by Carol Patterson (Author)
Clifford Duncan, a Northern Ute elder, believed in educating the public to know and understand the meaning of Ute petroglyphs. By doing this, he believed it would help to preserve and protect them. Over the course of eight years, Clifford and the author visited and revisited all of these sites, discussing what they might represent. Clifford's father was an Uncompahgre Ute and wanted Clifford to know the traditional homelands of the Uncompahgres in western Colorado. Clifford made special trips all through the Uncompahgre Plateau, seeking out any Ute petroglyphs and cultural sites. Later, he and the author visited many of the petroglyphs on the Uintah-Ouray Reservation, which were authored by the Uncompahgre and White River Utes. The interpretations of the petroglyphs are supplemented with cultural and political history, and ethnographic information from scholars provides a deep appreciation as to what makes Ute petroglyphs so unique and fascinating. Full-color illus.