Paiute Life Dances P.2

14526 Rabbit skin robes or blankets, the Ute word being "Kuma-mara" (Cuma for rabbit, maru for skin) made into voerings. The Indians would engage in a communal hunt; here at Delta these communal hunts were retained in the minds of the whites. The Indians would string a W-a-n, Ute word for "net" across the neck of a runway; beat the area for hundreds of yards toward that restricted neck; the woman would be there to kill the rabbits. It had to be on a communial scale to be done, as it required many field beaters to urge the rabbits to flee toward the neck. Then the women would twist cuttings of rabbit skin between two cords, and sew these cords into sort of capes or loose-fitting blankets. That then became "Kuma-mara". This type scene would be common anywhere from Jensen, Utah, down to a point on Escalante's travels beyond Cedar City. It is true Ute, and good for his except for the one whiteman blanket. These Paiutes are actually performing the "Tavokoli" or Circle Dance. 1870 . Credit: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Neg. no. 1623. Photo by John K. Hillers, Powell Expedition, 1871-75. Used in UHQ, Winter 1966.