Colorado Ute Questions

[garrett]

Hi, 

I am a newbie to the site, but have a general curiosity in the North America Indigenous peoples. I currently live in Colorado and have been getting familiar with the Ute culture and am very interested.

I am hoping someone can help answer a few of my questions below. Thanks in advance and my apologies for any spelling errors.

-     Would all bands (Mouache, Capote, Weeminuche, Tabeguache, Grand River, etc) gather in the same location for the Bear Dance each Spring? Or, was it normally divided into Southern / Northern celebrations? It's hard to imagine all of the bands gathering in one location each Spring.

    -    Where were some of the favorite locations for the Bear Dance located? I am imagining one of the Parks, Uncompahgre River Valley or San Luis Valley.

-    What route would the Utes have taken to get to Denver. I am familiar with Ute pass near CO Springs and some Ute trails that cut through / over Rocky Mountain National Park. Would they have used Berthoud Pass to connect with Clear Creek? 

-    I've read that when a captive (from raiding or otherwise) is brought into Ute society, that they are treated as the same as other members of the tribe. Is this the same for Plains Natives? I am aware of the capture of Ouray's son and wondered if they treated him the same as the Utes would have. Or, would they have been more of slave?

Thanks,
Garrett

[chicheman]

Hi Garret, and welcome. I too share some interest in the Ute people and also was visiting Uintah and Ouray Reservation a few years ago. I guess you will get best information by getting in touch with some Ute people, Ute tribal office, museum or culture office for your questions. I can´t say for sure, but think that each year, in the old times, several locations and Bear dances were in use, I guess. The bands were scattered over a vast area. About captives, some sure were adopted as was usual among many tribes, but it is also known that some Utes organized slave raids to capture children and women and trade them to Spanish and Mexican traders who sold them on to Mexico as workers. Ourays son is said to havig become a Arapaho and was deciding to stay with his Arapaho family as he was treated well by the Arapahos. That´s what i could learn about this, though it can be that even Ouray wasn´t 100 percent sure if he found his own son among the Arapahos, as a number of years passed on until the supposed father and son met. You may want check on some of the books I do recommend :
1. As if the Land owns us, A Ethnohistory of the White Mesa utes by Robert S. McPherson
2. Utes: The Mountain Utes by Jan Pettit
3. The Utes must go ! by Peter Decker
4. Being and becoming Ute by Sondra G. Jones

Maybe this helps with some of your questions. Utes are interesting people well worth to study.

Greetings from Germany

chicheman

[garrett]

Thank you for the response, chicheman!

I have read a few books on the Utes (People of the Shining Mountains, Ouray - Chief of the Utes, Chipeta - Queen of the Utes). I find them to be the most fascinating tribe I have learned about and will take your advice by contacting a tribal office or museum (I have visited the Ute Museum in Montrose - really cool).

FYI - I am not seeking to disturb their burial sites or dig up artifacts...simply interested in learning more for my own educational purposes. 

Thanks,
Garrett