4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 98 



remains the outstanding source on the Ute and Southern Paiute. It 

 is possible, however, by using Lowie's monograph together with 

 monographs on tribes farther west, shorter accounts of these tribes 

 by explorers and ethnologists, 3 and the writer's own experience in 

 the area, to interpret most of the photographs in terms of their 

 cultural significance and to add some comparative notes. 



Before the settlement of the west, a great difference existed between 

 the Ute and Southern Paiute, the two main groups represented in 

 these photographs. The former were essentially horsemen, bison 

 hunters, and warriors. For many years they had been traveling east 

 to hunt bison in the Great Plains. Warfare with tribes in that area 

 had given them a militaristic spirit. Cultural contacts had introduced 

 many conspicuous Plains traits, such as tipis, use of rawhide, horse 

 regalia, war equipment, and many others. 



The Southern Paiute, more isolated in their deserts and lacking 

 horses, resembled the Western Shoshoni and Northern Paiute, who 

 lived in the Great Basin of Nevada and adjoining parts of California, 

 Oregon, and Idaho. They relied mainly upon wild seeds and roots 

 which they collected by means of a highly developed basketry com- 

 plex. Large-game hunting was of secondary importance, though the 

 great number of buckskin garments shown in the photographs sug- 

 gests that it was not so unimportant as often believed. The Paiute's 

 general poverty and the seminomadic existence required during the 

 great part of the year by their simple hunting and gathering economy 

 limited their material possessions. The photographs show them, 

 probably most often at their temporary summer encampments, with 

 their meager equipment. 



Caution, however, is necessary in interpreting the pictures. Not 

 only are many of the Indians obviously posed in artificial stances, but 

 art seems often to have outweighed realism in the selection of objects 

 represented. Thus, a woman in semidress may indicate Powell's and 

 Hillers' idea of photographic art rather than actual use of garments. 

 Poses with bows, baskets, and other objects may also misrepresent 

 their actual use. 



HABITATIONS 



When Indian informants describe customs abandoned one or two 

 generations ago, they are likely to remember only salient features 

 and thus give the impression that native practises were more stand - 



3 The main sources to date are listed in the writer's study of the Shoshoni, 

 Basin-Plateau aboriginal socio-political groups, Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 120, 

 1938. 



