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Show symbolism of the Sun Dance. This area is the preferred source for the Sun Dance's center pole, for willow, cottonwood, aspen, and pine saplings used in various rituals ( 1.2; 4.1; 4.2), for the clay paint of the dancers ( 1.2), for various medicines ( 1.2; 3.1; 4.1; 4.2), and the wood of the ceremonial fire. Indeed, it can be argued that the entire area between Big Springs and the Sun Dance grounds constitutes a spiritual corridor where elements necessary to the sacredness of the Sun Dance are found and where the tasks that accomplish this take place. For this reason, much, if not all, of the area along the river between Big Springs and the Sun Dance grounds, might well be considered a protected zone. The center pole comes from the cottonwood tree ( 4.2; Jones 1955: 245), known widely in the Great Basin and Plains as a tree with mystical and medicinal properties ( Appendix A. 2.2). Aspen and cottonwood saplings ( Jorgensen 1972: 182, 268; Smith 1974a: 177, 180, 182, 190, 195) are used in the Sun Dance for the Sun Dance corral, as shades for the dancers, and in various rituals. One consultant described how women collect cottonwood saplings before the sun rises, wrap them in cloth, and bring them to the Sun dancers on the second day. The spirit of nature is able to feed moisture to the dancer through the leaves ( 4.2). These saplings are gathered primarily from Uinta Canyon along the course of the river ( 1.2; 4.2) but also along drainage canals between Neola and Whiterocks ( 1.1). Trees for the Sun Dance shelters are also sometimes obtained along the Cedarview Canal ( 1.2). The Sun Dance ritual requires that the young people get their boughs from young pine trees ( Jorgensen 1972: 182,205) which are about ten years old, two boughs for each dancer. These are also used to make stalls. They are collected along the Uinta River, immediately south of the proposed reservoir, an area which should not be disturbed ( 4.1). Willows, also heavily used in the Sun Dance ceremony ( Stewart 1942: 359; Smith 1974a: 176, 181, 188, 190, 195; Jorgensen 1972: 177, 179, 180, 182, 192, 201, 209), are considered a channeler of power and the quintessential representation of life itself ( Jorgensen 1972: 184, 209, 268). Willows are placed in the crotch of the Sun Dance pole, " representing a nest of water," and given to dancers and women singers to attract power to the dancers ( Jorgensen 1972: 181- 4, 267- 8). These are found principally along the course of the Uinta River and its drainage system but some of the red willows come from a choice area along the Whiterocks River ( 1.2; 4.2). Besides the trunks, limbs, and branches of trees, many other plants are utilized in the Sun Dance. The majority of these are collected fresh from the preferred Uinta drainage area. These include bear root, tule, peppermint, cattails, sweet grass, sweet sage, and possibly water cress. Bear root ( Called " kwia tu kanup" or " kwi kinupta"), found in Uinta 105 |