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Show Smith 1974a: 153). Similarly taking or keeping any movable properties of the dead is believed to bring harm, and this is why the Utes and other native peoples of the Great Basin broke, burned, and/ or buried the personal belongings of the deceased at the grave ( Garner and Hawley 1950: 326; Wood 1950: 354; Hultkrantz 1986: 632, 636). Ethnographic and historic sources report that the corpse was dressed in its best clothing, wrapped in buckskin and buried within a day of death ( Nickens 1984: 96- 98; Pettit 1990: 74). As mentioned before, all personal possessions were destroyed, sometimes in a special cedar tree. In the past, either all or just the favorite horses and dogs of the deceased were killed at the gravesite ( Lowie 1924: 281; Stewart 1942: 313; Smith 1974a: 150- l; Nickens 1983: 95- 100; Pettit 1990: 74; Chapoose Oral History 1960 No. 4). The burial practices of historic Ute populations appear to have varied considerably by location and band. Cremation was known to the Pahvants, Moanunts, White River, and Weeminuche Utes and among those living with Apache and Pueblo groups ( Stewart 1942: 312- 313; Nickens, 1984: 102). Much more widespread among the Utes, and the conventional practice in the Uinta Basin until modern times, was burial in rock crevices ( Smith 1974: 150- 151; Nickens 1984: 95, 103), especially along the sides of cliffs that overlook open vistas ( 4.2). Although one general source ( Pettit 1990: 37) denies that scaffold burials were used by the Utes, one of the consultants indicated there had been burial platforms along the Whiterocks River which were destroyed when the BIA was refurbishing the river bank a few decades back ( 3.1). The locations of burial areas were reported by Ute consultants with the expectation that this information would be respected and used only to protect and prevent their disturbance, and that the information not be used for any purpose other than this technical report Conforming to practices widely reported in the ethnographic literature there are three locations on the reservation where important burial sites exist in rock crevices, along the edges of cliffs, or bluffs with open vistas. The first includes most of the cliff line on the eastern most end of Merkley flats from the drop- off of the canal to a point probably three miles to the north. This is a White River burial grounds that has been used for many generations, with the most recent grave dug in 1984. It's presence has been reported elsewhere ( Chapoose Oral History Interview, 1960 No. 6), and its existence is noted by Ute consultants ( 3.1; 4.2; 5.1) The second is not an area that is under any proposed impact, at least directly, but it is in the general environs of the Uinta River's planned reservoir. The reservoir site might be interpreted by some Utes as compromising the spiritual character of nearby grave sites which are located on the red- tabled buttes northwest of the town of Whiterocks 101 |
