| Show 1 A UTE TRADITION the present peculiar movement among the indians indiana is bringing to light numerous interesting statements regarding their traditions among which is the following clipped from the denver news mr 8 H walker who spent years ea among the ute ule indians indiana in this state and d has made a careful study of their air language and customs is is a visitor in the city last evening mr walker related a remarkable legend which he heard from the lips of several of the ute chiefs with whom he was u upon pop terms of friendship the legend is is the common property of the ute tribe and is given below in the language in which it is told by mr walker and in nearly the same phrases used by the ules all indian tribes said he have their legends and superstitions the utes say that many years ago long before the time of montezuma the god of the pueblos a christ wan born of one of the virgins of the tribe under the following circum circumstances tan A certain young maiden of the tribe had been sent out by her parents with wit h several companions to look for that is the nuts of the pinon tree which the indians used for the making of broad bread these nuts were then and are now an important factor in the culinary department of every well regulated ule uie household except where uncle sam furnishes something more substantial and at the same time something that is less trouble to hunt up and prepare the particular young maiden of which the legend treats was lost from her companions and was unsuccessful in finding any nuts for the evening meal shortly after sundown when she had despaired of finding her way back to the indian town and just as she was sure of being devoured by the wild beasts that were howling around her she saw an old man with long white hair and beard in flowing robes of purest eat white approaching her the legend d states that she could not have seen him at all but for the fact that he was surrounded by a halo of glory or as they put it light of heaven when he came near he addressed her in the language of her tribe and told her who her parents were who all her relatives were and who was and had been chiefs of her tribe for ages back all of which she knew tobe true according to tradition he then told her how bow she had been sent out and how he had purposely caused her to stray away from her companions and that be had employed h a angels in picking all the nuts that ly in her path be said she was to be much more than all the other women of the tribe she was to be the mother of the savior of all the utes both of the north and the south all ail over the world to the utes the world comprised what is now colorado utah and new mexico he then gave her two pinon nuts bidding her to swallow one of them at once and telling her that it would cause her to conceive and bear the christ the savior of the utes he then told her that she should take the other nut home with her and drop it through the door of the house which according to the custom of those times was in the roof the house bein being galobe adobe or sod he told her that she would not find any one at home as he had sent the famil family out to hunt for her but that her trends friends would soon re turn and when she saw them she must go to meet them at once and tell them all that had occurred and what was to be expected and also that there were plenty of nuts in the house the stranger vanished in a blaze of light more brilliant than the sun in summer and the maiden upon looking around her found that she was less than a mile from home and in a well known path although she had been lost for hours before she proceeded to the village and sat down to await the arrival of the searching party the party soon made itself known by the loud wail ings inga of relatives who had given up the search as fruitless believing the maiden to have been devoured by wild besta having heard her story the he family which among the utes includes all all that are even remotely connected and the head men of the tribe repaired to the house designated and lo 10 the moor was covered covered for more than a foot in depth with pinon nuts the flavor of which far excelled any others ever before tasted in that section of the country in due time the child was born and he as well as his mother were allowed to live which is unusual among the utes as illegitimacy is a crime punishable by death prom from this time on the story runs in the same line as that of jesus christ at 5 years he be was precocious at 9 disputed with the medicine men and at 12 taught them ute lore and ute laws and custom in a manner that convinced them he was their god if anyone doubted his authority he would perform miracles to prove that he was waa all that was claimed for him notwithstanding all this there were some in the tribe who thought he was an impostor and that he be and his mother should be put to death this faction being headed beaded by a strong political wire puller who wanted to be the high muck a muck of the tribe soon grow grew in numbers and eventually became so strong that the savior thought best beat to loave leave the southern utes and visit the northern utes to whom he was also sent here however he was destined to I 1 meet with a phase of trouble to which he had hitherto been a stranger for he had no more than introduced 16 himself m as the ute god goa when a gay and charming ute maiden dressed in the latest style of bears teeth necklaces and wristlets wrist lets and anklets danklets made out of the rattles of rattlesnakes and with the remainder of her wazzie wardrobe either forgotten or unluckily in in the wash fell in love with him and would not let him rest day or night on account of the greatness of that love among the utes the stricken female may elead plead her own cause to the object of her er affection and show him how many blankets he will get and how many ponies he will be expected to bring forward to complete the marriage which is is usually soon settled where they are both in love but in this case it was different his thoughts were too high for the love of one however beautiful he therefore rel resolved solved to leave this now new kind of persecution and go back to the southern tribe after traveling some days he be arrived at the top of a high peak near what is now called pagosa springs in archuleta county from which he had bad an extensive view of the surrounding country from this point he saw that something was following him his surprise and grief were unbounded when he found it to be the lovesick love sick maiden he mildly upbraided up braided her and told her that it was no KO go that he could not and would not marry her that when he returned again he would not only redeem the whole tribe of utes T from all pat of benses bemes against himself and the great spirit but would cure them af all diseases sea dispel the prevailing tendency to grow old and fill the woods with game and the streams with fish he then proceeded to vanish in the most approved style and has not been heard from since the maiden refused to be comforted and in a short time grieved herself to death the utes expect their saviors return but have no idea when that event will take place in this respect they differ from the Pae Pueblo blos a the latter tribe expect the coming of montezuma daily at sunrise and for more inore than three centuries the custom has been observed of having a committee go out from each E plaza laza or pueblo toward the rising sun to meet him the question is where did the utes get their legend and how does it happen that it is so nearly analogous to the story of jesus christ in the new testament |
