• Materials
• Before the Lesson
• Internet Resources Directory
• Activities
• Extensions

• CAP Resource Kit

• CD/cassette player

• CD/audiocassette: selection # 8: Bear Dance (Ute)

2. Computer Resources:

• Modem: 56.6 Kbps or faster.

• Browser: Netscape Navigator 4.0 or above or Internet Explorer 4.0 or above.

• Personal computer (Pentium II 350 MHz or Celeron 600 MHz) running Windows 95 or higher and at least 32 MB of RAM. Macintosh computer: System 8.1 or above and at least 32 MB of RAM.

• School and Public Library access

• Books, articles, photographs, etc., that the Teacher may be able to provide

Because this lesson is comprised of several sequential activities, involving school and classroom resources as well as internet research on the part of the students, the teacher will need to locate and be familiar with all of the above materials. In preparation for conducting the lesson, the teacher will then need to do the following.

1. Review pages 1 and 2 of the Music Guide section of your CAP Resource Kit. These pages will help you facilitate the listening exercise portion of this lesson plan.

2. Prepare to listen to Music selection # 8: Bear Dance (Ute) by locating the music on the CD/audiocassette. A brief explanatory text for this selection will be found on page 7 in the Music Guide section of the Resource Kit. Much more information is available on the websites referenced in this Lesson Plan.

3. Locate materials related to Native American myths and storytelling in your school’s library or among your personal collection. Stories can also be found in the “Appendices” pages of your Resource Kit and on several websites in the Extensions section below.

4. Your knowledge of the online resources available for research in this topic is essential. Review the websites in the following Internet Resources Directory, which contain materials specifically related to the Ute Bear Dance, as well as information about traditional and present-day Ute culture.

Listed below are links that will take you and your students off the CAP website to other website addresses on the internet. They are grouped according to the research projects you will be assigning in Step 6 in the Activities section.

• Who are the Utes?

• Origins of the Ute Bear Dance

• Purpose of the Bear Dance

• Music for the Bear Dance

• Performing the Bear Dance

Every website we link to was visited by our team before we activated the link to make sure it's appropriate for children. But we do not monitor or control these sites and they can change. In addition, many of these sites may have links to other sites, which we have not reviewed.

For further exploration into the topic of Folktales, Myths, Legends and Storytelling, both Native American and worldwide, review the list of websites in the Extensions section below.

The Ute Bear Dance: Origins, Practice, Tradition

“A Pawnee Indian said: ‘In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animal. For Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell mankind that he showed himself through the beast. And that from them, and from the stars and the sun and the moon, man should learn.’” — Joseph Campbell, in The Power of Myth. New York, Doubleday, 1988

STEP 1. Discuss Storytelling and Myths with your students. Explain that “myths” inhabit the realm of belief, religion and philosophy and are born of the need to explain the unexplainable (as opposed to “legends,” which are at least in part based on true persons and/or events.)

STEP 2. Read an animal story or two to your class (four stories with animal themes are in the “Appendices” section of your Resource Kit, and you can find many sources of animal stories in Extensions. Tell yours students that they will be listening to some music that relates in some way to a Native American animal myth, and that one purpose of this lesson is for them to discover how the music and the story are connected. Do not give them too much information “up front” ­ let their imaginations draw them in and inspire them to seek more knowledge!

STEP 3. Refer to the “Guide to Listening to Unfamiliar Music” on page 1 of the Music Guide section in your Resource Kit. The “Who? What? Where?, etc.” suggestions on this page are tools to help you and your class discover that there is much information “embedded” in the music itself (whether it is familiar to you or not); and that by careful listening you will be able to come to some conclusions about the probable situation, intention and emotional content of the music.

STEP 4. Play Music selection #8: Bear Dance (Ute) for the class. Do not explain what it is before playing the music, but encourage them to listen carefully and to respond directly to the sounds. You might play the selection once and ask the students just to listen quietly, then play it again and ask for their responses, utilizing four guidelines to structured observation.

STEP 5. Read to your class the information on the Ute Bear Dance on page 7 of the Music Guide. Tell them that there is much more to be learned about the Ute Bear Dance, and about Native American traditions and ceremonies, than this brief explanation offers.

STEP 6. Assign groups of students to research the following and prepare to make reports back to the class:

Depending on your students’ age and experience with internet research, you may want to preview the sites linked to below to see how the search process is set up and then explain it to them or help them as they work.

a. Who are the Utes? Where did they originally live? What did they eat? What was their relationship with nature and with animals? Was any one animal particularly important in their mythology and religion? Why? Where do Ute Indians live now? (Tell students to click on Who are the Utes? in the FOR STUDENTS page)

b. What are the origins of the Bear Dance? Is there more than one version of the story of how the Bear Dance came to be? How many different tales can you discover? How can you account for the different explanations of the Bear Dance tradition? (Tell students to click on Origins of the Ute Bear Dance in the FOR STUDENTS page)

c. What purpose did the Bear Dance serve in the “old days?” What purpose does it serve in modern-day Ute culture? Do other Native American tribes join in the Bear Dance today? Does it serve more than one purpose today? (Tell students to click on Purpose of the Bear Dance in the FOR STUDENTS page)

d. How is the music for the Bear Dance produced? Does the sound represent or try to mimic anything? Can you find photographs of the instrument or instruments used? (Tell students to click on Music for the Bear Dance in the FOR STUDENTS page)

e. How is the Bear Dance performed? Can you find descriptions of the dance? Can you find photographs of people performing the Bear Dance? Can you “make up” a Bear Dance for your class, using the information you have found? (Tell students to click on Performing the Bear Dance in the FOR STUDENTS page)

STEP 7. Once the groups have completed their research, have them prepare reports to present to the class - these can be in the form of written papers, drawings, photographic reproductions from websites, physical performances of the dance and music, etc. Discuss their findings and their processes of doing research. Were they able to discover everything they were searching for? Did they use online resources other than the ones suggested in this lesson plan? Along the way, did they discover other related topics that they would like to research?

Folktales, Legends and Storytelling

For further exploration into the topic of Folktales, Myths, Legends and Storytelling, both Native American and worldwide, review the following websites:

http://www.colo-ute-cultural.org/text/legends.html
(Ute Creation Story / links to other Ute cultural sites)

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/native_story/b.html
(Native American storytelling lesson plan)

http://www.ilhawaii.net/%7Estony/loreindx.html
(Native American Lore Index Page)

http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/index.htm
(Index to Native American myths - different tribes & regions)

http://www.pampetty.com/nativeamerican.htm
(List of children’s books)

Overview | For Teachers | For Students