American Indians

BRIEF HISTORY OF UTAH Ron Rood and Linda Thatcher Utah’s thousands of years of prehistory and its centuries of known recorded history are so distinctive and complex that a summary can only hint at the state’s rich heritage. The synopsis offered here follows major themes in Utah history and includes some of the significant dates, events, and individuals. At historic …

Native Americans in Post War Utah

Thomas G. Alexander Utah, The Right Place One of the most thorny issues in postwar Utah arose from the abuse of Utah’s Native Americans. The 1950 census shows a population of 4,200 Indians in Utah, up from 2,000 in 1900. Nevertheless, the Utes, who had occupied the largest portion of Utah’s lands, had lost large blocks of preservation land. On …

Native Americans in Utah

David Rich Lewis Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Long before Euro-Americans entered the Great Basin, substantial numbers of people lived within the present boundaries of Utah. Archaeological reconstructions suggest human habitation stretching back some 12,000 years. The earliest known inhabitants were members of what has been termed the Desert Archaic Culture—nomadic hunter-gatherers with developed basketry, flaked-stem stone tools, and implements of …

Native American and European Relations

Thomas G. Alexander Utah, The Right Place As the Saints colonized and implanted the region with Euro-American social and cultural traditions, they also clashed with the region’s previous residents. The Mormons had not moved to a desert island, and even on their first beachheads in Salt Lake, Davis, and Weber Counties, they ran into Numics who resented their invasion. In …

Navajo Indians

Robert S. McPherson Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The Navajo Indians in Utah reside on a reservation of more than 1,155,000 acres in the southeastern corner of the state. According to the 1990 census, more than half of the population of San Juan County is comprised of Navajo people, the majority of whom live south of the San Juan River. Scholars …

Goshute Indians

Dennis R. Defa Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The Goshute Indians are part of the larger Shoshonean-speaking Native American groups that live in the Intermountain West. Although no one knows how long the Goshutes had occupied the area where they lived when first contacted by Europeans, a date of 1,000 years ago is most probable as the time when Shoshonean speakers …

A History of Utah’s American Indians, Preface

  A History of Utah’s American Indians, © 2000 Preface, pp. v-viii Allan Kent Powell The commemorations of the Utah Statehood Centennial in 1996 and the Sesquicentennial of Utah Settlement in 1997 were cause for reflection not only on these milestones in Utah’s history but also for a reexamination of the people, events, and movements that constitute Utah history. To …

A History of Utah’s American Indians, Conclusion

A History of Utah’s American Indians, © 2000 “Conclusion: The Contemporary Status of Utah Indians,” pp. 315–40 Robert S. McPherson The preceding tribal histories have brought the reader through the period of termination to more contemporary times. But what direction has Indian affairs taken over the past decade or so, and what does the future promise? Significant adjustments have been …

A History of Utah’s American Indians, Chapter 7

A History of Utah’s American Indians, © 2000 “The Navajos of Utah,” pp. 264–314 Nancy C. Maryboy and David Begay Introduction Navajos have been living in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest for hundreds of years. The land of the Navajo includes areas of southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico. Navajo people traditionally and historically refer …

A History of Utah’s American Indians, Chapter 5

A History of Utah’s American Indians, © 2000 “The Northern Utes of Utah,” pp.167–224 Clifford Duncan Creation and Migration Stories of the Utes The story of Sinauf, the god who was half man, half wolf, and his brothers Coyote and Wolf has been told many times in tipis and wickiups. According to Ute legend, these powerful animal-people kept the world …