marichiko

Well, the thing is that it was a NAVAJO pow-wow, not a Ute one. A few members of the Ute tribe may have gone down to NM to participate, but it was not something that would draw tourists to the Ute reservation. I was on the Ute reservation quite unwillingly, along with all the other drivers who had been routed off the main road by the accident.

Just as an aside, I find it curious how the Navajo people versus the Utes have adjusted themselves to life with their lands over run by the white people. The Utes seem to have great difficulty retaining both their cultural idenity and their hope for a better tomorrow. The towns on the Ute reservation are run down and one is hit by the sense of despair and futility which seem to have taken permanent root there. Alcohol has hit the Utes very hard.

By contrast, the Navajo have retained their own language and spiritual traditions. In the 4 corners area there are at least two radio stations which broadcast in Navajo. One of them begins each broadcast day with a series of Navajo ceremonial songs. The Navajo are a very musical people and there are any number of Navajo groups who make recordings and sell CD's. I have never heard anyone speak in the Ute tongue and I know of no Ute musical groups, although I would think surely some must exist.

The Navajo have managed to make a pretty good business out of selling their traditional jewelry and rugs, especially, to the tourists. Navajo weaving is greatly prized. There was a rug auction at the pow wow and one of the rugs began with a bidding price of $3,000.00. It was absolutely beautiful and I wish I'd had the money to buy it. In 5 to 10 years its value will have easily doubled. The Navajo have several community colleges on their reservation. The Ute have none. While alcohol has impacted the Navajo people, it has taken nowhere near the toll it has on the Utes, and Navajo tribal authorities have instituted a major campaign to steer their young people away from alcohol use.

I used to teach at Fort Lewis College in Durango. Fort Lewis gives free tuition to any member of a Native American tribe. I can remember the lost look in the eyes of both the Navajo and Ute kids who came in each September as freshmen. But the Navajo kids were the ones who most often made it through the entire 4 years and got their diplomas. Many of the Ute teenagers I had in my classes dropped out after the first semester and I never saw them again. Maybe all this is why you will encounter a state trooper on the Ute res, but never on the Navajo one.