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As If the Land Owned Us
An Ethnohistory of the White Mesa Utes
Robert McPherson (Author)
9781607811459
Paperback / softback, published 15 September 2011
448 pages, 100 photographs, 7 maps
27.9 x 20.3 x 2.5 cm, 0.971 kg
“McPherson’s ethnohistory of the White Mesa Ute people is exceptional. It is story and document, combining indigenous voices with non-Native accounts into a superbly crafted whole. It serves as a worthy model for any history—regional, ethnic, or otherwise—well fulfilling the author’s aim to provide a ‘bridge to contemporary generations’ for a long forgotten people, their places, and times.”—Catherine S. Fowler, University of Nevada, Reno
The Ute people of White Mesa have a long, colorful, but neglected history in the Four Corners region. Although they ranged into the Great Basin, Southwest, and parts of the Rocky Mountains as hunters, gatherers, and warriors, southeastern Utah was home. There they adapted culturally and physically to the austere environment while participating in many of the well-known events of their times. In As If the Land Owned Us, Robert McPherson has gathered the wisdom of White Mesa elders as they imparted knowledge about their land - place names, uses, teachings, and historic events tied to specific sites - providing a fresh insight into the lives of these little-known people. While there have been few published studies about the Southern Utes, this ethnohistory is the first to mix cultural and historic events. The book illustrates the life and times of the White Mesa Utes as they faced multiple changes to their lifeways. It is time for their history to be told in their terms.
List of Maps Introduction 1. White Mesa Ute Origins and PuwÁ-v: Creating the World, Empowering the Universe 2. “It Was as If the Land Owned Us”: Ties to the Land, Resources for the People 3. Daily Life in an Austere Environment: Weenuche Beliefs and Life Cycle, 1880s 4. The Invasion Begins: Hispanic Entradas, American Trade, and the Mormon Mission, 1600–1855 5. “Enemies Like a Road Covered with Ice”: Expanding Weenuche Dominance, 1855–1870 6. Decade of Decision, 1870–1880: Losing Land, Gaining Restrictions 7. Stemming the Flood, 1880–1882: Miners, Cowboys, and Settlers 8. Winning the Battles, Losing the War: Military Operations and Cowboy Incursions, 1882–1885 9. Agony with Little Ecstasy: Hunting, Travel, and Subsistence Curtailment, 1885–1895 10. The Replevied Present: San Juan County, the Southern Utes, and What Might Have Been, 1895–1900 11. “Only Bullets Talk Now”: Turmoil and Dissent in a Shrinking World, 1900–1915 12. Posey and the Last White Uprising: Ending the Cycle of Violence, 1915–1923 13. Avikan: Remembering the Homeland, 1923–1941 14. Education, Economics, and Integration: Establishing the White Mesa Community, 1923–1960 15. People and Perception: Neighbors’ Views Across a Chasm, 1860–1960 16. Circles, Trees, and Bears: Empowering the Weenuche Universe 17. Adoption, Adaptation, and Abandonment: Changing Weenuche Religious Practices, 1900–2010 18. Ironic Industries and Traditional Ties: Shifting Fortunes of the White Mesa Utes, 1950–2010 Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index