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Show Lifeways 9 The acquisition of the horse enabled the People to travel more widely in search of foods and to transport that food from longer distances. Thus, the People could gather in larger villages for longer periods of time. As groups grew larger, some leaders acquired more followers, although none had authority over all aspects of Ute life. They were considered leaders because people chose to follow them, not because they chose to govern.1 The Cycle of the Season The Ute People followed the cycle of the seasons. Each group traveled within a specific territory in search of food, returning to familiar hunting and gathering areas year after year. In general the pattern was one of moving to deserts and valleys during the winter and to mountains in the summer.2 The winter was probably the most difficult time for the Ute People. The mountains were packed with icy snow, forcing them to come to the lower elevations, leaving much of the fish and game until the return of spring. There were some smaller game such as squirrels and rabbits. These were caught and roasted, with nothing being wasted. The return of spring was eagerly awaited. It meant warm weather was ahead. No more huddling by the fire and trying to survive on dried meat and berries. The first edible plants were those along the streams in the low hills where the snow had first disappeared. These were cooked or eaten raw as "greens." In the streams were fish that came down from the snowy mountains. To catch them, groups of men working together built weirs of willow screens tied to cottonwood poles stuck in the river mud. The People could then scoop up the fish as they swam into the barricade. Fish were also caught from rafts made of grass by shooting them with barbed arrows. The fish were eaten fresh or split open and cut up, boned, dried on a frame, and stored in caches for fall and winter. This was the season when the young jackrabbits were especially good to eat. They provided many an Indian boy with experience and probably his first kill. |