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<br />,: , <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />EVALUATION OF NOUiHAIN UTE RESOUI<CE DEVELOP/'IEiH AL TEf,NATIVES <br />WITH REGARD TO r'IAllCOS RIVEf( W;TER AVAILABILITY <br /> <br />John Schultz <br />LJepartment of Anthropology <br /> <br />David M. Freeman <br />Department of Sociology <br /> <br />I. Historical Background <br />The peoples of the Ute f10untain Reservation located in Southwest <br />Colorado (see Fig. 1) are a remnant of several bands of the once power- <br /> <br />ful Ute tribe l'lhich ranued across tile soutnern Great Plains. In 1869, <br /> <br />these f10untain Ute Bands ~Iere uprooted and settled on their present <br /> <br />reservation ~Ihich has d~;indled in size as the result of several sub- <br /> <br />sequent treaties ~liti1 tllr. Federal Government. Fro!;] this date until the <br /> <br />present the f'iountai n Ute as with T,105 t otiler Indi an groups experi enced <br /> <br />the detrimental effects of a long and corr,~lex process of acculturation <br /> <br />Wilich today ilas manifest itself in a variety of social ills such as <br /> <br />high alcoholism, suicide and drop-out rates. At Ute Mountain, as with <br /> <br />most other reservations, the qual ity of 1 ife has steadily deteriorated <br /> <br />with the onslaught of Western Euroa!;]erican Civilization. <br />Along with the above problems commonly facing most American Indians <br />today, the Ute I'lountain situation is one of n",ar bankruptcy economically. <br />Over the past decade, the Ute people have \'latched tiieir economic re- <br /> <br />sources dwindle to tile point IJhere tribal Lankruptcy is imminent. <br />Of particular importance to tile success of programs aii:1ed at <br />reducing the abovementioned social and economic liabilities, particularly <br /> <br />on Indian reservations today, is the credibility of the researchers. It <br /> <br />should be pointed out that one of tiie senior investigators has spi:nt over <br /> <br />Er <br />