CHAPTER
15
RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION
T
here is no record of the how men and women first worshipped in the valleys or on the mountaintops of southwestern Utah. We wonder about the meaning of the figures in pictographs and petroglyphs which may represent some form of deity for prehistoric artists. The Paiutes revered the awe-inspiring land which surrounded them, and their lifestyle required living in harmony with the earth. If they did not, nature became hostile and they suffered. Stories helped explain their world. Storytellers told of To-bats and Shinau-av, who had created the earth and introduced essentials such as corn to their ancestors. Songs, oral poetry, and dance showed respect or reverence for all living things. Their world held sacred places, such as "Uncamp-i-cun-ump," the circle of red cliffs, and special times of gathering for dances or celebrations which brought the normally independent bands together. 1 Dominguez and Escalante were the first of many friars and missionaries to wear the robes of Catholicism across Iron County. Later Catholic influence was fleeting among the caravans along the Spanish Trail. The Christian cross has been found inscribed at springs and 266
