The song is played at the Bear Dance. It is a dance held in the spring to celebrate new life and surviving winter. The rumble of the rasp and tin box makes the sound like the first thunder of spring and the awaking of the bear.
Story behind the song
In the Bear Dance, the Utes imitate the movements of the Bear, shuffling forward and back. The music is made with a morache or growler. The morache is a notched stick which is rubbed with a piece of bone. In olden times, the morache was made of the jawbone of the bear. The morache imitates the sound of the bear rubbing against the tree, and the drums imitate the springtime thunder which awakened him.
Lyrics
Aiya, Hey, Heya!
(Come Bear, Dance Bear, Dance)