MOUNTAI N _ FAMI LY_SPI RIT: The Arts and Culture of the Ute Indians by Emma I. Hansen, Curator, Plains tndian Museum t: t:, )t REMINGTON AMONG THE UTES by Peter H. Hassrick CONTINUITY AND DIVERSITY: The Art ol Arthur Amiotte by Emma l. Hansen, Curator, Plains Indian Museum, '-."i*4".1 ':; POWWOW: A Photo Gallery Rebecca S. West with photographs by ':,, I' Chris Gimmeson and Sean Campbell {02' s.'11 *i=ll | = cl,'rjf ['\ Ji" ntr% ' .lrit_ {i' -- i:itl fifltd r,| POINI5 WESI is published quarterly as a benelit of membership in the -f;$*. Buffalo Bill Hislorical Center For membership inFormation contact: Kathy McLane. Director of Membersnip Buffalo Bill Historical center 720 Sheridan Avenue. Cody. wy 82414 [email protected] 3O7 .57 4.4032 @ 2002 Buffalo Bill Hisrorical Center Written permission required to copy. reprint or distribute arlicles in any medium or format. Address editorial correspondence to the Editor PolNIs WESI Bulfalo Bill Historical Center 720 Sheridan Avenue. Cody. WY 82414 or e'mail [email protected] Edirorl Thom Huge Des i gn er: Jan Woods Krier Production Coordinator Barbara Foote Colvert Photography Staff: Chris Cimmeson ':*' Sean Campbell The BuFlalo Bill Historical Center is a private, non'profit educational instirurion dedicated to preserving and interpreting the cultural history of the American West. Founded in lgl7, the Historical Center is home ro the Bullalo Bill Museum. Cody Firearms N4useum. Plains lndian Museurn. Whitney Callery oF Western Arl. Draper N4useum o[ Nalural History and Mccracken Research Library. ww1&r.htlhc *r.q Man's shirt. Ute. Southern Ute Reservation. Colorado. ca. 1880-1900. Tanned hide. glass Cover: Cradle. Ute, Southern Colorado or Utah. Iare lB00s. beads. Museum ol Indian Arts and Culrure/ Tanned deer hide. wood. willow. glass beads. pigments. brass. Laboratory of Anthropology. Museurn of New cowrie shells. Buflalo Bill Historical Center. Cilt of Corliss C. Mexico. and Audflenne H. Moseley. Chris Gtmmeson photo. luLY 8-31 Summer Youth Adventures 8-31 Artist, Scientist, H istorianrTraditional Artists-i n-residence progra ms, demonstrations and presentations held throughout the Center. I Natural History Lunchtime Expeditions. 12:15 p.m. Free event. t4 Arapaho and Shoshone of Wind River exhibition closes. 28 Mountain-Family-Spirit: The Arts and Culture of the Ute Indians exhibition closes. AUGUST l-31 Artist, Scientist, Historian,Traditional Artists-in-residence programs, demonstrations and presentations held throughout the Center: l-23 Summer Youth Adventures 13 Natural History Lunchtime Expeditions. 12:15 p.m. Free event. 15-17 9th Annual Buffalo Bill Shootout. 16 The Arthur Amiotte Retrospective: Continuity and Diversify. Patrons Preview. 5-7 p.m. Lecture by Arthur Amiotte, T p.m. 17 The Arthur Amiotte Retrospective: Continuity and Diversity exhibition opens. Through December 31. 22 BBHC Members Only tour and talk by Bob Richard. Reception following. Free to members of BBHC. 3l The Full Circle: Panoramic Photographs of the American West by Gus Foster closes. SEPTEI4BER g-21 Rendezvous Royale begins with opening of the Buffalo Bill Art Show 5 p.m. l0 Natural History Lunchtime Expeditions. 12:15 p.m. Free event. 18 Western Design Conference Fashion Show. Cody Ar"rditoriirm,6 p.m. 18-19 Western Design Conference Symposium at BBHC, Coe Auditorium. 18-21 Western Design Conference Exhibit. Riley lce Arena. 20 Buffalo BillArt Show and Sale, 5 p.m. 2l Quick Draw and Brunchr l0 a.m. 21 26th Annual Patrons Ball,6:30 p.m. 26-29 Plains lndian Seminar: Adversity and Renewal: Early Reservation Life on the Plains, l880-1930. 3 t,: - .. t. "t..at1 - i-: ,;.:r-.,' : .. :: , , '1:=.;! i'.i.'..i . .. .:) ..'l:''.i I ..1'-.' i-:' rillf, \' Wt,iiiI;,,,;,ii',,,1,jii,;.iiIl . ,' ',,," * /./,',::'tlfiii',,';i,;ii:"',,i;i",':!t;,';;',',;,i;1,'-.i, f , "sf tto.r-r-)i.r-. t I I )', ,ii'S ..: ,f/ --';rI ll l;!:it, 111l1ll\ :!i!il,','t ,',i',, ; :.',:"' ': 'r"r'(' ','., .'.,.,-'''' 1\' '1.,,,p a \ rl' ul!'ii,;l'ii,,itt,',',*,,'.:.."i{' , !;" , ,r . ' :I,l ,',';l't.t.t"t t I I ,i,,ui{.{i.iri,, ' - .' a . - .,. f,i!:.j"j^'!,',,,1r;;.,!,,;, : : :.':,',',': . : : t''t'.', r :. : ;i; i i :'#::.1 I ^.:,:: r, ;,,ii ffi$[,:#,, ii,i;i;* ] tJlf lX];,;,I?,{ft.l',".