Songs Of The Northern Ute
Recordings and notes by Frances Densmore
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song at The Library of Congress.
The songs presented on the B side of long-playing record L25 are those of the Northern Ute whose home is on a high plateau on north-eastern Utah. North of this plateau rise the Rocky Mountains. The singers were chiefly members of the Uinta and White River bands, but include a few members of the Uncompahgre band who live on the same reservation. These songs were recorded in 1914 at Whiterocks and in 1916 at Fort Duchesne, the work being under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology.*
The Government agency for the Uinta and Ouray Reservations is located at Fort Duschesne which, in 1914,was reached by leaving the through railroad at Mack in Colorado, crossing a range of mountains by a narrow gauge railroad and proceeding 25 miles by stage. Whiterocks was chosen for the beginning of the work and the trip there was made with the mail carrier from Fort Duschesne. This location was selected as it was accessible to the older Indians and was the site of the Government Day School, affording facilities for the work.
The Northern Utes have appeared in history chiefly through the journey away from the reservation by the White River band, in 1906. Red Cap, one of the two chiefs who led this expedition, was living when the Ute songs were recorded and lent his influence to the work. The writer asked him to her "office," explained the work through the interpreter and played a few recordings. He listened, and said that he did not sing but would instruct his best singers to record songs. A few old men were sitting on the grass, outside the room in which the songs were being recorded, and they were summoned. Red Cap conferred with them and Tim Johnson recorded several songs that were suggested by Red Cap or approved by him.
The interpreter throughout the work was Fred Mar, who was a student at the United States Indian School at Carlisle, Pa., from 1903 to 1908. Charles Mack, who also interpreted, was prominently identified with tribal affairs as an interpreter and twice visited Washington with delegations. Both gave excellent service by explaining the work to the Indians and winning their favor, as well as by interpreting when songs were recorded.
The number of songs recorded was 114, of which 14 are presented here. Twenty-five singers recorded songs, 10 of them being represented in this series. As in other tribes, and effort was made to preserve the oldest songs and those most representative of tribal culture and history.
*Densmore, Frances. Northern Ute Music, Bull. 75, Bur. Amer. Ethnol., 1922.
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