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Show ( 1972: 182) mentioned the use of a stuffed eagle on the center pole. In addition, both Smith ( 1974a: 182- 6) and Jorgensen ( 1972: 186- 7) indicated that the men wore ermine skins in the hair or dangled around their necks. The location of the eagles and hawks from which feathers, down, and bone are collected was not mentioned, but it is known that there is a good golden eagle habitat north of Neola towards the Uinta River ( Appendix B. 5.5). Also, it is not known from what specific local source the ermine or weasel furs come, although again the Uinta River especially as it flows through its canyon is a good riparian habitat for this animal ( Appendix B. 3.8). Fire was also important to the Sun Dance. Jones ( 1955: 248) indicated that it was to keep the drum dry. Jorgensen ( 1972: 184, 189- 190) mentioned the sacred fire, made from juniper/ cedar wood and used on the second morning to " purify" the dancers. The ashes from the first days fire are used to create a representation of the moon and the sun for the sunrise ceremony. The ashes from these fires are carefully buried. One of the consultants ( 4.2), however, mentioned the use of cottonwood as kindling in ceremonial fires. This consultant also mentioned that the dancers kept a leather bag containing cedar needles and stems which were thrown on the fire to purify the dancer on returning to the corral. Gifts for visitors to the Sun Dance were piled on a buckskin or sheet placed over the ground where the sacred fire had burned each night ( Jorgensen 1972: 192). Needless to say, the current Sun Dance ground east of Neola at Hayden is considered sacred by the Utes ( Wardle, Jenks, Cuch, Oral History Interviews, American West Center, 1969; Jones 1955: 242). But the areas where old Sun Dances took place are also considered hallowed ground. One of these places is located on the red- table buttes between Farm Creek Road and the road from the town of Whiterocks to Uinta Canyon ( 4.2; Chapoose Oral History Interview, American West Center, 1967 No. 4; Jones 1955: 242). It was held in this more isolated location to keep from the attention of BIA officials who were enforcing a federal law prohibiting its practice ( Liberty 1980: 165). In 1895, a White River man had been shot in a sham battle held before the Sun Dance and the Utes were especially fearful that officials would prevent them from holding the dance ( Jones 1955: 242). This site was abandoned eventually because it got rained out several years in a row ( 4.4). Another of old Sun Dance grounds was reported to have been located on John Starr Flat ( 3.1). The vital importance of the Sun Dance in the lives of the Utes requires that special considerations be taken before any further water development is planned in the Uinta Canyon and its high bench drainage system. At the very minimum, the Sun Dance chiefs and other elders involved in this ceremony need to be consulted and their consent given before any part of this area is disturbed. Failure to do so might have serious and possibly even negative consequences for the future of any water 107 |
