Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1883-05-09
The Snake-Dance.

| The following Is a travellers narTatly
of the snake-dance, among the MoQui
Indians, a northwestern tribe: Prepa
rationS for the dance had been in pro
gress for eight days. The snake-prieSts
| fOrty-twO in number, devoted the frs
four days to secret rites. The four sue
ceeding days were employed in captur
ing the snakes which haunt the SANDY
plains around the village. With a wand
painted, and bearing at one end two
black eagles feathers, the priests caresS
the heads of the snakes as they coil in
the sand. The snake-priests are sup
posed to have borrowed this idea from
the habits of the eagle, which, when
capturing snakes, is said to charm them
TO comparative harmleSsness by hover
ing over and tanning them with rapid
and peculiar motion of its wings. Hav-
ing secured sufficient number of the
reptiles, they are carried i'll sacks to the
estufa-the councilhouse of the Moquis.
This chamber is an excavation in the
solid rock from nine to ten feet deep.
by eighteen feet wide and twenty feet
long, covered with poles, mud, and
stones. Hung on the walls in fantastic
groups are highly ornamented mocca-
sins, breech-cloths, wristbands, rattles,
and tOrtOiSe-Shells.
On the morning of the dance we were
granted admission to the estufa, and on
descending by ladder from the centre
of the roof, we found the snakes, from
one hundred and twenty to one hundred
and fifty i'll number, contained in large
oval earthenwaTe urnS. Soon after we
had entered a ceremony was gone
through by those of the priesthood who
were present. Pouring the living mass
out of their Ums, they, with their
wands, drove them around the floor of
the estufa from east to west, and then
around an altar laid in the rock floor
two feet from the west wall of the
building.
The priests all wore waistband,
breechcloth, and moccaSins fringed with
red; besides which, their faces We're
painted, from forehead To mouth, black
from mouth over the chin, white; their
bodies, pink; their arms and legs dyed
a dark brown. Around the right leg,
below the knee, was attached an orna-
ment made of tOrtOiSe-Shell, together
with the horny part of deer'S hOOf,
which III the dancing that followed pro-
duced sort of humming rattle reSemb-
ling the noise of rattleSnake in anger.
During their exercises i'll the estUfa, the
priests drank freely from a large urn
containing medicine water.
The snake dance Itself took place
about four o'clock in the afternoon. \
cottonwood grotto had been erected on
the rock near the estufa, with a single
buffalo robe tied firmly around it, leav-
ing small entrance on one side.
Around this was traced Il mystic circle
thirty feet III diameter. Within the
grOtto the snakes We're now deposited
eIt HtdSSe.
The dancers We're twenty-fOur III
number, the remaining eighteen priests
being reserved to receive the snakes
from their hand, and to chant during
the progress of the dance. The dancers
Inst advanced towards the grotto, wands
III hand. Then wheeling round, they
separated twelve a side, and formed III
Il line, representing tine two sides of a
triangle, of which the grotto was the
apex. The eighteen followed, dividing
equally and facing the dancers. while
all joined in Wild chant. The chief
priest then advanced To the centre of
the grOttO, bearing an urn of medicine
water from the eSJufa, two large sea-
shells, and two stone figures of noun
tam lions. Chanting III Il monotone, he
stood for about ten minutes waving the
urn i'll the air. Another dance and
chant followed; upon the conclusion OF
which, the nearest priest ON the right
entered the grOttO on hands and knees
among the writhing and hIdeous mass,
soon Te-appearing with a large snake i'll
his mouth, It's head and tail twisted
about his face. Being taken by the
left arm by fellow priest next INN, he
was led around the mystic circle. The
snake was then dropped ON some sacred
corn meal which the squaws had scat
tered within its bounds. Immediately
| on falling the creature cOiled i'll anger
whereupOn one of the eighteen careSSed
its head with his wand and took ii IL
his hands. The ceremony was then re.
peated by the other dancers, who, en-
| Jerlng the grOttO on hands and knees
| brought out the snakes in their mouths
sometimes two at time, and danced
round the circle on the rocks with them
| until the whole had been taken from
| the gTotto and placed in the hands Oi
the attendant priests. The snakes wer,
then thrown, Il writhing mass, into ;
pile of com-meal, upon which the whole
priesthood rushed peli-mell to the pile
and SeiZimg them in their hands, divided
INTO four bands, tore wildly down tn,
rocky slopes, and liberated their cap
tives i'll the sands on the north, south
east and west of the village.