Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-10-17
THE MOQUI SNAKE DANCE.
INDIANS WHO FAST FOR FOUR DAYS IN A DEN
or POISONOUS REPTTLEs--rHE FANTASTIC


III. harrow, the curator of reptiles at the
smithsonian. who went to witness the Moqui
indian snake dance in Arizona has returned
aioer q very thrilling experience and his de-
scription OF wha, he saw is intensely interesting
Every two years the Pueblo Indians at Moqui
Mesa, Arizona, have q snake dance in honor of
the rain god. II is q wild aud fantastic cere-
mony, and has not been witnessed by many
white men. II occurs between the 10th
anu ieth OF september, every second year, and
Is the occasion Of the grandest convocation OF
tue trioe 1t consists OF a dance in which the
i mpst poisonous snakes take part, the Indians
through the dance.
~ 1T Is a sight beyond description" says
amazement / could not believe that sane
men would dare to handle as they do rep
vicious to the last extreme There Is q SNAKE
That somewhat resembles the RATHER but is not
venomous IL was Thought 10 be probable that
went out to see IL this were the case and / can
now vouch for the genuineness of the rattlers
poisonous kind 1t is the Widest and most
wonderful thing I ever saw. Four DAYS before
the incarnation the candidates for the order of
the snake-young men of the tribe remarkable
for their witness and agility-go out TO hunt
the snakes to take part In the ceremony They
t nave ,oaJ DAYS u which 70 capture enough for
cfent number they are all put together in an
'estufa. or underground chamber. There they
are turned loose. and the Indians live there with
them for four days and nights, without food. 1t
Is a terrible thing to think Of These men and
snakes living and sleeping together. Just be-
fore the dance took place was shown into this
estufaor.
HOLE IN THE GROUND,
and introduced to the chief OF the snake men
as the great fathers keeper OF snakes who had
come to see If the Moqui snakes were like those
Envnf hxvf b. EnxI
that small dark room were forty men crow ded
together and seventy five serpents four-fifths OF
winch were venomous rattlesnakes. They were
not confined in any way. They found an i'm
mense squlrming mass in one side of the room,
wnlle the Indians were crowded together i'm the
other. They were of all sizes and OF the most
vicious sort, and could have DESTROYED the men
In very short time; yet the Indians were with
them night and day, with no other protection
The snake whip is little stick with bunch of
feathers tied to the end of il. Every now and
then some big serpent will crawl out from the
mass and begin TO glide about the room, or will
coil himself up on the floor and show night The
old snake keeper then glides up to him quickly
and tickles his head with the feathers until he
drives him back to his place. The indian Is
very quick and serpent-like in his movements
and is very gentle with his whip. He never
excitement. When the snake glides out from
one corner the Indian giides out from another
and they approach each other more like two
snakes than snake and a man. This gentle
persuasion is all the power these men have over
the serpents: and 1t Is the only protection for
their lives. They are swarthy wild determined
looking men, and the chief had a wild ferocitv
OF expression that made him terrible to look
upon. When they were told had come into
the estufa to examine the serpents one of the
Indians passed quickly over to the pile of
snakes, picked up a large RATHER and brought il
TO me in his hand, holding ii just little back of
its mouth, displaying its poison fangs, but the
Indian manifested not the least fear and even
squeezed 1t to make it show its fangs better /
nnp full os,A fS,,,.x
be rattiesnake OF
THE MOST POISONOUS KIND.
ats fangs had not been removed, and it was
perfectly capable OF dealing death blow ex-
amined the pile of reptiles and found that at
least four-fifths of them were of this same spe-
cies. Their fangs had not been removed nor
had they been drugged in any way. They would
coll up for hight in minute. Some of the
measured as much as five feet
ION the third day after they have taken up
their abode with the snakes. the Indians have
a preliminary dance. They build a screen of
cotton wood boughs, in front OF which they
stretch buffalo hide. They then dig a hole
in the ground near the skin and cover IL over
with boards. They then dance around circle.
chanting wild fncautation, aud when they
reach the boards stamp their feet. The
movement Is different from that in
any other of the savage dances IL is
simply graceful sliding motion of the legs
Besides the snake men there is a higher order
called the Antelopes who take part in the
dance At O'Clock in the evening of the fourth
day the great snake dance takes place The
Antelopes march out upon the plaza first and
form a line opposite the screen. The snakes
are brought out in skin bags, which are placed
near the screen. Then the candidates for the
painted black with white stripe around the
face across the nose They wear tight buckskin
suits ornamental with tortoise shell trinkets
anu red feathers Then they begin their strange
incarnation, chanting some wild melody, while
the medicine man stands by whrling some
sort OF baton in the air, making a noise like
distant thunder m lone
serpentine line In front Of the bags OF snakes
and begin the dance, making the whole Ii ne
DRY motion running down the line as they move
forward. Alter dancing in this way for a short
time, getting more and more excited at every
maniacs, for the bags OF snakes. Without a mo-
ments hesitation, and without fear or caution
they dive their hands into the bags and take
THE WRITING REPTILES
"They take them in their teeth about four
inches from the head and rush back to continue
the dance, with the snakes hanging from their
with their necks crossed Those of the order
of the Antelope then take their places very
quickly, one behind each snake man, with his
arm across the dancers back, and tickles the
snakes head with the feather whip. All this Is
done with a mad rush and q savage frenzy
Sometimes the snakes will turn their heads
towards the dancers cheek and try to bite him.
The Antelope will then, not brush him away
with the whip, but will take the serpent's head
AZ LIS uauu anu eur III Ii Tue olncr way. .Mcah-
while they all move on i'm their wild dance As
they become more excited they get more indif-
ferent to danger. Suddenly they drop the
snakes from their mouths. AS soon as they
touch the ground the snakes coil up and show
fight. This Is one of the most dangerous situa-
tions. The people from the three of the Indian
towns near by are crowded around i'm a circle,
and there are enough snakes thus set at liberty
to kill many people. But not the least fear is
on any hand. The Antelopes rush
upon the snakes, and, tickling them with the
whips to make them uncoil, grab them
up In their bare hands and put them back in
the bags. While the dance goes on twelve vir-
meal, which they throw on the dancers as they
pass. When the snakes are back in the bags
these virgins dance about q circle chanting
some wild refrain. while they make a large
ring of the sacred corn-meal. The snakes are
then let loose in this ring, and the dancers
their angry movements, seize as many as they
can in their hands, rush with them down into
the valley and liberate the reptiles at the four
points OF the compass The whole thing takes
only q few minutes, but 1t is wonderful sight.
The fearlessness OF the sayages in handling
these dangerous reptiles Is almost beyond be-
lief.'
A MYSTERIOUS ANTIDOTE.
"During the performance" continued the doc
tor, ''only two men were bitten, and they by
large and harmless snakes One was bitten on
the cheek and the other on the hand. For these
bites the chief of the snake-men has an anti
dOte-or rather what they claim as an antidote,
with which they battle the wound, and which
the man who Is bitten also takes Internally.
There Is some of 1t brought home with me-"
and he pointed to bottle OF lia uid almost the
The art of making it is o secret held by no one
but the chief and his wife, and il Is guarded