Red Woman: My Southern Ute Journey from Poverty to Wall Street

by Pearl E. Casias, Kristen Hartzell

In this singular memoir, Pearl E. Casias tells the story of her rise from poverty to chair of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in rural southwest Colorado. Casias grew up in poverty and was raised by alcoholic parents. She endured domestic violence in one of her marriages. Despite those dire periods in her life, she put herself through college and rose to become a Southern Ute tribal judge. She details her experience in the tribal court, whose jurisprudence is guided by Indigenous knowledge and Ute-centered spiritual rehabilitation. Casias then spent time on the Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council, running the tribe’s political and economic affairs, particularly the development of considerable mineral resources on tribal lands. During her tenure, the Southern Utes attracted a significant investment from Wall Street as the tribe became a leading producer of natural gas. Casias’s eventual election as chair of the Southern Utes, the pinnacle of her accomplishments, made her the tribe’s first woman chair.

With unflinching honesty, Casias lays out the problems confronting Southern Ute people, including the harm that centuries of colonialism have wrought on the reservation. Blending her personal story with that of her tribe, Casias describes how, as a tribal leader, she strove to develop positive cultural values within Ute society.

120 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication June 1, 2026

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Every time I read any work by an Indigenous author, I gain a deeper perspective. Pearl Casias has an inspiring story and I feel honored to learn some of it. This autobiography was deeply personal and heavy, but Casias speaks of her history (both personal and tribal) factually and without much emotion. Her experiences simply were what they were, and she’s taken from them whatever she must. Her passion and love for her tribe and her children is admirable, and she doesn’t rely on flowery language or exaggeration to make that known.

Admittedly, it made me sad that much of the recent financial upturn for the Southern Ute tribe had to do with the extractive natural gas industry, but I know that this extraction is not the fault of the tribe, and if these practices must continue (and I would argue that they shouldn’t, but I know it would/will be very hard to stop them) then I do believe the tribe should get their share of the profits. I did find the title a bit misleading, as the book didn't really focus much on “Wall Street” or the intricacies of the financial side of things, but I’m glad it didn’t. Casias does however discuss the basics behind the tribes newfound relative wealth and the ramifications of that, which was informative.