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Show 2. The Capote band inhabited the San Luis Valley in Colorado near the headwaters of the Rio Grande and in New Mexico especially around the region where the towns of Chama and Tierra Amarilla are now located. 3. The Weeminuche occupied the valley of the San Juan River and its northern tributaries in Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. 4. The Tabeguache (also called Uncompahgre) lived in the valleys of the Gunnison and Uncompahgre Rivers in Colorado. 5. The Grand River Utes (also called Parianuc) lived along that river in Colorado and Utah. 6. The Yampa band inhabited the Yampa River Valley and adjacent land. 7. The Uintah Utes inhabited the Uintah Basin, especially the western portion. Of the bands mentioned above, the first two (Mouache and Capote) make up the present day Southern Utes with headquarters at Ignacio, Colorado. The Weeminuches are now called the Ute Mountain Utes with headquarters at Towaoc, Colorado. The last four mentioned (Tabeguache, Grand, Yampa, and Uintah) now comprise the Northern Utes on the Uintah-Ouray Reservation with headquarters at the town of Fort Duchesne, Utah. A long time ago, these seven groups of Utes were broken up into small family units for a large portion of each year. It was necessary to do this because food was scarce and it took a large area in the mountains to support a small number of people. Each family unit had to have a great deal of room since food-gathering couldn't be done so well in large groups. From early spring until late in the fall, these family units of Utes would hunt for deer, elk, antelope, and other animals; they would gather seeds of grasses, wild berries and fruits; occasionally they would plant corn, beans, and squash in mountain meadows and harvest them in the autumn. At that time, they did not have horses which would have made the hunting easier, nor did they have any tools except those made of stone. Each family unit used to follow a regular circuit during most of the year, going to places where they knew they could gather food for the winter. vm |