The Ute Indians were a group of Indians that lived mostly around the
mountainous area of Utah and Colorado near the Colorado River. But they sometimes lived
in dessert areas also. The word Ute comes from the word eutaw or yuta which means
dwellers on the top of mountains. Although it is not certain where they originated but
it is assumed that they arrived to the Colorado and Utah area around 1000 A.D. The Ute
Indians spoke a part of the Uto-Aztecan language called Numic.
The Utes were divided into bands or a subdivision of a tribe. There were at one time
eleven different bands of Ute Indians. The type of housing in each band depended on the
material available. They lived in teepees, lodges, and domed shaped structures. The
lodge shaped structure was the Ute's traditional mean of shelter. These home were
temporary because the Utes moved every season to hunt. The dome shelters were built out
of willow branches over a pole frame. They were eight feet high and fifteen feet in
diameter. They usually built their homes on a river or stream valley and were scattered
to take advantage of wood, shade and other resources. In the winter they moved into
lower elevations for the milder weather there.
Children were very important in the Ute Indian tribe. Every member was responsible for
caring and the education of the youth. Babies were held in cradle boards that were
either made of willow branches bundled together or a solid piece of wood. Willow bark
was often used as diapers. Babies were cared for by girls nine and up. The babies were
delivered in a special shelter that was set aside for giving birth. During the birth the
mother is usually assisted by another female tribe member. The husband was expected to
help the wife by keeping her warm by bringing lots of firewood. The umbilical cord was
cut off with a stone knife. When the remaining part fell off the mother always saved it
in a special pouch that was attached to the babies cradle board. When the baby learned
to walk the mother placed the umbilical cord on a red ant hill. They thought that would
help the ants industrious ways to rub off. The children were given many names and
nicknames in their life. These names were given to them during various occasions during
their life, like when they were born and when they learned how to walk. The children
were educated by watching and helping their elders.
Everything that the Ute needed could be found in their territory. The western part of
the Ute territory ate more of plant life. The diet of the eastern part consisted mainly
of meat. But the Ute only practiced agriculture for a brief period of time. A major
plant resource was nuts that were found in the pinon pine tree's cone. The nuts were
gathered by knocking them off the tree with long sticks. During the pinon harvesting
season deer were also hunted for their venison. Besides those foods the Ute also ate
wild potatoes, various roots, berries, and fruit. Food was prepared in many ways such as
using them in stews or drying them for winter. Crickets and grasshoppers were sometimes
used in stews for extra taste. They also grew tobacco for use in religious ceremonies or
in tribal customs.
Men also went hunting when not helping with the collection of berries and nuts. The
Ute hunted and fished many things. Some of the things they hunted were buffalo, elk,
whitetail deer, mule deer, antelope, mountain sheep, moose, jackrabbits, cottontail
rabbits. They also hunted birds and various insects. The bow and arrow was their main
tool for hunting. They had two types of bows, wooden and horn bows. The wooden bows
were long, thin pieces of wood. The horn bows were made out of mountain sheeps horns.
They were split and shaped, next sinew was wrapped around them to give them more
strength. The arrows were about two feet long with a fire hardened end and a stone
point. When hunting fish they either speared them or shot them with a special barbed
arrow. In the winter shelters were built on frozen lakes and holes were cut into the ice
for fishing.
The Ute dressed simply but some of their clothing was decorated with beads and patterns.
The men often dressed in a deerskin breechcloth or leggings. When colder they wore a
deerskin shirt. They wore moccasins or sandals on their feet. The woman wore skirts or
long dresses all made out of deerskin wove with bark or reeds. The Ute also liked to
wear jewelry. They wore small polished bones in their noses. They wore necklaces made
of materials like animal claws, bone beads, stones and sometimes seeds. On special
occasions they would paint their faces with white, black, red, blue or green face
paints.
The Ute weren't just all work and no play. They took a lot of time to play games. They
played such games as dice, where if someone rolled certain symbols they would win. They
also played games that were similar to baseball and kickball. A favorite game among the
men was a dart game where someone would roll a hoop out in front of a person with the
darts and the person would try to throw the darts in the middle of the hoop.
Today there are about seven thousand Utes still remaining. Many of them still remain in
the Colorado, Utah area. There are a few reservations in that area. The remaining Utes
today are troubled with unemployment and alcohol abuse is a serious problem for them.
Most of this is caused by lack of education and skills training. The Ute reservation
recently opened a casino which gave many Utes a job. It also gave them an opportunity to
have a better life and a more hopeful future.
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