Ute Brave - Salt Lake City, UT - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

This sculpture of a Ute Brave stands in the courtyard on the west side of the Student Union Building on the University of Utah Campus. He is depicted somewhat sitting on a large rock, wearing a full headdress over long braided hair. He has a bow in his left hand and is reaching over his right shoulder with his right hand for an arrow from the quiver on his back. He wears only a loin cloth and moccasins. He stands high above the walkway atop a sculpted stone masonry pedestal.

"The "Utes" nickname comes from the Ute tribe, from which the state of Utah derives its name. The Ute tribe gave the University of Utah explicit permission to use the name for all its athletic teams. The men's basketball team is known as the "Runnin' Utes"; the women's basketball team used to be called the "Lady Utes," but now prefers to be referred to as the "Utes"; and the women's gymnastics team is known as the "Red Rocks."

Swoop, a red-tailed hawk, is the mascot of the Utah Utes sports teams. The university introduced Swoop with the consent of the tribal council of the Ute tribe in 1996. Originally the school's mascot was an American Indian, but was dropped when the school stopped using the redskins nickname. Later Hoyo, a cartoon Indian Boy became an unofficial mascot, but was also dropped. During the 1980s the Crimson Warrior, a Caucasian horseman dressed in Indian costume, would ride onto the field before home football games and plant a lance into a bale of hay. The warrior was considered more a symbol of the school than a mascot." (visit link)

TITLE: Ute Brave ARTIST(S): Avard Fairbanks DATE: 1956 MEDIUM: Figure: bronze; Base: stone. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS 75008259 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: The west courtyard of the Student Union Building on the University of Utah Campus. DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: The description of the Ute Brave has the arms backwards. It says the left arm is reaching for an arrow, while the right arm is holding the bow. It is the opposite.

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