Affiliated Ute Citizens of the State of Utah

  The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre In January 1863 over two hundred Shoshoni men, women, and children died on the banks of the Bear River at the hands of volunteer soldiers from California. Bear River was one of the largest Indian massacres in the Trans-Mississippi West, yet the massacre has gone almost unnoticed as it occurred during a time when national attention was focused on the Civil War, and the deaths of the Shoshoni Indians in a remote corner of the West was of only passing interest.  Bear River was the culmination of events from nearly two decades of Indian-white interaction. The Shoshoni homelands encompassed a huge expanse of territory and were traversed by the main paths of western travel, forcing Indian-white encounters. Initially friendly and accommodating to white travelers in the 1840s, by the late 1850s resentment soared among the Indians as they were killed and their food stocks were consumed by emigrants and their livestock. The process of ...

  Wovoka, The Indian Messiah Wovoka, The Indian Messiah tells the remarkable story of Wovoka (Jack Wilson) , the Northern Paiute spiritual leader who founded the Ghost Dance movement in the late 19th century. The book explores Wovoka’s life, his visions, and the spiritual and cultural revival he inspired among Native American communities across the Great Basin and beyond. Through careful historical research, the narrative situates Wovoka within the broader context of U.S. westward expansion, the forced displacement of Native peoples, and the devastating impacts of disease, starvation, and land loss. The Ghost Dance is presented not merely as a religious phenomenon, but as a profound expression of resistance, hope, and the desire to restore Indigenous sovereignty, cultural traditions, and connection to the land. The book examines how Wovoka’s teachings spread rapidly, influencing tribes such as the Lakota, Paiute, and Shoshone, and how the movement culminated in tensions with th...

  Notes on Hillers' Photographs of the Paiute and Ute Indians Taken on the Powell Expedition of 1873 Notes on Hillers' Photographs of the Paiute and Ute Indians Taken on the Powell Expedition of 1873 provides a detailed analysis and contextual study of the photographs captured by E. O. Hillers during Major John Wesley Powell’s second expedition through the Colorado River and surrounding regions. These images, taken in 1873, document the lives, customs, and material culture of the Paiute and Ute peoples , offering one of the earliest visual records of Indigenous communities in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau. This work situates Hillers’ photographs within both the ethnographic and historical context of the Powell expeditions, explaining the significance of each image and its contribution to understanding Ute and Paiute lifeways, attire, tools, dwellings, and ceremonies. The notes also address the methodology and intentions behind the photographs, highlighting the interpl...

  Dances and Societies of the Plains Shoshone This book explores a series of related topics centered upon the military societies of the Plains Shoshone and the Dances and Societies of the Wind River Shoshone. The author positions the topic within the context of the military societies of the Plains area and draws parallels between these societies and those of the Wind River Shoshone examined in the text. Thematic depth is achieved by exploring cultural practices associated with these societies and the analysis of how they operated within native communities. The significance of this book lies in the knowledge it contributes to the understanding of the military societies of the Plains area by extending the study to include the Wind River Shoshone, giving readers a deeper insight into the diverse cultural practices observed across this geographic expanse.

  Storm Testament VII: Walkara

  World of Wakara World of Wakara is a compelling and well-researched study of early nineteenth-century life in the Great Basin, focusing on the world of Wakara, a prominent Ute leader. The book provides a detailed narrative of the social, political, and cultural landscape of the region, illuminating the daily life, traditions, and leadership of Indigenous peoples before and during the period of Euro-American expansion. Despite the limited availability of primary Native sources, the author carefully reconstructs events and practices using a combination of historical records, oral histories, and ethnographic evidence. World of Wakara is distinguished by its judicious use of legends and traditions, blending scholarly rigor with a narrative approach that makes the work accessible to both general readers and specialists. The author’s understanding of the Great Basin’s environment and pre-colonial conditions informs his interpretations, making them both plausible and insightful. The...

