February 2007
By: Travis N. Parashonts

HISTORY OF THE CEDAR BAND OF PAIUTES

The Cedar Band of Paiutes is one of five bands of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, currently, located in the area of Cedar City, Iron County in southwest Utah. They have a total of 257 members enrolled in their Band and have approximately 2,137 acres of reservation land and 80 acres of fee to trust land, which runs adjacent to the I-15 corridor about 8 miles south of Cedar City Utah. Today the Cedar Band has developed a subdivision and water system on their reservation. They are in the process of developing their reservation through a master plan. The first phase is called Wai’ani Eagle Travel Center.

In the early 1950's, the Cedar Band of Paiutes were not terminated with the other Paiute Bands of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, but suffered de facto termination, which meant they did not receive any services afforded to federally recognized tribes, nor did they receive a reservation land base. The band did not know until1970 that they had not been fully terminated and were therefore eligible for federal services. Eventually they became part of the 1980 Restoration Act, which restored full recognition to members of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, P.L. 96-228

Their Paiute name is Suh’dutsing, which means Cedar. The name derives from the Cedar tree, which is heavily populated in their region. Their language is the numic language, which is related to the Shoshone and Ute Tribes. They were known to be hunters and gatherers and lived off the land close to water. The Cedar Band of Paiutes has five elected Council members who serve 4 year terms. They govern and manage the affairs of the Cedar Band of Paiutes.

Today, they are a young Paiute Band, with the elders, 55 years of age and above, comprising 8% of the population. Approximately 40% of the membership is below the age of 18. Their children attend public schools in the area and they operate an after-school drug elimination program designed to help the youth with tutoring, computer skills and teach children about culture. The after school program also provides field trips, activities and incentives. The Cedar Band of Paiutes own 8,477 square feet community building. Currently, the Suh’dutsing Technologies headquarters is housed in this facility. Suh’dutsing Technologies is a computer service related company that specializes in data entry, administration and office support, customer support, help desk support, data processing, data storage, data warehousing, software and hardware sales, network administration, call centers, and other technological computer related services.Prior to the creation of Suh’dutsing Technologies, the only revenue coming into the Cedar Band of Paiutes was the leasing of billboard signs along I-15.

SUH’DUTSING TECHNOLOGIES HISTORY

In early 2002 the Tribe was approached by a local IT company who wanted to partner with a Native American company. We researched the opportunity, and in about 7 months time put Suh’dutsing together. By the time we established our company and got all our certifications and licensing in place the other company went out of business. So we had an IT company and no one to run it. So in the spring of 2003 we decided to run it ourselves. We got the state of Utah to help us and found a mentor Protégé Company to help us. We started the company with a $3,400 grant from SUU Rural Development for marketing and about $4,000 cash start up money from the Cedar Band of Paiutes. We immediately started marketing the company in October of 2003, knocking on the doors of federal agencies and IT companies in Washington DC with no success. Three months later while attending a Res 2004 Conference in Las Vegas NV in February 2004, sponsored by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, we did a presentation in front of about 20 representatives from various federal agencies. At that conference we landed our first contract with the Dept of Interior. It was through the establishment of the DOI-IDIQ contract and that gave us our jump start for the company. Starting in September 2004 we started putting hardware and software equipment task orders against the IDIQ contract and it’s been up hill ever since.

The company was started to stimulate economic development on our reservation. Our primary objective is to make a profit. Jobs are secondary. We have no natural resources to develop, no gaming in Utah, no other source of income, and no jobs. As I always say, Suh’dutsing Technologies is our casino and we cannot afford to fail. We cannot fail because so much is depending on this to succeed for the benefit of our youth and tribal members.

In 2005 we received some distinguished honors based on previous year’s revenues. From the time we started delivering on our first task order in September to December 2004 (4 months) we made the top list of 8(a) companies in the U.S. ranked at #22, based on revenues in 2004. We also made the list of the top Native American owned business in the U.S. and are ranked #27 among all American Indian owned companies throughout the country; all within 4 months time. Suh’dutsing is currently ranked #11 on the 2007 top 25 8(a) companies in the U.S.

Suh’dutsing Technologies has been fortunate enough to stand on its own merits and does not wish to put any type of debt hardship on the Cedar Band of Paiutes. We have a very strong management team, with Travis N. Parashonts, as President, the founder of the company. He directs and steers the company in the direction it is going. The management team has been critical to our success and has over 40 years of combined experience in IT and government. Since September 2004 through the end of 2007 the company has more than doubled its productivity and continues to grow. Suh’dutsing Technologies has the capacity to do data entry; administration and office support; customer support; IT help desk support; data processing; data storage; data warehousing; hardware/software sales; equipment sales; network administration, inbound and outbound services, call centers; facilities management; systems analysis; Systems Integration; solutions; capital planning; management training; administrative management; consulting services; Engineering services; Project management; programming; Network Installation O&M; system designs; supporting and developing JAVA and Oracle applications; and other computer related services.