Native Americans still live in the Southwest United States today, growing crops like corn, squash, and beans and eating foods like fry bread. They also hunt small game. Many tribes live on reservations, which govern themselves but often face poverty and health issues. The Ute Mountain Reservation in Colorado, where Molly Eaton lived for a summer, operates a casino and holds tribal lands with cliff dwelling ruins. Molly helped in the reservation's justice office and witnessed cultural traditions like the Bear Dance festival.

1. Native Americans of the
Southwest United States
By Brenna Eaton
for
CEIP Ria de Vigo

2. Where is the Southwest?

3. The weather is hot and very dry.

4. Food
►Despite this, they still grow some crops and
are farmers.
►They depend heavily on
corn, squash, beans and many seeds, such
as sunflower seeds. They also have pine
nuts and peanuts.
►Some people tend sheep.
►They may eat other small animals like
chicken or rabbit.

5. Fry bread is also common.

6. In Colorado, I eat fry bread tacos
with buffalo meat, but this is not
considered “the norm.”
Fry bread taco
from a restaurant
called Tocabe.

7. Tribes in the SW
►Some well known tribes in the southwestern
United States are:
 Apache, Comanche, Havasupai, Hopi, Jemez, Ki
owa, Kiowa
Apache, Lipan, Maricopa, Mohave, Navaho, Paiu
te, Papago, Pecos, Pima, Pueblo, Shoshoni, Tew
a Pueblos, Ute, Walapai, Yavapai, Yuma and
Zuni
They each have many interesting
styles of art.

8. Basket Weaving

9. Woven fabric

10. Pottery

11. Kachina Dolls

13. Native Americans in the Southwest
used to live in cliff dwellings.

14. There are famous cliff dwelling ruins
in Colorado called Mesa Verde.

15. Now, most Native Americans in the
United States live on “reservations.”
►Reservations govern themselves. Their laws
might be different from the laws in the
surrounding area.
►Frequently, reservations are very poor areas
and they might have many problems.
►Many tribes were removed from their
homeland by the United States government
and given land in other areas.

16. My sister, Molly, lived on an Indian
reservation last summer.

17. She has shared some wonderful
pictures and stories with us and I
would like to show them to you.

18. Molly’s Presentation

19. Ute Mountain Field School 2012
Sleeping Ute Mountain

20. There are three Ute Indian tribes. The
Northern Ute, the Southern Ute, and Ute
Mountain. I was on the Ute Mountain Ute
Indian Reservation which is in the Southwest
corner of Colorado. The reservation operates
a casino and holds tribal parks lands which
have Indian ruins. This is the seal of Ute
Mountain.

21. Towaoc (pronounced Toy-awk)
The town on the reservation consists of a
recreation center, government offices, a post
office, school, a church, and some houses.
People live in Towoac but some live outside
of the town, spread out around the
reservation. For most amenities, such as
grocery stores, the people of Towaoc have to
visit the closest city, Cortez. The children
also attend school in Cortez.

22. I worked in the BIA or the Bureau of Indian Affairs which is the building pictured here.
The BIA provides service to all the Indian tribes in the United States. I worked with the
justice branch that deals with minor law infractions. I attended court and did some filing
for the office.

23. Stella Eyetoo, an elder of the tribe. We knew the
picture was a special occasion for her because she
got out her shawl.
Some of the summer school
children on a field trip to the
pottery workshop.

24. An archery competition
The children on a field trip to
the farm fields.

25. The Bear Dance festival is a
celebration and dance that welcomes
summer. While no pictures are
permitted at the dance, we were allowed
to participate. The boys cooked for the
feast while the girls made frybread.
Shoulders, toes, and legs had to be
covered as the culture is more modest.
Dresses and shawls were required to
dance.

26. Frybread is a traditional bread where the dough is placed in a cast iron frying pan and
a block of lard is melted. The dough is laid in the pan and cooked over a fire. It is a
females job and considered bad for males to make.

27. Only certain tribe members are
allowed to participate in the
Sundance festival and it was an
honor that we were allowed to help
cook and serve the feast. The women
make the frybread and the men cook
the food.

28. A tribe member is required to visit the ruins on the reservation.
While many tribe members were grateful for us to be helping out, not all of the tribe
members welcomed us. Many feel resentment towards non-Indians because of their
treatment. While in town, it was not uncommon for tribe members to ignore us or avoid us.
Most reservations are poor and do not have good resources for education, health, or food. A
main money maker for many reservations are casinos. Indian populations have a higher risk
of multiple health problems such as obesity and diabetes.
Gender roles are very defined. Men have certain jobs, women have certain jobs and the two
do not mix.

29. Photos courtesy of Eric Clute, Phillip Haberman, Elisabeth
Haas, Breton McKenzie, Kaitlin Lavender, and Molly Eaton

30. Thank you, Molly!

31. Molly lived in the very Southwest
corner of Colorado near a town
called Cortez.


32. Molly’s camp

33. They lived in tents all summer!

34. Camp circle

35. This is the “cook tent.”

36. “Mesa Verde is the closest public
ruins to where we were. About a half
hour away. Chaco Canyon and
Hovenweep are not nearly as close
but not horribly far, about 2 to 3
hours away each.”

37. Mesa Verde

38. Ranger at Mesa Verde

39. Chaco Canyon

41. Hovenweep

43. Do you have any questions for
Molly?