Today
the community boasts a population of around 350 people, has 100 modern
homes with electricity and running water, and is governed by the White
Mesa Ute Council, established in 1978. Many of the Ute people are employed
in service industries such as schools, motels, etc.; some work for the
Council; others are employed at Towaoc in farming projects and in the
casino. Every September, the community participates in the traditional
Bear Dance and welcomes visitors anxious to share a part of Ute heritage.
See:
Robert W. Delaney, The Ute Mountain Utes (1989); James Jefferson, Robert
W. Delaney, and Gregory C. Thompson, The Southern Utes: A Tribal History
(1972); Robert S. McPherson, The Northern Navajo Frontier, 1860-1900
Expansion through Adversity (1988); Gregory C. Thompson, "Southern Ute
Lands, 1848-1899: The Creation of a Reservation," Occasional Papers
of the Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, March, 1972;
Forbes Parkhill, The Last Indian War (1962); Robert S. McPherson, "Paiute
Posey and the Last White Uprising," Utah Historical Quarterly, 53 (Summer
1985).
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