THE PHONETIC SYSTEM OF THE UTE 

 LANGUAGE 



By John P. Hariongton 



The Ute Indians held in former times nearly all of the western 

 or mountainous half of the present state of Colorado. Their range 

 covered also the greater part of what is now eastern Utah. To the 

 south of the ancient Ute homeland lay the country of the Navaho; 

 to the west and north lived the Paiute and Shoshoni, linguistically 

 and otherwise related to the Ute; to the east roved the warring 

 and shifting tribes of the Great Plains. Of the Indian peoples which 

 have at various times lived within the present boundaries of the 

 State, the Ute alone are to be regarded as Colorado's ancient and 

 typical inhabitants. Secure in their mountain fastnesses, from the 

 vicinity of Fort ColHns in the north to that of Trinidad in the south, 

 the Utes witnessed wave after wave of the Plains tribes surge along 

 the eastern base of their mountainous range — Comanche, Kiowa 

 and Kiowa Apache, and Arapaho and Cheyenne, all in historic times 

 — swept on by the force of great tribal movements active far beyond 

 the ken of the Utes and in no wise affecting them. 



The Utes have perhaps been less studied than any other Indian 

 people living in the United States. And this is true notwithstanding 

 their numerical and historical importance and the remarkable primi- 

 tiveness of both their life and thought even at the present day. The 

 Ute language, habits of life, material culture, mythology and religion 

 are equally unknown. The people of Colorado, especially the young 

 people whose homes are in western Colorado, can render an invaluable 

 contribution to science if they but make accurate record of what 

 can be learned of the life and lore of this interesting people ere it is 

 too late. 



The Ute language must, of course, serve to a large extent as a 

 basis or medium for accurate study, and it is with the hope of making 

 a start on this great work that these imperfect notes on a difficult 



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