annual performance of the Bear and Sun dances. All tribes have scholarship programs for college educations. Alcoholism is a significant problem at Ute Mountain, affecting nearly 80% of the population. The age expectancy there was 40 years of age as of 2000. Spirituality and religion Utes have believed that all living things possess supernatural power. A medicine person (the term shaman was not used among Native people in North America, it being a Siberian term), people of any gender receive power from dreams and some take vision quests. Traditionally, Utes relied on medicine men for their physical and spiritual health, but it has become a dying occupation. Spiritual leaders have emerged that perform ceremonies previously performed by medicine men, like sweat ceremonies, one of the oldest spiritual ceremonies of the Utes, performed in a sweat lodge. The annual fasting and purification ceremony Sun Dance is an important traditional spiritual event, feast, and means of asserting their Native American identity. It is held mid-summer. Each spring the Ute (Northern and Southern) hold their traditional Bear Dance, which was used to strengthen social ties and for courtship. It is one of the oldest Ute ceremonies. The Native American Church is another source of spiritual life for some Ute, where followers believe that "God reveals Himself in Peyote." The church integrates Native American rituals with Christianity beliefs. One of the followers was Sapiah ("Buckskin Charley"), chief of the Southern Ute Tribe. Christianity was picked up by some Ute from missionaries of the Presbyterian and Catholic churches. Some Northern Utes accepted Mormonism. It is common for people to see Christianity and Native American spirituality as complementary beliefs, rather that believing that they have to pick either Christianity or Native American spirituality. Ceremonial objects Utes produced beadwork over centuries. They obtained glass beads and other trade items from early trading contact with Europeans and rapidly incorporated their use into their objects. Native Americans have been using ceremonial pipes for thousands and years, and the traditional pipes have been used in sacred Ute ceremonies that are conducted by a medicine person or spiritual leader. The pipe symbolizes the Ute's connection to the creator and their existence on Earth. They conduct pipe ceremonies during events were different people come together. For instance, they conducted a pipe ceremony at an Interfaith event in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Uncompahgre Ute Indians from central Colorado are one of the