservation. Some tribal leaders thought the money would benefit the tribe, but even at that time, there were already five coal fires burning underground. These fires killed plants that covered the surface and have led to the ground caving in. Sage did not think the financial benefit was worth the long-term cost to the land.
“I have a sense of place in this land. My ancestors once roamed it. It didn't belong to them. They left it as they found it. Now It’s in extreme danger of overproduction. I'm sure the creator would want us to exercise some discretion and restraint.” - Sage Remington, Denver Post September 9, 2001
Sage and the Southern Ute Grassroots Organization also stood with the Navajo Nation, who were fighting a new coal-burning power plant at Desert Rock that would increase air pollution in surrounding communities. The fight lasted until 2011 when the plant plan was canceled.
Sage died at his home in Ignacio, Colorado on July 31, 2018 and was buried at the Ouray Cemetery. Six years prior to his death, Sage was honored with a group of elders at the Native American Center at Fort Lewis College. While he and others were not able to win every fight for justice, he continued to push for what he thought was right. Though he was Ute himself, he did not limit his activism only to causes that would benefit the Ute people, but hoped to leave a better world for all who would come after him. He inspired others like him to work to improve life for future generations.
Sun Dance - a religious ceremony among several tribes involving sacrifice and prayer to help the community
Peace Corps - A US.. government program that sends Americans to help develop health care and infrastructure in struggling nations
Why do you think Sage took action on behalf of so many different causes?
Where do you think he got the strength to continue working on these causes for so many years? Is there a cause you could see yourself working on throughout your life?