Wakara Meets the Mormons, 1848-52:  A Case Study in Native American Accommodation Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, Number 3, 2002

  Prelude to Dispossession: The Fur Trade’s Significance for the Northern Utes and Southern Paiutes  

Dennis Chappabitty on UTE Termination Act and Injustice Against Mixed Blood Uinta Utes U.S. Congress passed the Ute Termination Act on August 27, 1954, 59 years ago. Utah Congressional members won’t listen to pleas to repeal this genocidal act. Why? When the Act was passed to strip 490 so-called “Mixed Blood” Uinta Utes of their tribal identity, non-Indians swooped in and used hook and crook to take their “shares” that have now extremely valuable and those non-Indians have become such powerful force, the “Ute Distribution Corporation”, that Congress is scared to repeal this racist law. The “shares” had the words, “void if transferred or sold” within a certain time. BIA knew these interlopers were cheating the unsophisticated exterminated Uintas of the only way they and their families could get ahead in the world after Congress stripped them of their identities and did nothing. In effect, the non-Indian outsiders took the shares and now comprise a large segment of the Ute Distribution C...

In 1964, the Ute Tribe terminated the 490 mixed-blood members of the tribe. Some say they voted to be terminated. Others disagree.  It is also told that the entire tribe was to be terminated.  This came about so that Indians could do their own business without government influence or control Mom was #418.  Her mother, and siblings: Judi, Walt, Henry, Rang (Ruben Jr), Pearl, and Jack were all terminated.  Her younger sisters, Joan and Marie were never enrolled with the Ute Tribe due to termination. This is a great misfortune because it not only affect those that were terminated but many generations. Today, there is still contention about what being Indian means. Those of us that are the next generation have been denied opportunities to participate in Native American programs in school, scholarships, etc.  Some have married back into the tribe but have not been able to enroll their children because the tribe will not recognize the mix blood quantum. At the time of...

  Waccara's Utes: Native American Equestrian Adaptations in the Eastern Great Basin, 1776-1876 UNLV RETROSPECTIVE THESES & DISSERTATIONS Abstract The equestrian adaptations of the Western Utes of the Eastern Great Basin were distinct from the stereotypical Plains Indian adaptation to the horse. The range and mobility of the Western Utes was enhanced by their acquisition of horses, but the Utes did not abandon their diversified subsistence system to specialize in buffalo hunting as did many Plains equestrian groups. Western Ute equestrian adaptations changed and evolved throughout the nineteenth century in response to environmental, cultural, economic, and political issues. Waccara's Western Utes represented the most conspicuous stage of Native American equestrianism in the Eastern Great Basin, and the success of their diversified and far-ranging annual migratory subsistence cycle resulted in their becoming one of the most prosperous and powerful equestrian bands in the nine...

  Tribal Funds of the Ute Indian Tribe, Utah  Hearings before the United States Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Subcommittee on S. 1357 and H.R. 3795, Eighty-Second Congress, first session, on Apr. 25, July 3, 1951

  A Nineteenth Century Ute Burial from Northeast Utah A Nineteenth Century Ute Burial from Northeast Utah by Richard E. Fike and H. Blaine Phillips II is a detailed archaeological and anthropological study that examines the discovery, context, and significance of a Ute burial site dating from the 1800s in northeastern Utah. The book provides a careful analysis of the burial practices, artifacts, and skeletal remains associated with the interment, offering insight into the social, cultural, and spiritual life of the Ute people during the 19th century. Through meticulous documentation, the authors explore the material culture found with the burial, including tools, personal items, and ceremonial objects, situating these within broader Ute traditions and regional Indigenous practices. The study also considers environmental and historical contexts, such as patterns of settlement, subsistence strategies, and interactions with Euro-American settlers, which help illuminate the condition...

  SYLLABUS ORAL ARGUMENT CITATION 406 US 128 (1972) ARGUED Oct 18, 1971 DECIDED Apr 24, 1972

  Walkara, Hawk of the Mountains Walkara, Hawk of the Mountains is a vivid historical biography of Walkara (or Wakara) , the influential Ute leader who dominated much of the Great Basin region in the mid-19th century. Known as the “Hawk of the Mountains,” Walkara skillfully navigated the complex social, political, and economic landscapes of his time, exercising leadership over the Timpanogos and other Ute bands, engaging in trade, and negotiating interactions with neighboring tribes, Mormon settlers, and the U.S. government. The book explores Walkara’s life against the backdrop of a rapidly changing frontier, detailing his strategies for maintaining tribal cohesion, influence, and survival in the face of encroaching settlers, conflict, and cultural disruption. Through accounts of diplomacy, trade, raiding, and alliance-building, readers gain insight into his leadership style, decision-making, and enduring legacy among the Ute people. The narrative combines historical documentati...

