42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 187 



fourth or the fifth of the scale; phrase (2) wavers between the focal 

 main tone and the second; phrase (3) glides on the monotone of the fo- 

 cal note. All three phrases have the same rhythmic pattern. We may 

 regard phrase (2) as the nuclear theme, theme (1) as an imaginative 

 sally, and phrase (3) as a coda, a relaxation. If we want to select the 

 essential half of the song, our choice must fall on part B, for its sally 

 is less extreme and its drum pattern is pronounced (Fen ton and 

 Kurath, 1953, pp. 258-259). 



This nucleus is not necessarily in the center. In yeidos Round 

 Dance, part V, 1, the first phrase can be considered an introduction, 

 the second phrase as the theme, a' and a" as developments, and a'" 

 as coda. In Albert Jones' version of Corn Dance, song 6 starts 

 each half on a high note and continues each section A differently. 

 Part B plays on the fundamental triad, part B' on the ground tone, 

 its third, and its fourth below. Thus B' represents the most compact 

 form of the theme, B adds an upper third, and A and A' offer more 

 remote variants. 



Consecutive Construction: 



In Eagle Dance 1 and in Drum Dance 1, on the other hand, the 

 theme is clearly stated at the beginning, is repeated on successive 

 lower levels, and restated at the end. Yeidos throwing songs 1 

 and 7 and Hand-in-hand 5 (1951) similarly descend sequentially. The 

 thematic repetition does not always imply descent. False Face 1 

 and Feather Dance 3 repeat with diminution or extension of the theme, 

 Buffalo song 2 also turns the theme upside down. Chicken Dance 7 

 repeats the theme on the same level. 



Distribution: 



These devices are unevenly distributed. Certain cycles prefer 

 nuclear construction, particularly Eagle Dance, yeidos, and Corn 

 songs, also Striking-the-Stick, Bear, old ^skanye, Fish Dance type — 

 all secundal and tertial types. Introductory chants usually progress 

 by descending sequence (as Bear 1), monotone chants and antiphonies 

 by exact repetition on a level. Robin dances reiterate on the same 

 level, towisas and ga'daso't with response and change of level. 

 Hand-in-hand and Passenger Pigeon songs with sequential descent. 

 Many cycles combine the two devices. Quavering (8 nuclear, 14 con- 

 secutive), Changing-a-rib (30 nuclear, 35 consecutive), Shaking-a-bush 

 (6 nuclear, 3 sequential). All types are represented in eskanyegowa; 

 nuclear in most dance songs, as 20, sometimes in combination with 

 repetition, in 21, sequential in preliminary songs, as 7. On the whole, 

 level repetition is found in secundal and tertial songs, sequential 

 descent in quartal songs. But no hard and fast distinctions are 

 permissible, because of the gradations from secundal to quartal scales, 



