DENSMORE] NORTHERN UTE MUSIC 175 
in diameter, one being white and the other black, or sometimes orna- 
mented with a black band. * * * One of the gamblers incloses 
a die in each hand and, placing one above the other, allows the 
upper bone to pass into the other hand with the other die. This 
process is reversed again and again, while all the time the hands 
are shaken up and down in order to mystify the partner in the 
passing of the dice. The other man during the performance hugs 
himself tightly by crossing his arms and placing either hand under 
the opposite arm and, with a dancing motion of the body, swaying 
to and fro, watches the shuffling of the dice with the closest atten- 
tion. When this has gone on for a few minutes, the latter suddenly 
points with one arm at the opposite arm of his partner and strikes 
himself under that arm with the other hand. Whichever hand of 
his rival he chooses is to be opened, and if the dice are in it the 
guesser takes them and proceeds in the same manner. If, however, 
he misses, and the dice are not there, he forfeits one counter, and 
this is taken from his bundle and stuck in the ground. Thus the 
game continues until one or the other has gained every stick.’ ”4 
In the game as observed by Barber the hand game songs were 
accompanied by beating on ‘‘rude parchment-covered drums,” but 
the writer was informed that on the Uinta and Ouray Reservation 
the songs were formerly accompanied by beating on a horizontal 
pole, the singers being seated on either side of the pole and each 
holding two sticks with which they beat in time to the song. 
CHARACTERISTICS OF SONGS 
Two peculiarities are found in these songs and in no others of the 
present series: (1) A sliding upward of the tone on ascending pro- 
gressions, resembling the sliding downward which appeared in songs 
of the Bear dance; (2) a sharply accented tone followed by a short 
rest. Concerning the first-named peculiarity it is interesting to note 
that after this observation had been made by the writer a comment 
by Barber came to her attention, corroborating it by a statement 
written more than 40 years previously. The following notation (fig. 
16), taken from Barber’s article, indicates the sliding upward of the 
voice. Barber states, concerning the Ute hand game song: ‘No 
words are sung, but the syllable ah is pronounced in a whining, nasal 
tone for every note. * * * The war and dance songs of the Ute 
are different from this, yet they are somewhat similar.” » 
The sliding upward of the voice, as well as the second-named 
peculiarity of the hand game songs, appear in Nos. 94-99. Four- 
fifths of the songs are major in tonality, two-thirds are harmonic in 
34 Barber, Edwin A, Gaming among the Utah Indians. American Naturalist, vol. xI,no.6, pp. 351-352. 
Boston, 1877. 
% Tbid., pp. 352, 353. 
