Season 6 // Episode 1: Spring
/Canyon Bottoms in Spring
In season 6, we're going to be talking about... the seasons. We'll be exploring the landscape of this special place as it transforms throughout the year. From how the plants, animals, and weather change, to how the lives of ancestral people would have shifted alongside these changes in the natural world.
And we're going to be rooting each season to a specific landform that can be found as part of the landscape at Mesa Verde. Those landforms are the mesa tops in Summer, the cliffside alcoves in Fall, and the canyon bottoms in Spring.
“ We’ve been here forever... The area that we lived in, camped in, was along our migration route because the Ute people are primarily mountain people, hunting and gathering within the mountains.”
The Ancestral Pueblo people would have been busy preparing for the upcoming growing season, but not all people with sacred connections to Mesa Verde were farmers. We'll be hearing from folks from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Hopi, Zuni, Picuris, Ohkay Owingeh, and Acoma Pueblos about how their ancestors experienced this place through the year, and how these traditions are carried on today.
In this episode, we’ll hear from Satchel Martin (Hopi), Indigenous Ranger Intern at Mesa Verde National Park, as he paints a picture of the canyon bottoms coming to life during springtime. And Terry Knight (Ute Mountain Ute Tribe), Tribal Historical Preservation Officer, will tell us about the Ute Mountain Ute people and their special relationship to this season.
photo: kayla woodward
Additional Resources
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
To learn more about the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, including information about tourism and seasonal events such as the Bear Dance, visit the tribe’s website.
Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park
Located just south of the Mesa Verde National Park boundary, Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park protects cliff dwellings such as Casa Colorado and Porcupine House. Visit the tribal park website for more information about visitation and booking tours.
IMPORTANT: You must have a Ute guide to enter the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park, and all groups must remain with the guide at all times. No dogs or professional photography are permitted.
Episode Sources
“Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park is a ‘living history’ of the Ancestral Puebloan, Ute, and Hopi peoples” by Chris Clements. KSJD. 16 Dec 2023.
“Ute Mountain Tribal Park” by David Roberts. National Geographic Traveler. April 2011.
Mesa Verde Administrative History. Chapter XIII. Land Program.
Mesa Verde Administrative History. Chapter I. Deficiencies of the Park Bill.
Mesa Verde National Park Species List Accessed Sept. 2024.
Mesa Verde Weather Data Accessed Sept. 2024.
“Ute History and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe” by James M. Potter. Colorado Encyclopedia. Accessed Sept. 2024.
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Website. Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. https://www.utemountainutetribe.com/index.html. Accessed Sept. 2024.
“Northern Ute People (Uintah and Ouray Reservation)” by Sheila Goff. Colorado Encyclopedia. Accessed Sept. 2024.
“Mesa Verde National Park: Shadows of the Centuries” by Duane A. Smith. University Press of Colorado. 06 October 2004.
“We Are Nuchu” video. Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
“Ute Mountain Ute Bear Dance 2023” video. Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
“Kicking up dust at the Ute Mountain Ute Bear Dance” by Divine Windy Boy. The Southern Ute Drum. 14 June 2024.
“History of the Bear Dance” by Damon Toledo. The Southern Ute Drum. 17 Apr 2015.
“Stories in stone: Guide Rickey Hayes interprets the past at Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park” by Andrew Gulliford. The Journal. 14 May 2022.
Southern Ute Indian Tribe History. Accessed Sept 2024.