Native American Arboreal Wickiup and Teepee Sites
Year Listed: 2003
County: Statewide
Status: PROGRESS
Context: Multicultural
Date Constructed: Prehistory to latter 19th c.
Significance:
Conical brush homes constructed from living trees, bark and brush, wickiups are primarily associated with Colorado’s Ute People, an indigenous group that dates from prehistoric times to the latter 19th century. As a result of the Ute’s increased migratory lifestyle in the 18th century, wickiups eventually evolved into more easily transportable teepees. Believed to be the only surviving traditional architecture of the Colorado’s indigenous people, they are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Threat When Listed:
Natural weathering and vandalism
Since Listing:
Colorado Preservation, Inc. encouraged creation of a partnership that would consolidate the database information of the Colorado Historical Society, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and others to begin the survey, documentation, and preservation process. Dominguez Archaeological Research Group (DARG) stepped forward in 2003 to provide matching funds and a successful grant application to the State Historical Fund, to conduct these studies, now complete. Approximately 500 sites are in the combined database, but only half of these sites have been documented. In 2005, DARG began recordation of forty sites.
Related Links:
Dominquez Archaeological Research Group
Last Updated:
January 2006