DNC will open with tribal leaders and other Indian notables in full regalia.

DENVER - Colorado's first residents will offer the first official welcome to the Democratic National Convention in Denver Aug. 23, when Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute and Northern Ute tribal leaders and other Indian notables in full regalia will lead the pageantry of a grand entry before officials address some 13,000 media representatives.

''It's the right thing to do, since they were the first people in the state of Colorado,'' said Holly Arnold Kinney, co-chair of the entertainment committee for the media event at Elitch Gardens near the Pepsi Center. The Ute Mountain and Southern Ute tribes are the only sovereign nations currently in Colorado, once considered home by the Northern Utes and many other tribes.

Ernest House Jr., Ute Mountain Ute and executive secretary of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, said speakers will include tribal chairmen Clement Frost, Southern Ute, and Ernest House Sr., Ute Mountain Ute and a representative of the Northern Ute Tribe, Utah; Colorado Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien, CCIA chair; and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

The grand entry will include the tribal officials, Denver area community leaders, the posting of the colors by veterans' groups, and singing by various drum groups in a dramatic display that will be ''the first time a lot of them will have seen it,'' said Arnold Kinney of the media event.

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In addition, Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, will also have a speaking spot.

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