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Walking back: CMT

CMT or Culturally Modified Trees. I posted some pics of these trees from various places in Colorado in January. However, according to the Ute Tribal Nation (composed of many smaller bands) the only culturally modified trees are certain pine trees that have been stripped of portions of their bark. Sometimes for food, medicine or spiritual purposes. 
I found this information on the Colorado Archaeology website which included a number of letters from some of the Nation's Tribal elders. If you do a search for CMTs you will find quite a few articles and even some videos about them. Since I have no expertise on the subject other than walking and photographing things, I will honor the statements from these Elders.
So, what did I find? These trees showed some obvious manipulation but according to the BLM, NFS, and many archaeologists they may have been caused by natural occurrences. Although the Utes were the dominant tribe in this area, there were also Cheyenne and Arapaho. 
Until I can do more reading on this subject I guess I'll refer to them as OCT (odd curiosity trees).

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  1. Far Side of FiftyJune 20, 2020 at 7:38 PM

    Odd Curiosity Trees works for me. I have always found trees interesting:)

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