Native American Ute women wearing buckskin costumes with shawls invite United States soldiers to perform the Bear Dance, Uintah Valley Reservation, Utah. Two white women invite Ute men to dance. The dance leader maintains order with a whip.
The 1954 Ute Partition and Termination Act ended federal recognition of the mixed-blood Uinta of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, removing them from the Ute Indian Tribe. Classified as being of mixed ancestry, they lost trust land protections, federal benefits, and tribal status. Like many Native communities subjected to termination policies, they faced devastating consequences, including the loss of land, resources, and traditional ways of life.