[Myton, UT] [Ute] [Indigenous American] [RPPC] [Real Photo Postcard]

[Ute Bear Dance, Myton, Utah]

[Utah and Colorado]: n.p., 1907. Postcard. Real photo postcard [3.5” x 5.5”] with divided back. Postally used; addressed (to Central City, CO) with an inscription in black ink, stamped (one cent Benjamin Franklin), and cancelled (Myton, UT, August 27, 1907). Light edge and corner wear, with some surface rubbing and fading. A nice image. Very Good. Item #71469

Black and white photograph depicts a large group of Utes participating in a traditional ceremony—identified by the sender as the Ute Bear Dance performed at the opening of Spring—this photo was likely taken on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation near Myton, Utah. The participants are arranged in lines, many wearing traditional blankets and regalia, with a large figure in a striped shirt watching from the right foreground. Along the left margin of the image side is a manuscript inscription in black ink: "Myton Utah | This a picture [sic] of the Bear Dance | the indians [sic] have at the [...]".

The message continues seamlessly on the reverse: "[...] opening of Spring. | It is better than a circus | They are dressed in such | gorgeous colors and their | bead work is beautiful. | I thought this would | be a nice card | to add to your collection. | I have an album and | it is nearly full. | How are you all. [sic] We | are all getting along fine | here. Lovingly Myra". At the top of the reverse, Myra notes, "Did you ever see an | address written this way?", presumably regarding her formatting of the recipient's name ("Johnson | Miss Florence | Central City | Colo"). Features a green one-cent Benjamin Franklin stamp, a circular Myton, Utah postmark dated August 27, 1907, and a circular Central City, Colorado receiving mark dated August 31, 1907.

The Ute Bear Dance is one of the oldest continuous traditional ceremonies and social dances of the Ute people, held annually in the springtime to celebrate the awakening of the bear from hibernation and the seasonal renewal of the earth. An exceptional real photo postcard documenting the Northern Ute Bear Dance.

Price: $150.00