Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-09-22
THE MOOUIs.
An Army Officers Experience
Among a Remote Indfan Tribe
Graphic Account of a Horrible
Religious Ceremony.

Graphic Account OF Horrible
Religious Ceremony.
First Lieutenant J. G.. Bourke, Third
Cavalry, United States Army Aide.de-
camp to General Cook, was one of the
officers selected by Lieutenant General
Sheridan, some months since, to make
Investigations into the habits, etc., of the
Indians living within or contiguous to
Ine military division of the Missouri.
Inc district assigned to Lieutenant
Bourke was the southern half of the
DIVISION, the northern portion being al
loted 10 capt. w. Z. Clarke, Second Cav
airy. Bourke has penetrated into a conn.
try never before traversed by white
men, and has written to Gen. Sherman a
| long letter, which contains graphic ac-
count of curious and horrible religions.
ceremony among the remote and almost
unknown Indian tribe, the Moquis, of
northeastern Arizona, people whose
| identity has been preserved since they
were first seen and partially described
| by Spanish Catholic missionaries, in
1886. The rite referred to is the snake
| dance. Lieutenant Bourke says the
| Moquis had a procession divided into
two parts, one of choristers and
| gourd-rattlers, the othsr forty eight
men and children, twenty four of whom
| carried snakes and the 9TH
er twenty-four acted as attendants,
| tanning the snakes with eagle
feathers. The horrible reptiles were car
ried both in the hands and in the mouth.
1t was lothsome sight to see long file
OF naked men carrying these monsters
between their teeth, and tramping around
the long circle to the accompaniment of
funeral dirge of rattles and monotonous
chanting. After a snake had been thus
carried around the circle it was de-
posted in a sacred lodge of cotton
wood sapling, covered with buffalo robes.
and its place taken by another Thus it
was not hard to calculate the number
used, which was not far from 150. rather
over than under. Half the number were
rattlesnakes. The procession entered
through an arcade, marching in a line
of arrow heads four times around
great circle, embracing both the
sacred lodge and the sacred rock. and
then formed in two single ranks. the
choristers facing towards the precipice
and the dancers facing the sacred lodge.
The "high priest" as | call him, took
his station directly in front of the
sacred lodge, and between it and the
sacred rock, which latter is a grim look
ing pile of weatherwOrn sandstone.
twenty or thirty feet high, having a
slight resemblance to a human head.
AT the foot of it is niche in which is a
piece OF black stone, bearing a very
vague appearance to the human trunk.
At the base of this idol are many votiye
offerings to propitiate the Deity to send
plentiful rains. AS the procession files
around the little plaza, the high priest
sprinkles the ground with water, using
an earthen bowl and an eagles feather
as sprinkler. A second medicine man
twirls peculiar sling and makes noise
like the falling of cOpious showers.
When the two lines are halted facing
each other, the dancers, who are first
provided with eagle feathers, wave them
gently downward to the right and left.
while the chOristers shake their rattles,
making a noise like rattlesnake. and at
the same time sing a low and unmusical
chant When this is finished the high
priest holds the bowl towards the sacred
lodge, utters low but audible PRAYER.
and sprinkles the ground again with
water. The singing and feather waving
are repeated, and the first scene is over.
Nothing at all horrible has occur
red yet, but no time is lost be-
fore the second part of the ceremony
The choristers remain in
their places, with the "high priest"
while the dancers, two by two and arm
in arm, tramp with measured tread in a
long circle, embracing the sacred points
already mentioned. Your blood chills
as you see held by the men on the left,
snakes of all kinds wriggling and with
ing, while the right hand man keeps the
reptile distracted by tanning its head
with eagle feathers. There is no dis
count on this part of the business. The
snakes are carried in the hand and mouth,
and, as l have already said, some of
the rattlesnakes were so large-over
five feet-that the dancer could not grasp
the whole diameter in his mouth. AS
the procession filed past the squaWs at
s., the latter threw corn meal before
them on the ground. These snakes,
when thrown to the earth, showed them
selves in most cases to be extremely
vicious, and struck at any one coming
near. In such an event a little corn meal
was thrown upon them, and assistants
running up famed them with the eagle
until they coiled up, and then he
quickly seized them back of the head.
After all the snakes had been put under
3 DuHaIo roDe covering the sacred lodge
there was another prayer, and the second
scene ended.
The third scene commenced almost
and was as follows: The
snakes were sized by ones, twos and half
1ozens, and were thrown into the circle
It E., where they were covered over with
corn meal. A signal was given, and a
lumber of fleet young men grabbed the
snakes in handfuls, and ran at full speed
iown the almost vertical paths in the
ace of the mesa. and upon reaching its
.oot let them go free to the north, the
'outh, the east and the west. The young
men then came back at full run, dashed
through the crowd and on to one of the
'stafas, where, we were told, they had
% swallow potion to induce copious
7omiting, and to undergo other treat
nent to neutralize any bites they might
lave received. OF one thing am as
ured, the Moquis medicine men know
more about snake hites than any people
IN earth, the Asiatic snake-c -charmers not
xcepted.