ETHNOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW DRAFT #2 Colorado National Monument Sally Mcbeth February 26, 2010
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ETHNOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW DRAFT #2 Colorado National Monument Sally McBeth February 26, 2010 written in consultation with the Northern Ute ETHNOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW DRAFT #2 Colorado National Monument Sally McBeth February 26, 2010 written in consultation with the Northern Ute Submitted to the National Park Service Cooperative Agreement # H1200040001 (phases I and II) and H1200090004 (phase III) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The generosity of many Ute friends, whose willingness to share their stories, remembrances, and recollections with me cannot go unacknowledged. I treasure their rich and profound understandings of ancestral landscape shared with me over the past three years. These friends include, but are not limited to Northern Ute tribal members (alphabetically): Loya Arrum, Betsy Chapoose, Clifford Duncan, Kessley LaRose, Roland McCook, Venita Taveapont, and Helen Wash. Their advice and suggestions on the writing of this final report were invaluable. Special thanks are due to Hank Schoch—without whose help I really would not have been able to complete (or even start) this project. His unflagging generosity in introducing me to the refulgent beauty and cultural complexity of Colorado National Monument cannot ever be adequately acknowledged. I treasure the memories of our hikes and ensuing discussions on politics, religion, and life. The critical readings by my friends and colleagues, Sally Crum (USFS), Dave Fishell (Museum of the West), Dave Price (NPS), Hank Schoch (NPS-COLM), Alan McBeth, and Mark Stevens were very valuable. Likewise the advice and comments of federal-level NPS staff Cyd Martin, Dave Ruppert, and especially Tara Travis were invaluable. Thanks, all of you. Former Colorado National Monument Superintendant Bruce Noble and Superintendant Joan Anzelmo provided tremendous support throughout the duration of the project. I also want to credit the “Colorado National Monument Review Team” (Briana Board, Pam Koenig, Lynn Mager, Lace Stevens, Michelle Wheatley, and Annie Williams) for critical readings and advice on the manuscript. Thanks to UNC colleagues David Diggs (Geography) for the map. Elizabeth Buller (UNC- CERCA) is owed a special thanks for assistance with the Southwest Ecosystems chart as well as endless hours of formatting and holding my hand through all of the technological dilemmas I encountered. Ethnobotanist Lynn Albers provided needed expertise on the plant section and Greeley historian Peggy Ford advised me on the complex nature of Nathan Meeker. Carla Sanborn provided invaluable assistance with the transcribing of many of the tape- recorded interviews. Wranglers Tam and Dana Graham of Graham Ranch in Delta, Colorado provided their horses and services free of charge for our trip to Black Ridge to examine the tree platform site. Other locals who assisted me in various ways were Max Stites, Michael Menard, and Yvonne Peterson. Any errors or misrepresentations which remain are, of course, my own. i TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures Executive Summary I Ethnographic Overview of Colorado National Monument: Purpose, Methods, and Thesis II Background on the Utes Introduction Why the Northern Ute? Ute Band Structure Ute Culture: an Overview with a focus on Colorado National Monument Ute Bear Dance Selected Sites in Colorado National Monument Devil’s Kitchen panel (5ME27) Devil’s Kitchen pictograph (5ME26) Large animal with rider (5ME10A) Mounted hunter and bighorn sheep; skirted figures (5ME10A) Tree Platform Site: Black Ridge III Ute Subsistence Strategies: The Seasonal Round Elevations and Plant Seasonality Plants and Plant Use Ute oral traditions and ceremonies associated with plant collection Important Food Plants Women’s Roles Pinon and Acorn Seed Harvest Berries Roots Cactus and Yucca Ponderosa Pine Medicinal Plants Bear root Yarrow Sagebrush Juniper Cow parsnip Indian tobacco Other medicinal plants Utilitarian Uses of Plants Architectural examples: wickiups, sweat lodges, menstrual huts, tipis Basket-making Tanning hides and clothing Plant Use Conclusions Hunting Preparation Gender Hunting rituals IV Earliest European Forays into the Area (1776-1869) Dominguez-Escalante Expedition (1776) John C. Frémont and Others (1850-1858) John Wesley Powell (1867-1881) ii Missionaries V Historical Incidents that Prompted Ute Removal (1828-1879) Traders: Antoine Robidoux (1828-1844) Settlers and Miners (1868) Nathan Meeker and the White River Agency (1878-1879) Los Pinos Agencies VI Removal (1880-1881) Uncompahgre and White River Removal VII Post-Removal (1881-2009) Ute Return to Colorado Historic Newspaper Accounts of Ute Return to Colorado Hunting Grounds Utes in Bitter Creek and Fruita Area Teller Institute Chipeta Jo-Jim and Josie Navajo Butchering Buffalo in Colorado National Monument VIII Concluding Remarks IX Recommendations Archaeological Survey Inventory of COLM Museum Archives Protection and Management Continuity Other tribes Annual Ute Celebration X Works Cited XI Appendix A XII Appendix B XIII Appendix C XIV Appendix D iii LIST OF FIGURES Cover Ute Petroglyph in Lower Monument Canyon, Colorado National Monument. Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 1 Map of the Grand Valley including the Uncompahgre Plateau, Grand Mesa, Colorado National Monument and areas of significance to the Northern Ute in western Colorado. Map credit: David Diggs, Ph.D., Geography; University of Northern Colorado. Figure 2 Map of Colorado National Monument. Map credit: David Ruppert, Ph.D., NPS. Figure 3 Historic Ute Wickiup; home of Ta-vaputs; Utah 1873. Photo credit: Curtis Martin, Dominguez Anthropological Research Group. Figure 4 Uncompahgre Brownware pottery found in Colorado National Monument. Photo credit: National Park Service; Annie Williams (COLM). Figure 5 Men and women lined up for Ute Bear Dance, Uintah Reservation, ca.1900. Photo credit: Colorado Historical Society #10025450. Figure 6 Petroglyph panel near Devil’s Kitchen (5 ME 27). Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 7 Detail of above petroglyph (5 ME 27). Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 8 Clifford Duncan at pictograph near Devil’s Kitchen picnic area (5ME 26). Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 9 Detail of above pictograph (5ME 26). Photo credit Sally McBeth. Figure 10 Large animal with rider (5ME 10-A). Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 11 Sally McBeth photographing site 5ME 10-C. Photo credit: National Park Service; Michelle Wheatley (COLM). Figure 12 Sally McBeth and Roland McCook at site 5ME 10-C. Photo credit: National Park Service; Michelle Wheatley (COLM). iv Figure 13 Mounted hunter and bighorn sheep (5ME 10-C). Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 14 Skirted figures (5ME 10-C). Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 15 Colorado National Monument ranger on Black Ridge tree platform ca. 1950-60. Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 16 Tree platform showing juniper scaffolding elements. Photo credit: Hank Schoch. Figure 17 Tree platform showing juniper bark mat. Photo credit: Hank Schoch. Figure 18 Ute platform; ca. 1874; Uintah Valley. Photo credit: Colorado Historical Society #F-8-31. Figure 19 Clifford Duncan and Betsy Chapoose on Black Ridge; 2008. Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 20 Sunrise in Colorado National Monument. Photo credit: Hank Schoch. Figure 21 Independence Monument in Colorado National Monument. Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 22 Ute girl, ca. 1870-1890. Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, Robert G. Lewis., Z- 2728. Figure 23 Ute men of western slope of Colorado, 1876. Photo credit: Colorado Historical Society #5029. Figure 24 Southwest Ecosystems. Modified from Arnberger 1952:7. Figure 25 Northern Ute tribal members Helen Wash and Loya Arrum offering tobacco at plant harvest. Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 26 Ute mano and metate. Photo credit: Aline LaForge. Figure 27 Northern Ute Plant Collectors (and friends). Kessley LaRose is front, left. Photo credit: Sally Crum. Figure 28 Piñon pine tree. Photo credit: National Park Service. v Figure 29 Piñon pine cones. Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 30 Piñon pine nuts. Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 31 Basketry winnower, sumac or willow; Ute late 1800s. Field Museum, Chicago (FM 60973). Photo credit Wroth 2000:112. Figure 32 Berry basket; sumac or willow, leather; Ute ca. 1880-1910; American Museum of Natural History (50.1/6952). Photo credit Wroth 2000:112. Figure 33 Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana). Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 34 Utah serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis or ribes spp??). Photo Credit: National Park Service. Figure 35 Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 36 Sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii). Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 37 Tapertip onion (Allium acuminatum). Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 38 Indian potato (Claytonia spp.); harvested on the White River Plateau, 2008. Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 39 Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia spp.). Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 40 Yucca (Yucca harrimaniae). Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 41 Scarred ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) on the Uncompahgre Plateau. Photo credit: Sally McBeth. Figure 42 Big sage (Artemisia tridentate). Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 43 Greenleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula). Photo credit: National Park Service. Figure 44 Cliffrose (Purshia mexicana). Photo credit: National Park Service. vi Figure 45 Wickiup remnant in Colorado National Monument. Photo credit: Hank Schoch. Figure 46 Ute man, boy, and tipi (ca. 1860-1870). Photo credit: Denver Public