Ute Mountain Lands: Excerpt

Wíssiv Káav Tüvüpüa Ute Mountain Lands

They had all the answers. ~ Emily Whiteman ~

on fam ily ties and life ch an ge s

b y l i n e t ext about imag e

by l i n e t ex t a bo u t i mag e

creat iv e and photography d irection: Anthony Two Moons / anthonytwomoons.com photog rap hy: Latyr Lopez | Vance Lee | Alyna Jacket | Acasia Lee | Taliyah Ketchum | Konrad Jacket | Jacquez Oros Lamoyn Whiteman | Allias Lee | Manuel Lee | Markeith Casey | Sissaley Lopez | Shayna Ketchum-Mills | Angel Heart Adeljaundra Ketchum-Mills | Jane Lehi | Loma House | Emily Whiteman | Alfred Wall, Jr

a rt direction and d esign: Susanne Cerha / silo-design.com print ed by: Hemlock / hemlock.com yea r printed : 2022 co ver stock: 100 lb Lynx Digital Smooth Cover FSC Mix text stock: 80 lb Lynx Smooth Book White FSC Mix typo g ra phy: Skolar Sans Latin by David Březina and Sláva Jevčinová | Mrs Eaves XL Serif and Mr Eaves XL Sans by Zuzana Licko pla nt ide ntification: All plants identified via photos scanned by the app Picture This, available on the Apple app store

Special thanks to:

All rights reserved.

First Nations Development Institute

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Center for Rural Outreach and Public Services, Inc.

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Santicola & Company

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UMUT Tiwahe Initiative

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TA B L E O F CO N T EN TS

Wíssiv Káav Tüvüpüa Ute Mountain Lands

07

I N T R O D U C T I O N : By Juanita Plentyholes

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C H A P T E R O N E : A changing environment

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C H A P T E R T W O : On childhood then and now

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C H A P T E R T H R E E : Family ties and life changes

131

C H A P T E R F O U R : Seasonal living

Wíssiv

IN T RO D UCT IO N

Maik, thank you for giving us the opportunity to publish this book.

The Ute Nation consists of three tribes and seven bands, including the Weenuche band of which the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe are members. As hunters and gatherers, the Ute Nation historically roamed all of Colorado and parts of Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and knew these lands well.

Throughout time, changes to the lands due to settlements, erosion, and climate change have impacted the Utes’ way of life. This project provided us with an opportunity to connect elders with youth members, so that the elders

could share their stories and travel together to different parts of the reservation in order to witness these changes to the land.

This project comes at a crucial time; as we lose our elders we also risk losing their teachings and practices that were passed down from their ancestors, unless we ensure that our younger generation maintains this connection. By staying connected to these lands, and making use of new tools and technology, we have some hope of preserving our culture and language for our future generations.

Tuvuche Toweyak, thank you very much.

J U A N I TA P L E N T Y H O L E S | Tiwahe Director

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: i n t r o d u c t i o n

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CHAPTER

1

A changing environment

We used to have a lot of water Our from snowthe wasmountain. deep. that came ~ Emily Whiteman ~

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ut e mounta l an d storyb in lands: ook a cha nging envir onm ent

by l i n e t ex t a bo u t i mag e

ut e mounta in lands: a cha nging envir onm ent

Before, when the tribal members moved for Sundance, there used to be water coming out of the spring.

Now it’s all dry up there. Seems like it is dry everywhere. Just a little part of the Ute has water. Sundance is about the same. Things are changing here, with Sundance.

~ Loma Root House ~

Now the little lake is all dry.

That is where we lived, over there. There was water there.

There was a small lake, and the springs came into the lake. Now the little lake is all dry. But the spring’s there.

Still the water is coming out. ~ Loma Root House ~

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ut e mounta in lands: a cha nging envir onm ent

At that time, there were no bears or large predators like that on the mountain – just our sheep and horses. I don’t know where the bears came from, but there are bears there now. Because of them, it’s kind of scary to even go up for a cook-out.

There have been problems with bears at Sundance too. Some of the bears have been hitting the camps. ~ Loma Root House ~

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: a ch an gi n g e n vi r o n men t

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A long time ago, the weather used to be really good.

What we don’t see now is the snow. It used to be really high and very deep. It was good to be outside playing in the snow.

Snowball fights. I used to melt the snow for drinking water and to cook with my mom. ~ Jane Lehi ~

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ut e mounta in lands: a cha nging envir onm ent

Snowball fights.

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: a ch an gi n g e n vi r o n men t

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ut e mounta in lands: a cha nging envir onm ent

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ut e mounta in lands: a cha nging envir onm ent

We had corn fields where we’d go get our corn. We had chickens and roosters where we’d get our eggs. My mom would say ‘If you want eggs, you’d better go down and get some so I can cook them.’ So we would go and disturb the hen and the rooster. They were crying all over the place, but then we would have our eggs. ~ Jane Lehi ~

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: on ch i ld h ood th en a n d n ow

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w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: on ch i ld h ood th en a n d n ow

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The things we did

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ut e mounta in lands: on childhood then a nd n ow

when we were kids.

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: on ch i ld h ood th en a n d n ow

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t h e g ran d out door be longed to the childr en.

Most of the young people don’t know about wild onions, or gathering wild berries and food. Or chokecherries.

They don’t eat them. ~ Emily Whiteman ~

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ut e mounta in lands: on childhood then a nd n ow

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: on ch i ld h ood th en a n d n ow

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My grandparents traveled to Utah to go see the Bear Dance. They had friends there that we would visit.

~ Emily Whiteman ~

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: on ch i ld h ood th en a n d n ow

89

Today, the kids don’t do much.

You don’t see them outside.

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ut e mounta in lands: on childhood then a nd n ow

They’re inside, watching TV. Or, they are on their phones. ~ Jane Lehi ~

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: on ch i ld h ood th en a n d n ow

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My mother named all her children with her maiden family name, which is Root. ~ Loma Root House ~

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ut e mounta in lands: fa m ily ties and life chan ge s

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: fam i ly ti e s an d li f e c h a n g es

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w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: fam i ly ti e s an d li f e c h a n g es

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b y l i n e t ext about imag e

by l i n e t ex t a bo u t i mag e

Today, we are all separated.

Today we are all scattered and we don’t really get along with our families. That time, a long time ago, we were a close family. We got along together. It was good to be a close-knit family, but now we are scattered. I don’t know if it makes anybody happy or not.

But it made me happy to be with my family. All the things that we did together were very good. ~ Jane Lehi ~

w í ssi v káav tü v ü p üa: fam i ly ti e s an d li f e c h a n g es

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