Book of the Month: Bear Dancer the story of a Ute girl By: Thelma Hatch Wyss

This is author writes mostly for young adults and has won two ALA award for others books. This book is meant for young readers, between 8-12 years old, which makes it a quick read. I enjoyed the book so much that I can't believe how fast it went. I nearly missed my stop because I was so engaged with the book. She did a beautiful job writing about, Cutshutchous, or Elk Tooth Dress, Chief Ouray's sister. To hear her love of the mountains, those mountains, you can feel the connection. She takes you back to the time in Elk Girl's life when she was 15 and follows her through the course of a few years. Elk Girl was kidnapped and taken away from her people by the Chyenne and then traded to the Arapahos. After three years of slavery she was rescued by farmers near present day Ft. Collins Colorado. Even though this is a work of fiction the author chose to intermingle those events that have been documented with her own thoughts of how Elk Girl's life may have been during those three years of captivity. This is a wonderful introduction to the Ute people and is perfect for young readers to become interested in learning about the tribes living in Colorado. I think that this book would be a good way to encourage an interest in the American Indian history of the Colorado west.

The Bear Dance, the book's namesake, is a traditional dance of the Ute people. Every spring the dance was an important celebration, all tribes of the Ute would come together to dance and feast. This was a way for the Ute to meet and find mates. During a portion of the celebration the singles participate in a ceremony where they are chosen for partners.

Quote describing the Bear Dance being told by Elk Tooth Dress's mother:

"before you were born, and before I was born, a Ute hunter came upon a great brown bear sleeping in his cave in the late springtime. The hunter knew this was too late for a bear to be sleeping, and if the bear did not wake soon, he might starve. So the man woke the bear. As a reward, the bear took the hunter to a place in the woods where all the bears were dancing to celebrate the end of winter. The bear told the man never to hunt bears. The bear said if the man would teach the Ute people the dance just as he had seen it, they would always be successful hunters. And it has always been so, this story you should always remember, Elk Girl."

The book was filled with very interesting stories and I was very glad to have selected this book. I was sorry it went so fast.