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The name "Black Hawk" is not a Ute name. It was a name Brigham Young, in jest, called the Ute's leader. So it became that Brigham Young’s supercilious term, 'Black Hawk,' is the name by which he is now most commonly known. He was known to the Utes as Nooch, he was so named in honor of his people the Noochew, a name sacred to the Utes.
 
Nooch was born into a noble family of legendary leaders spanning centuries of time. This noble man had to confront unimaginable terror as his people were dying from diseases and hunger, their homeland being invaded and plundered by foreigners, he as a young boy witnessed his family and kin murdered by Mormon militia. He faced challenges that were monumental for any leader of any people in any time. 

He died at Spring Lake in 1870, then just 41 years later the LDS Church robbed his gravesite and put his remains on public display in the LDS Church Museum.

 

  

A LETTER FROM WILLIAM PROBERT
Dated at Provo, Utah, July 1st, 1915

Mr. Peter Gottfredson, Springville, Utah

Dear Sir:--I am glad to comply with your request to give some items of history of some of the Indian troubles in and near Round Valley (Scipio) and in the following narrative I am sure some of the erroneous stories told in regard to the death of Black Hawk, the great Indian Chief, and also Panacara, an inoffensive Indian who made his home in Round Valley, may be corrected and the truth of the matter given to the people in your proposed history of the Indian troubles of early Utah days.

There are probably a dozen men in Utah who claim the honor of killing Black Hawk, none of which is true.

It is true that Black Hawk was severely wounded in the fight at Gravelly Ford on the Sevier River, near what is now called Vermillion; but he lived three of four years after receiving the wound; and before his death Black Hawk obtained permission from the military authorities of the Territory to visit all the places where he and his tribe had caused trouble or raided. And accompanied by a few (seven or eight) warriors, Black Hawk visited every town and village from Cedar City on the south to Payson on the north and made peace with the people. On his mission of peace he was provided with an escort, usually from two to six citizens, from town to town. Ansel P. Harmon and myself acted as such escort from Holden to Scipio, Millard County.

Black Hawk told the people wherever he went that he was going home to die and before the end came he desired to be at peace with the pale faces. Black Hawk died at his wigwam near Spring Lake in 1869 or 1870; the exact date I am unable to give. He was buried in the foothills immediately east and south of Spring Lake Villa, Utah County.

Because of the killing of the old man Ivie (James Ivie) in Round Valley (Scipio) a few years before by members of the Black Hawk tribe it was feared that the old warrior would be harshly treated by the Ivie family on the trip through the valley, unless provisions were made in advance for his protection from assault from that source.

The Ivies had previously sworn vengeance, and some time before Black Hawk's appearance on his mission of peace, the old Indian, Panacara, had been shot to death by James A. Ivie. In order to justify himself, Ivie charged that Panacara was a spy for the Ute Indians on the south, which was not true, as Panacara was a special friend of the white people in that vicinity and was hated by the Utes. On one occasion a band of Utes came into the valley for the soul purpose of killing him. Panacara was for a number of years before his death medicine man for the Pahvante tribe of Indians was always friendly with the white settlers.

Panacara's death at the hands of Ivie was brought about in this way: The old Indian came to the town of Scipio, and was objected to by the military authorities and a rule was adopted that Indians should not carry arms when visiting the settlements. Accordingly the acting justice of the peace Benj. Johnson, prevailed upon the old Indian to give up his gun. The Indian willingly gave the gun the justice and started out to cross the hills in the direction of Oak Creek, when Ivie followed him, and shot him dead. He was buried where he was killed.

According to Indian custom it was a life for a life and it did not matter to them who it was just so they got their revenge by killing a white. For the death of Panacara I came nearly losing my scalp at the hands of Nun-ka-tots (a particular friend of Panacara), who lived most of the time with him. I was on my way from Deseret to Scipio with a load of wheat and on reaching a point on the desert near Mud-Lake the reflection of a gun showed an Indian in hiding behind a mound near the road. I jumped off the wagon, ready with my rifle for action when the Indian rode away. For seven years this Indian avoided me and finally came to me and asked if I was tobuck now. I told him I was not tobuck and he said me no tobuck; and from then on this Indian and myself were good friends. ("tobuck" means "angry")

(Signed) William Probert.
Manti, Utah, Feb. 12,1915.
Box 109.

 

The relations between the Ute and the Church was morally suspect at best. Imagine, if you will, having the corpse of your grandfather disrespectfully unearthed by church members, then for some strange reason put on public display in the window of a hardware store in downtown Spanish Fork, Utah, and later in the Church museum on Temple Square as a curiosity. I personally remember seeing Black Hawk's remains on display there at Temple Square when I was just a young boy. The family of Black Hawk had no legal or political recourse until 86 years later. It took an act of congress when in 1996 under the protection of federal law, the family of Ute leader Chief Black Hawk were at last able to rescue his bones from a storage box in a basement room at BYU and rebury their beloved grandfather at Spring Lake, Utah. Gratitude goes to the humanitarian efforts of a young Boy Scout Shane Armstrong and with the help of Charmain Thompson Archeologist for the National Forest Service. In a personal interview with Shane he told me that in 1993 he elected to earn his Eagle Badge by getting Black Hawk registered with the Forest Service NAGPRA. For a time no one could locate his remains, according to Shane. "I thought it was weird that no one had records on him," he said.

Was the reason simply amusement for others? Was grave robbing for art, pleasure, punishment, a morbid fascination of death, divine obligation, or, most importantly, the wielding of power?

In the year Black Hawk's remains were dug up by Bishop Ben Bullock and Lars Croft, Heber J. Grant was president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, followed by George Albert Smith (1945-1951); David O. McKay (1951-1970); Joseph Fielding Smith (1970-1972); Harold B. Lee (1972-1973); Spencer W. Kimball (1973-1985); and Ezra Taft Benson (1985-1994). These prophets have administered the affairs of the church from church headquarters in Salt Lake City. These men presided over "God’s church" as the "mouthpiece of God," but, for some reason, never had enough respect or compassion toward their fellow man to give up their claim to the bones of Black Hawk, or even consider his living descendants. Even to this day, the burial site of Nooch is owned by the LDS Church.
 

So I say that to judge the Indian as "loathsome and heathen" is simply hypocritical. Turn it around, if this happened to anyone of our former Church leaders or beloved family members, would there be anger? Would you feel demoralized? Would you perhaps feel rage? Suppose all your anger fell upon deaf ears and you were told there is nothing you can do about it?  Then why is it any different for the Indian people of Utah? Is it because they are Indian? (see NAGPRA Examination of the Physical Remains of Black Hawk) 

 

Burial Place of Nooch


"Black Hawk"

Located at Spring Lake Between

Payson and Santiquin, Utah

 

 

I believe the LDS Church should at least make a public apology to the descendents of Black Hawk for the immoral and mindless acts they have inflicted upon their family. Robbing their grandfathers grave, publically displaying his remains for decades! And now all they want to do is forget the past and pretend it never happened? That's wrong!