Lifeways

The Ute are classified as part of the Great Basin Culture Area, with lifeways similar to their neighbors the PAIUTE and the SHOSHONE, all speaking dialects of the Uto-Aztecan language family (see GREAT BASIN INDIANS). Peoples of the huge cupped desert area between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada consisted of nomadic bands, the members of which dug for foods

Ute basket

Such as roots, seeds, rodents, lizards, and insects in this arid environment where little vegetation grew and where big game was scarce.

But the Ute, especially the bands to the east, can be thought of as mountain-dwellers as much as desert peoples. The forested slopes of the Rockies offered much more wildlife than the desert. And the rivers flowing westward from the Great Divide provided plentiful fish for food.

The typical shelter of the Ute was a cone-shaped pole framework covered with brush, reeds, and grasses. The Ute were loosely knit into small bands that sometimes spent the winter together or joined one another for communal rabbit drives. Arrow and spearhead makers held a special place of honor in their society, along with the band leaders and shamans.

The Ute, who had frequent contacts with the PUEBLO INDIANS in northern New Mexico, acquired horses from them in the late 1600s. Their homeland had enough pasture to graze horses. Henceforth, the Ute way of life became somewhat similar to the PLAINS INDIANS east of the Rocky Mountains. With increased mobility, they became wide-ranging raiders and traders. Yet they rarely hunted buffalo, and their new hide-covered tipis remained small, like their earlier brush shelters. They painted these lodges with bright colors.