Remembering Violet Starr, First Ute Baha’i

I knew Violet Starr quite well. As far as any of us, including Violet knew, she was the first member of the Ute Nation to become a Bahá’í, and she taught the Faith constantly to her family and tribal members. A number from both groups declared.

Violet was a very special person, full of wisdom, love, and generosity. She was esteemed in the Roosevelt branch of Utes. She shared many stories, including one about first contact by missionaries from the prominent religion here. She once took a handmade silver and turquoise ring off her hand and gave it to me, that’s just how she was.

My family and I were invited to many traditional Ute events, and I took part in a Bear Dance one year. We couldn’t do the Sun Dance because it was a very sacred event, including several days of fasting. I knew several members of Violet’s family, including her granddaughter, Minnie. Dr. K Dean Stephens, August 17, 2022

Violet Starr September 1976 visit to Ignacio and the Southern Ute Reservation

The Back Story. Often before blessings occur, there is a back story of events leading up to them. By 1976 there was enough adult believers to form a local Spiritual Assembly on the Southern Ute/Ignacio community. Word about the Faith was spreading, and it was decided that is might be a good idea to reach out to the Christian religious leaders in the community. A plan was made to present J. E. Esslemont’s standard introduction to the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, to the priests and ministers in the area with a cover letter personally addressed to each leader letting them know that interest in the Faith was growing in the area, and the Bahá’í community wanted them to have a copy of the book to help them be knowledgeable about what the Faith teaches, if and when individuals in their congregations seek their advice about the Faith. If my memory is correct, we presented the books personally and were cordially received. Well, of course, it wasn’t expected that we would receive many responses, but we felt it was an appropriate effort at the time. Well, sure enough, the only direct response came from a fundamental church minister condemning the Faith as being from the devil. However, one of the counsellors at the Peaceful Spirit Alcohol Treatment Center, who was a Baptist minister, and who was always friendly with the Baha’i’s responded by including a positive and accurate summary of the Faith in a tract he produced explaining what different faiths believe. The Bahá’í section even quoted directly from the Bahá’í Writings. Within a year he was the only Christian cleric who had received the Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era still serving in Ignacio. Strangely, they had gradually been replaced or reassigned to somewhere else, including the Catholic priest. The Baptist counsellor was still serving at the Rehabilitation Center and still as friendly as ever. I think for his quiet support of the Faith, Bahá’u’lláh blessed him with Violet Starr.

She came to the Rehab Center in September 1976 to help with alcohol rehab trainings. What a blessing she was. Violet displayed all the qualities that Dean Stephen shares above. At the Center she demonstrated her skills as a counsellor, immediately establishing rapport and never with a trace of condescension or patronizing attitude.

I came across a newspaper clipping from The Uintah Basin Standard in Roosevelt, Utah dated September 26, 1963.

“Baha'is gather with Ute Indians and others; talk by Violet Mart Starr

Social planned at Whiterock next Saturday

A community social and potluck luncheon will be held in the Whiterocks gymnasium this Saturday, September 28th from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. All of the residents of the Whiterocks community and of the reservation are urged to attend, as well as all others interested. The Baha’i World Faith communities throughout Utah will be the hosts. All interested persons in the Uintah Basin are invited to come as their guests.

Mrs. Violet Mart Starr of Whiterocks will be the guest speaker at this social and will give a report on her recent trip to Gallup, New Mexico, where she went as the representative of the Ute Tribe to an all-Indian Baha’i conference on Indian teaching.

This conference was the summation of a series of eight conferences held throughout the past year on various Indian reservations from New Mexico and Arizona in the south, to Washington and Idaho in the north, and as far east as Nebraska in the central states, Mrs. Starr reported. As a result of these conferences several hundred Indians, representing many different tribes, have become members of the Baha’i World Faith, a faith which teaches that this is the age of world peace and unity foretold by Jesus Christ, Mrs. Starr concluded.”

Violet was a courageous Bahá’í teacher.