A Ute Way of Being
Our group was incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to visit the Ute Tribe's most sacred place, (Sleeping) Ute Mountain, in August. The tour came together after months of meetings with the Council of Elders of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, submitting requests and forms, and making sure all visitors were aware of the protocols. The women donned colorful shawls and everyone piled into two vans for the journey.
We stopped near the entrance to the mountain where a large "No Trespassing" sign was posted. The mountain is off-limits to anyone who is not a member of a Ute tribe, unless they are under the guidance of a tribal member. We circled around and received instruction and a prayer. I realized that this would be an experience that would help me in my everyday life. Overhead, a golden eagle passed by.
Making our way up the mountain, we circled around the central area and headed for the Sun Dance grounds. Suddenly, the van ahead of us stopped by a small tree on the south side of the rough road. I looked out my window and saw the unmistakable shape of an eagle on the ground, unfurling its right wing. Instead of rising into the air, it hopped along the side of the road.
Then I saw our guide, Farley, hop out of the van and approach the eagle. He had a blanket in his arms and deftly gathered the eagle into it, wrapping it tightly and placing his hat over its head. He carried it, gently but firmly, to the chase car in back of the line of vehicles. The van buzzed with excitement. What had just happened? We were so impressed with Farley's calm approach to the obviously distressed and wounded eagle. We learned later that the eagle was taken to Wildlife Rescue, which the tribe operates, for treatment.
Our tour of the mountain continued with a visit to the Sun Dance grounds and around the "elbow" which is the 10,000-ft-plus peak of Ute Mountain. Here, youths test their survival skills by climbing to the top without food or water.
We then traveled to a viewing area on the northwest side of the mountain. We walked about 500 ft to view the Blue Mountains (Abajo) and Bears Ears to the northwest. While we were standing there, a strange creature hovered and then alighted on a woman's shoulder. An attendee stepped up and brushed it away. He explained that it was a tarantula hawk. It's not a tarantula, and not a hawk. It's more like a wasp. A very colorful thing, it preys on the large spiders and paralyzes them, carrying them away to its nest, where they serve as fresh food for the emerging tiny offspring. Nature, at its most primal.
As we were returning, we rounded a corner and saw, far to the south, the rock formation of Shiprock. Yes, Western visitors named it that, but Native Americans saw it as a bird taking flight. So fitting. Later, I learned that magnetic energy linked many of the sites, from Blue Mountain in the north, to Ute and Shiprock, to Chaco Canyon, and to Turtle Mountain in far southwest New Mexico in the south. More journeys call.
After the prayer in the beginning of the tour, I looked up in the sky and saw two smallish clouds, one in the shape of a "d" and the one next to it in the shape of an "o." I asked a friend to take a picture of it, but before she could, the shapes had changed and skidded away.
ReplyDelete