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Show 5 6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ BULL. 75 the people's hero; a very ancient melody, " In praise of song"; a " dialogue on melody"; several love songs; and folk songs concerning the plowboy and the girl who watched the geese. On comparing the structural analyses of tne Slovak and Indian songs we find the resemblances to be less than the differences, suggesting a widely different temperament in the peoples of the two races. These differences are much greater than between the songs of the several Indian tribes analyzed by the writer. Considering first the resemblances, we find that the percentage of songs with a compass of an octave is 30 in the Slovak and varies from 21 to 35 in the Indian, except in a small group of Sioux songs recorded by Chippewa, in which it is smaller. There is also a resemblance in the proportions of ascending and descending major thirds and major seconds and in the ascending fourths. Among the differences we note that the minor third, which is so prominent in the Indian songs, occurs from one- fourth to one- half as frequently in the Slovak songs, while the minor second occurs from three to four times as frequently. The average interval in the Slovak songs is smaller than in the songs of any Indian tribe under analysis. In this connection it is interesting to note the contrast in the environment of the Slovaks and the Indians, the former, whose analyzed songs are characterized by a one- semitone interval, being a sedentary and agricultural people, and the latter, whose analyzed songs are characterized by a three-semitone interval ( see p. 42), being a nomadic people, whose principal industries were hunting and fishing. The musical instinct is strongly marked in both peoples, and is part of the heritage of all the Slavs. The proportion of descending intervals and the proportion of songs beginning with a descending progression is much smaller in the Slovak than in the Indian songs, suggesting that the descending trend, characteristic of Indian songs, is not characteristic of Slovak songs. The change of measure lengths, occurring in 85 per cent of the Indian songs, is entirely absent from the Slovak. The percentage of songs beginning on the accented portion of the measure and of those beginning in 2- 4 time is much greater in the Slovak than in the Indian songs. From the foregoing it appears that the Indian and Slovak songs under analysis differ in trend and in the principal interval of progression. It also appears that the Slovak songs have more directness in beginning and more simplicity of rhythm. THE BEAR DANCE The characteristic dance of the Ute Indians is the Bear dance, which is held every year in the early spring. The intention is to hold the dance at about the time that the bear comes from his hibernation, |