The Lost City Museum

The Lost City Museum, formerly known as the Boulder Dam Park Museum was built by the National Park Service in 1935. It was built to exhibit artifacts from the Pueblo Grande de Nevada.

The Pueblo building in the photograph has been lovingly preserved, and provides a glimpse into the lives of the ancient people of Nevada. Inside the museum, there are wonderful artifacts collected from the area including tools, weapons, baskets and pottery. Nobody knows for sure why the Anasazi moved away from the area. Had they exhausted the nutrients from the earth, and found their harvests were of poor quality? Perhaps they had followed the herds of deer, and other animals and found a more desirable place to settle. Who knows, it’s still a mystery to this day. What I found fascinating was the fact that the original builder’s fingerprints are still embedded in the clay of this pueblo - quite amazing. 

For more information go to: www.nevadaculture.org

Flashing!

It’s common practice in Europe to flash one’s headlights to “communicate” with other drivers. For instance, when a driver is joining a freeway, a single flash of the headlights tells that driver that you are aware of him, and will modify your speed to allow access to the freeway. Likewise, when there’s confusion at a four way stop or other intersection, if one person flashes their lights that gives the other party the okay to go ahead.

Over the years, I’ve watched truck drivers give others the courtesy of a flash of their lights to pull in, move ahead, etc. In Europe, they take it one step further wherein if a driver flashes his lights to tell another to pull ahead, the driver gives one flash of his turn signal in thanks – it’s a nice touch…but I’m reticent to ever flash my lights in The US under any circumstances for fear of upsetting or confusing other drivers.

Petroglyphs in Nevada

These authentic petroglyphs were moved to the Lost City (Nevada) museum from a nearby canyon many years ago. At that time, they were painted to better define the images. Nowadays, archaeologists record and photograph the images where they are found, and are moved only if they are in danger of being destroyed. Petroglyphs should never be rubbed, etched, chalked or painted to ‘enhance’ the original image. Petroglyph images are sacred to many Native American Indians, and have special meaning as to the location, placement and surroundings.

The Spud!

The Spud, as it’s affectionately called in England, follows closely in importance to the worldwide production of rice, corn, sugar cane, and wheat.  It’s a versatile vegetable containing many of the important nutrients needed for a well-balanced diet. Indeed, it was the primary source of food for Irish families, who perished by the millions after the potato blight of 1845-52. It was a blow, some believe, from which the Irish have never recovered.

Many of us, having found a wayward potato at the back of the pantry, know they can sprout eyes, arms and legs. This is generally referred in layman’s speech as, “Going to Seed.”  They also produce a beautiful little five lobed purple flower. Evidently, the flower became a favorite of the French aristocracy. The women wore the tiny flowers in their hair to enhance their beauty, and the men wore them in their buttonhole.

The Ute Mountain Tribe

On a recent trip to southwestern Colorado, we decided to visit the Ute Mountain Reservation. There we were treated to delicious bread, cooked before our eyes, then drenched in local honey and cinnamon. There is a little shop nearby where the members of the tribe sell their beautiful earthenware pots, books on the history of Native Americans, and homemade rugs and much, much more.

Following is a brief description of the Ute Nation taken from their web site.

The bands within the Ute Nation divided and today the homelands for the Weeminuche, or Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, total about 597,000 acres in southwestern Colorado, southeastern Utah, and northern New Mexico. The White Mesa community of the Tribe lives in Utah, where most of the housing is on tribal lands. The majorities of lands there are allotted to tribal members and are laid out in a checkerboard design.

The tribal lands are on what's known as the Colorado Plateau, a high desert area with deep canyons carved through the mesas. This is a harsh land and there are no cities to provide services for the tribe. So the tribe must be self-sufficient by looking for other means of implementing progress and creating successful enterprises to serve the needs of the tribal members as well as create a healthy economy in which to live. The natural resources of the land provide the tribe income. These resources include oil and gas, grazing land for herds of tribal members, and land and water for the new Farm & Ranch project south of the Sleeping Ute Mountain.

After over 100 years of no water, the Colorado Ute Water Settlement Act of 1988 brought an end to years of legal battles for the tribe's water rights. Under that agreement, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe brought the first piped drinking water to the reservation and irrigation water the Farm & Ranch project. This project was mandated within the Dolores Project (McPhee Dam).

Today the tribe employs over 900 people in its enterprises and departmental programs. These employees include tribal members, other Native Americans, and Anglos, thus making the tribe the second largest employer in the Four Corners area.

The per capita enrollment for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is 1,968, as of January, 1999. The majority of the members live on the reservation in Towaoc with a smaller in the White Mesa community. The tribal census shows the largest part of the membership is in the twenties and younger age group.

Because the Ute tribe is so young, the members must be ready to take up the reins of leadership for the future of the tribe. As the tribal membership grows, the planning for the 21st century has to be done with care to enable the tribe to grow economically with the times, but retain and preserve the culture and ways of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The achievements, goals, and objectives of the tribe for the future will be carried out by the strong wills of the future leaders.