"At last, we have a history of the Núu-ci , or 'The People,' as the Utes call themselves, that examines them holistically and collectively."-- Utah Historical Quarterly "Jones's impressive bibliography includes all of the relevant secondary sources on both Northern and Southern Utes, Indigenous identity, and Indian policy.Yet her coherently organized narrative never bogs down in tedious details. Indeed, her writing is refreshingly graceful and blessedly free from jargon and needless abstractions. Jones has taken an enormous body of sources and molded them into a coherent analysis of Ute history and identity. It will serve as an important text for those interested in Great Basin historiography in general and the Utes in particular."-- Journal of Arizona History "In a sweeping narrative that takes readers on a riveting journey across time and space, from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first, Jones produces a beautifully written and thoroughly inclusive cultural history of the Ute people. Centered on the theme of change, Jones abandons any pretense of a pristine 'traditional' past to describe in rich detail near constant adaptation over time.

Becoming Ute is an exceptional cultural history of an American Indian People."-- W. Paul Reeve , author of Making Space on the Western Frontier: Mormons, Miners, and Southern Paiutes and Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness "The author has created a superb Ute Indian history. I know of no other works in the fields of anthropology, sociology, and history that present an overview of the Ute Nation with the depth and breadth of Being and Becoming Ute ."-- Gregory C. Thompson , author of The Southern Utes: A Tribal History "Decades in the making, this sweeping narrative charts the history of the Ute people from prehistoric times into the twenty-first century, showcasing their pragmatic adaptive strategies and exploring their challenges. Jones helps readers to understand tensions and differences of opinion within Ute society between full-bloods and mixed-bloods, modernizers and traditionalists, and the difficulty of maintaining a Ute identity and cultural essence in the face of mainstreaming material and cultural forces."-- Brian Cannon , author of The Awkward State of Utah: Coming of Age in the Nation, 1896-1945.