The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-03
UTE INDIANS TRIP
II LIGHT FANTASTIC
FOR SEVEN DHTS

The annual bear dance Of the Indians
On the tintdh reservation concluded with
"a big feast last week after seven DAYS
of festivities, The bear dance is in cele-
Didtloll Oh lhe cAuIns OF winter ana Is
given at the time the bear IS supposed
10 come out Of his cave and when the
mating season begins among the birds
and other creatures Of the earth
No work - done by the Indians until
after the bear dance is over. For weeks
prior 10 the dance they look forward 10
and plan for the great event. which con
period of seven days
Both men and women participate in
the bear dance. \ level plot of ground
Is selected and corral made of brush
and logs thrown up. Inside Of the cor
raj facing each other is a row Of squaws
and row of bucks. Everyone IS ar
Tayed in his on her most elaborate cos
tune, feathers. beaded moccasins, cali
COS and blankets
Dance 20 Weird Music.
The signal given by the grand mas
Ter, the dance begins, keeping time TO
the strange music produced by a party
of musicians seated on the ground near
by At the dance this year there were
some twenty of these weird musicians
seated upon cobble-stOnes surrounding
vat upside down. Each had a hardwood
stick cut fun of uOtChes- One end of
the stick was placed on the bottom Of
the iron vat and with the other hand
"a dry shin bone was rubbed up and down
down on the stick In this way the mu-
sic was produced
In contrast to the white mans form
OF dance etiquette. the women for the
bear dance select their own partners. Two
or three Will rise at time from their
seats on the ground and walk over TO
The row of bucks ana each of them viii
then point her finger To the one of her
choice; afterwards she returns to the
center of the coral where the dancing
line is being formed The bucks thus
singled out. throwing off their blankets
with the greatest uncOncern, slowly rise
TO their feet and walk 10 the dancing line
facing their partners. 1t has never been
known that buck refused TO dance WITH
the squaw who had chosen him for her
partner Whether she is tall, slim. old
or young. no excuse is accepted from him;
NE has got to dance, and that IS the end
OF it,
Movements Are Simple.
The dance is very simple. When the
Two lines Of dancers have been formed
they lead off with two steps forward
and then with step and half back
This movement is repeated over and over
until the two lines come together; this
ends the set, and the dancers take their
seats and others form in line the squaWs
always choosing their own partners
II sometimes happens that when the
two dancing lines come together a buck
will grab hold of his partner and waltz
her around. This action always causes
laughter on the part of the spectators,
for it is believed that he is smitten with
her beauty and cannot conceal his al
The bear dance is purely social
merrymaking affair. and the Indians think
that the celebration brings about the
termination of winter and the opening OF
spring. II is usually given in April but
owing to the early season this year II
was given during the third week of
March.
ON the seventh day the dance closes /
with a big feast composed Of all the eat
ables procurable at the time For this
reason the government always has on
hand a good supply of meat and bread
stuffs.
Opens Counting Season.
During and after the bear dance the
Ute counting season begins 1t Is com
mon occurrence 10 see a young buck how
his affection. or following her around, on
moonlight nights, playing flute. rms
instrument is known as the Ute counting
flute and is never used Cor any pur-
pose save that of counting
The young buck continues with his !
night wanderings in the neighborhOOd or I
his adored until she gets ready 10 come 1
TO him. and IL sometimes takes her weeks I
10 make up her mind. When she fin /
ally accepts and joins him. the court |
ship ends, for there is no marriage cere- I
mony among the Utes-
Mrs. II. p Mvton, during the time that ]
Major Myton was Indian agent on the |
Bintah reservation. made a collection OF /
relics, trinkets. blankets, war bonnets /
To be one of the most valuable COllec- /
lions extant. This collection was made /
for the most part unsolicited by her.
The T-tes love to gamble and will sell /
anything IN their possession in order 40 1
get money to gamble with. Mrs. Ny /
ton made friends with the Indians and /
they all liked her. Whenever they want /
ed to play monte and did not have the |
wherewith they would sell to her on eX-
Cuse any article of finery they could lay 1
their hands on.
Used Borrowed Finery.
This occasioned a scarcity of fine raj
ment when il came time for the bear /
dance The Indians would then pay Mrs
Myton a visit and tell sad stories about
how poor they were. pleading with her
70 loan them the things they had sold !
her. To ease their heavy hearts and en-
able them to make a good appearance
at the bear dance Mrs MytOD would loan
back all her purchases OF preceding years.
Beside the bear dance the CteS have
q number of other dancing ceremonies,
principal among which is the sun dance.
or. as il is more commonly called in these
later years. the harvest dance
"a arn.as v-Nr~ lone