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Show The Ute People 3 The Ute People lived in uncertainty. In the Ute camps and on journeys from place to place, the People knew there were evil forces which caused sickness, accidents, bad weather, and other things harmful to their bodies and minds. In order to have protection from evil influences, they knew they needed to communicate with spiritual powers. Likewise, they had to rely on the natural powers which they knew could be found in the sun, moon, stars, earth, water, plants, and animals. Thus, central to the religion of the Ute People was "Power." The person possessing special Power was a. Poowagudt or shaman. Other persons sought through the Poowagudt the Power of the supernatural to help them gain good health, courage, ability in the hunt, and defense of the group. The wisdom and knowledge to obtain certain Powers might come to a person in his dreams. Some Powers were obtained from physical and mental hardship. Therefore, these Powers could not be given in their homes. They had to make a long solitary journey in order to find the given Power. Some of the Poowagudt received their good medicine or Power to help those people that were in need of curing and healing of their sickness. Now we call it blessing or faith healing. The religion of the Ute People was highly individualistic. Group rituals were not common. But those few group ceremonies which did exist were also ways of communicating with spiritual powers. One of the important ceremonies was known as the Bear Dance. This ceremony originated with the Ute People probably before 1850. The People have a variety of stories about the origin of the Bear Dance, but they all center around a young hunter who met a bear just coming from hibernation. The bear told him never to hunt bears, and that if he would do the Bear Dance as the bear described, the Ute People would always be successful hunters. The Bear Dance was not performed according to a rigid set of rules. It lasted from four to ten days, with couples dancing in a large (150') arena. The dance was woman's choice. The couples would dance back and forth, three steps forward, two steps back, until exhausted. The Bear Dance continues to be performed even today. However, the focus of the ceremony has changed from hope for good hunting to concern for the well-being of the People. |
