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Show presence is indescribable except as a " feeling" or " knowing" one has when being in a place that is special in a spiritual way ( 4.4). Knowledge of some of these places is socially shared and widely known, but in others it is restricted to certain individuals and families. Most of these spots are not associated with visible identifying markers or regular ceremonial activity. When people visit, travel through and/ or use such places, there may be nothing to draw attention to their prior passage because they seldom leave any visible remains. The offerings of food and tobacco left at the site are perishable, and the petitions of prayer and song do not extend beyond the transitory moment of the visitor's voice ( 1.2; 4.2; Stewart 1942: 318; Fowler 1986: 95- 97; Hultkranz 1986: 632- 636). Indeed, some of the most significant spiritual places may hardly be utilized at all or may even be avoided. The sites are left alone not because they have been abandoned or ignored but because these are places to which people are drawn only for very specific reasons or because they have been summoned there in a spiritual way. These places are not commonly patronized precisely because they are so spiritually powerful. Indeed, many sites may be scrupulously avoided and left alone out of a sense of respect for the spiritual character of the place ( 4.2). These are places where people should be respectful and take special care in how they have behave ( 1.2; 2.1; 3.1; 4.2). In general, it could be argued from interviews with consultants and from supporting material in the ethnographic literature that any location marked for special consideration because it has spiritual value needs to be avoided. The recent filling station controversy is an illustration of the sensitivities surrounding spiritual places, and the building of the water tank and pipeline in Whiterocks where graves were located is another ( 1.2; 3.1). If any development is made at or near such sites, it should take place only with great care and extreme circumspection, to avoid disturbing their spiritual presence and importance. Even where development does not touch a spiritual site directly but impacts the environs around it, other alternatives may need to be considered. The pursuit of any development at or near areas of spiritual significance must be planned and executed carefully under the direction of Ute persons knowledgeable about the locales and their religious use ( 1.2; 3.1; 4.1; 4.2). A. 4 Other Concerns Many areas seem to evoke no special concern because they have no known spiritual significance, particular natural resource value or social historical importance that could be intruded upon. Where canals and reservoirs already exist, these generally present few problems. And even where new developments might take place near these sites, it is not seen as especially problematic if the disturbances do not intrude upon spiritual, |
