Ute Mountain Ute Bear Dance Documentary

Since May of this year, I have been working with Dr. Brenda Romero on an ethnomusicology documentary for the Ute Mountain Ute tribe.  After taking her course in Native American Music, we discussed editing some video footage of an event she had captured previously in 1996.  The footage featured the 'music complex' surrounding the annual Bear Dance including festivities like a parade, powwow, feast, and games.  However, she was still showing it in its raw format, fast forwarding to portions that were interesting.  So, with the help of a UROP grant, we began editing the tapes into an hour long documentary.


I learned a lot about film editing during this project, namely the importance of logging information.  Having accurate time logs and transcriptions made the overall editing process happen smoothly and quickly.  However, making the logs themselves is a time consuming process.  We used Final Cut Pro to compile the footage.  6.5 hours were recorded, but only 1 hour was allowed to be kept according to the original agreements.  So we created about a dozen different sections about each event during the weekend.  We also used an interview with Norman Lopez, an elder, to tell his version of the Bear Dance story.

Finally, after many editing sessions and viewing, we were prepared to present the documentary to the tribe.  While it was not in the original scope of the plan, we acquired more funding from the CU Undergraduate Development Award to fly to Southern Colorado to actually screen the film with the tribal council.  This was an incredible honor.  Many were pleased to see relatives that have passed and children that have grown up in the 14 years that have passed, and a warm sense of nostalgia filled the room.  After, we discussed the possibilities of distribution for educational purposes, and decided on a few notes to add at their request.  Final copies have been sent to the the tribe and soon to be documented at the Library of Congress.  Unfortunately, I cannot ethically share any of it on the internet (yet).

This project was rewarding, not only monetarily, but educationally as well.  I learned a lot about the tribe itself, as well as collaborating with professors on major projects.  Additionally, I was able to help teach Dr. Romero a few tricks to improve her efficiency on the computer.  This was the first project of this kind I have ever done, and despite the tremendous number of hours put in, it was extremely rewarding.