Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists 2005 Annual Meeting
March 4-5, 2005, Grand Junction, CO

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ABSTRACT

Dear Bill, Dear Omer: What Should We Do Now? Notes on the Current State of Post-Contact Eastern Ute Archaeology
Steven G. Baker, Uncompahgre Valley Ute Project Centuries Research, Inc.

The 1988 CCPA meeting featured the Symposium on the Archaeology of the Eastern Ute. Bill Buckles then likened it to a bunch of "new recruits on the first day of boot camp" who were still struggling with the basics. Since then gains have been made in our understanding of some aspects of Ute archaeology, and particularly the prehistory. We are still, however, struggling with the protohistoric and historic Ute contexts. With the loss of Bill and Omer Stewart we must now make our way without their sage advice. Some of the more salient advances and current needs in post-contact Ute archaeology are discussed retrospectively. These include wickiup studies, modeling needs and potentials, historical archaeological methods, and the ethnohistorical baseline.