Basin-Plateau Aboriginal Sociopolitical Groups This volume constitutes one of the earliest and most comprehensive ethnographic reconnaissance of the Western Shoshoni and some of their Northern Paiute, Ute, and Southern Paiute neighbors of the Great Basin. At the same time, it tries to ascertain the types of Shoshonean sociopolitical groups and to discover their ecological and social determinants. First published in 1938 as the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 120, this study is a classic in the field of Great Basin ethnology. Steward is considered one of the foremost exponents of cultural evolution in the United States, and his work is a major contribution to the study of social organization and to North American ethnography.

  Fire on the Plateau: Conflict and Endurance in the American Southwest Unitah Band “Mixed Blood” (pp.144 -165) Fire on the Plateau is both a personal memoir and a sweeping historical narrative, chronicling Charles Wilkinson’s decades-long exploration of the Colorado Plateau —a vast, rugged, and breathtaking landscape that stretches across Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. Over thirty years, Wilkinson has traversed this region as a lawyer, scholar, and traveler, engaging deeply with the land itself and with the Indigenous peoples —including the Navajo and Hopi—whose histories, cultures, and struggles are inseparable from its canyons, mesas, and deserts. The book weaves together personal reflection, legal advocacy, and historical scholarship . Beginning with Wilkinson’s work in the early 1970s as staff attorney for the newly formed Native American Rights Fund, he recounts how his legal and professional experiences brought him into close contact with Native communities and th...

People of the Wind River: The Eastern Shoshones, 1825-1900 People of the Wind River: The Eastern Shoshones, 1825–1900 offers a detailed historical account of the Eastern Shoshone tribe during a transformative period in the American West. Spanning eight decades, the book begins in 1825, when the Eastern Shoshones established tentative accommodations with the first permanent Anglo-American settlers in what would become Wind River country , and concludes in 1900 with the death of Chief Washakie, signaling the end of a distinct era in Shoshone life as nineteenth-century Plains Indians. Henry E. Stamm IV draws on extensive research , including primary documents, government records, and interviews with descendants of Shoshone leaders, to reconstruct the social, political, and economic transformations the tribe experienced. The book traces the Eastern Shoshones’ migration from the Great Basin to the High Plains of present-day Wyoming , the arrival of Arapahoes, and the shifting dynamics of ...

  The Students of Sherman Indian School: Education and Native Identity Since 1892 PDF DOWNLOAD Sherman Indian High School, as it is known today, began in 1892 as Perris Indian School on eighty acres south of Riverside, California, with nine students. Its mission, like that of other off-reservation Indian boarding schools, was to "civilize" Indian children, which meant stripping them of their Native culture and giving them vocational training. Today, the school on Magnolia Avenue in Riverside serves 350 students from 68 tribes, and its curricula are designed to both preserve Native languages and traditions and prepare students for life and work in mainstream American society. This book offers the first full history of Sherman Indian School’s 100-plus years, a history that reflects federal Indian education policy since the late nineteenth century. Sherman Institute's historical trajectory features the abuse and exploitation familiar from other accounts of life at Indian boa...

  Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928 Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928 argues that the final phase of the so-called “Indian Wars” was waged not on battlefields but in the dormitories and classrooms of federal boarding schools. Policymakers believed that by removing Native children from their families for extended periods, Indigenous cultures could be erased and replaced with white American norms—an ideology chillingly summarized in the dictum, “Kill the Indian and save the man.” Moving beyond a conventional study of federal Indian policy, David Wallace Adams offers a vivid and deeply researched account of daily life within these boarding schools as “total institutions” designed to reconstruct Native children psychologically, culturally, and socially. The assault on Indigenous identity took many forms: the cutting of hair, the imposition of English names, military-style dis...