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Show 2 6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY tBULL. 75 around which there was placed a certain degree of mystery. The writer was informed that the Utes did not have songs to insure success in hunting, and no songs connected with hunting were offered for recording. FOOD.- An old informant said: " When we lived farther east we ate berries, roots, and meat. We dried the meat of the deer, elk, and buffalo." Other native foods are pifion nuts, corn, and fish. The pinon nuts, even at the present time, are parched in hot ashes, after which the shells are removed and the nuts pounded on a stone. Corn is still ground by placing it on a broad, flat stone and rolling over it a rather long, round stone. The resultant meal is mixed with water and baked on heated earth, from which the ashes of a fire have been removed. According to Mason " the Ute Indians make use of many kinds of seeds in their dietary," 9 gathering them on the plains. INDUSTRIES.- Pottery was made by the ancient Utes, but the basket bottle with inner coating of pitch is now in general use. The basketry of the Utes is designed for utility and includes gathering and carrying baskets, trays, bowls, harvesting fans, and women's hats. 10 COMPOSITION OF SONGS.- It was said by several singers that they " heard a song in their sleep/' sang it, and either awoke to find themselves singing it aloud or remembered it and were able to sing it. No information was obtained on any other method of producing songs. In this connection the writer desires to record an observation on musical composition among the Sioux. A song was sung at a gathering and she remarked: " That is different from any Sioux song I have heard, it has so many peculiarities/' The interpreter replied, " That song was composed recently by several men working together. Each man suggested something, and they put it all together in the song." This is the only instance of cooperation in the composition of an Indian song that has been observed. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.- The dance songs and war songs of the Utes are accompanied by the morache, hand drum, and large drum, while the hand game songs are accompanied by beating on a horizontal pole, and certain songs of the camp were formerly accompanied by beating on a stiff rawhide. Morache.- This instrument is used to accompany the songs of the Bear dance ( pp. 58- 72). The instrument in various forms has been noted among many tribes of Indians, and the Spanish term, morache has become established by usage. It is, however, classified as a " notched stick rattle with resonator" by Mr. E. H. Hawley, curator of musical instruments, United States National Museum, Washington, D. C. The instrument comprises three units: ( 1) A * Mason, Otis T. Indian Basketry, vol. 2, p. 439, London, 1905. w Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 71- 72; vol. 2, pp. 434- 441. |