}r' iffiffi l:J,r1ifi,;, i4,!lt,t1.!4fi 't/l'l-1'i"t1 I4 o u ntai n- F o m i ly-S-ofp i r it The Arts and Culture the Ute Indians Emma L Hansen Curator, Plains Indian Museum We don't have a migration myth because we have always been here. - Eastern Ute elder' T-rromH time immemorial the Eastern Ute people of present day Colorado and Utah have con, I sidered the Rocky Mountains their traditional homelands. The Ute origin srory and tribal memory recognize this region - stretching north and south through central and western Colorado and into Utah and northern New Mexico - as the place where their tribal identity and most important elements of cultural life were lormed. Ute people are intimately connected to the mountains and the surrounding area as both the physical and spiritual center of their existence. According to tribal traditions, Sinaway, the Creator, provided this sacred land for the Ute people although his helper Coyore loolishly scattered people lrom other tribes who spoke dilferent languages in surrounding areas. Their environment shaped the Ute people as they developed creative ways of exploiting its diverse altitudes, ranges, plants, and animals on a seasonal basis. Over time the Utes have also served as spiritual caretakers of the land and its resources according to a beliel system of cultural values, ideals, and ceremonies that delineated their roles as hunters and plant gatherers in this mountainous region. Mountain-Family-Spirit. The Arts and Culture oJ the Ute Indians is the first national touring exhibition locusing on Lett: Basketry waterjaq Ute, Southern Colorado, late 1800s. Sumac or the Eastern Ute people. This exhibition, willow, pine pitch, leather. Colorado Springs Fine Arts Museum. assembled by the Taylor Museum ol rhe Above: Woman's dress yoke, Ute, Southern Colorado or Urah, ca. 1870- Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center with 1880. Tanned hide, trade cloth, glass beads. Fort Lewis College, Cenrer of Southwest Studies added material from the Bullalo Bill Historical Center remains in the Center's Special Exhibition Gallery through July 28,2002. The exhibition title embodies the most important elements of Ute lile - the mountains in which they originated and lived, the family in which individuals are born and work together to build their lives, and the spirit that connects the Utes to their land and to each other. The exhibition explores these themes in relation to the history of the Ute bands and tribes through the inrer, pretation of many rare and important collection objects lrom major North American museums. 5 The Utes call themselves "Nuche" meaning "the people." They call their language "Nuu-a-pagia." The word "Ute" is apparently a corruption ol the Spanish word Yutas, which is possibly derived lrom the term "Guaputu." According to Spanish documents, people oi in Jemez Pueblo identilied rhe Utes as Guaputu, a term that refers to people who live shelters covered with straw - a likely description oi the domed shaped brush lodges in which the Utes lived. Today, the Eastern Utes live on three reservations in Colorado and Utah: the Southern Ute tribe with headquarters at lgnacio, Colorado; the Ute Mountain Ute tribe with headquarters at Towaoc, Colorado, and the Northern Ute tribe on the Uintah and Ouray reservation, with headquarters at Fort Duchesne, Utah. In addition to the mountain environment, other lactors contributed to the development oi the distinctive Ute culture including their shared cultural heritage with Western Ute peo- ple of the Great Basin and their geographic location with Navajo, Apache, and Anasazi or Rio Grande Pueblos to the southwest, the Plains tribes to the east, and the Shoshone to the north and west. They were also later iniluenced by the arrival ol the Spaniards who established colonies in the southwest in the l6th century and Anglo-Americans who achieved political dominance in the region in the mid-l9th century. Although there are linguistic and historical dilferences between the Eastern Utes and the Western Utes, a Great Basin people living in present day central and Western Ulah, there are also many similarities. As hunters and plant gatherers, Eastern Ute people lollowed a seasonal round ol economic activities during which they traveled into the mountains, east into the Plains, and to the Colorado Plateau west ol the Rocky Mountains. The land and resources oi the Colorado Plateau were similar to that ol the Great Basin region inhabited by their Western Ute relatives. Ute lodges built oi brush over a domed lramework ol poles are reminiscent of the homes oi Western Ute people. The lodges were practical in terms of the lrequent movements of the Utes as they traveled through diverse regions in search ol game and plant resources. Ute I lamilies and small groups sometimes moved over several hundred square miles as they traveled lrom north to south and east to west as well as lrom the mountains in the summer to the lower lands of the valleys and plains in the winter. As Ute lamilies moved throughout these environments, they became aware ol changes in resources that might occur lrom year to year. Their survival depended upon noticing facrors that indicared abundance or dwindling of particular plant foods or game and planning the riming and destination oi their next move. Anthropologist James A. Goss has characterized Ute knowledge oi their environment in the iollowin$ way: "ti you stop and think about it, they were excellent ecologists because it wasn't just academic to them, it was importanl to their survival to know their environment.": Ceremonial lile closely lollowed the economic seasonal round ol activities.