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Native Americans of the Southwest United

States

By Brenna Eatonfor

CEIP Ria de Vigo

Where is the Southwest?

The weather is hot and very dry.

Food

►Despite this, they still grow some crops and are farmers.

►They depend heavily on corn, squash, beans and many seeds, such as sunflower seeds. They also have pine nuts and peanuts.

►Some people tend sheep. ►They may eat other small animals like

chicken or rabbit.

Fry bread is also common.

In Colorado, I eat fry bread tacos with buffalo meat, but this

is not considered “the norm.”

Fry bread taco from a restaurant called Tocabe.

Tribes in the SW

►Some well known tribes in the southwestern United States are: Apache, Comanche, Havasupai, Hopi,

Jemez, Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Lipan, Maricopa, Mohave, Navaho, Paiute, Papago, Pecos, Pima, Pueblo, Shoshoni, Tewa Pueblos, Ute, Walapai, Yavapai, Yuma and Zuni

They each have many interesting styles of art.

Basket Weaving

Woven fabric

Pottery

Kachina Dolls

Native Americans in the Southwest used to live in cliff

dwellings.

There are famous cliff dwelling ruins in Colorado called Mesa

Verde.

Now, most Native Americans in the United States live on

“reservations.”►Reservations govern themselves. Their

laws might be different from the laws in the surrounding area.

►Frequently, reservations are very poor areas and they might have many problems.

►Many tribes were removed from their homeland by the United States government and given land in other areas.

My sister, Molly, lived on an Indian reservation last summer.

She has shared some wonderful pictures and stories with us and I would like to show them to you.

Molly’s Presentation

Ute Mountain Field School 2012

Sleeping Ute Mountain

There are three Ute Indian tribes. The Northern Ute, the Southern Ute, and Ute Mountain. I was on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation which is in the Southwest corner of Colorado. The reservation operates a casino and holds tribal parks lands which have Indian ruins. This is the seal of Ute Mountain.

Towaoc (pronounced Toy-awk)

The town on the reservation consists of a recreation center, government offices, a post office, school, a church, and some houses. People live in Towoac but some live outside of the town, spread out around the reservation. For most amenities, such as grocery stores, the people of Towaoc have to visit the closest city, Cortez. The children also attend school in Cortez.

I worked in the BIA or the Bureau of Indian Affairs which is the building pictured here. The BIA provides service to all the Indian tribes in the United States. I worked with the justice branch that deals with minor law infractions. I attended court and did some filing for the office.

Stella Eyetoo, an elder of the tribe. We knew the picture was a special occasion for her because she got out her shawl.

Some of the summer school children on a field trip to the pottery workshop.

An archery competition

The children on a field trip to the farm fields.

The Bear Dance festival is a celebration and dance that welcomes summer. While no pictures are permitted at the dance, we were allowed to participate. The boys cooked for the feast while the girls made frybread. Shoulders, toes, and legs had to be covered as the culture is more modest. Dresses and shawls were required to dance.

Frybread is a traditional bread where the dough is placed in a cast iron frying pan and a block of lard is melted. The dough is laid in the pan and cooked over a fire. It is a females job and considered bad for males to make.

Only certain tribe members are allowed to participate in the Sundance festival and it was an honor that we were allowed to help cook and serve the feast. The women make the frybread and the men cook the food.

A tribe member is required to visit the ruins on the reservation.

While many tribe members were grateful for us to be helping out, not all of the tribe members welcomed us. Many feel resentment towards non-Indians because of their treatment. While in town, it was not uncommon for tribe members to ignore us or avoid us.

Most reservations are poor and do not have good resources for education, health, or food. A main money maker for many reservations are casinos. Indian populations have a higher risk of multiple health problems such as obesity and diabetes.

Gender roles are very defined. Men have certain jobs, women have certain jobs and the two do not mix.

Photos courtesy of Eric Clute, Phillip Haberman, Elisabeth Haas, Breton McKenzie, Kaitlin Lavender, and Molly Eaton

Thank you, Molly!

Molly lived in the very Southwest corner of Colorado near a town called Cortez.

Molly’s camp

They lived in tents all summer!

Camp circle

This is the “cook tent.”

“Mesa Verde is the closest public ruins to where we were. About a half hour away. Chaco

Canyon and Hovenweep are not nearly as close but not horribly

far, about 2 to 3 hours away each.”

Mesa Verde

Ranger at Mesa Verde

Chaco Canyon

Hovenweep

Do you have any questions for Molly?