The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1889-10-25
MOCuIS SNAKE DANCE.
A III gu'tlng Ceremony hat Has ..
Equal o. Cruei Terror

Equal ~ Cruel Terror
In the village Of the Moquis indians
in Arizona there II celebrated -
year the snake dance, ceremony of q
secret Indian society. which ms ,,
its equal In cruel terror. The prcp,1-
ration for the affair takes sixtcon days
During the first eight days the mod
cine men and chiefs put the dancing
place In order. and brew secret
drink which secures them against .
effects OF the poisonous bites. Dur
ing the last eight days the snakes are
hunted for which are 10 be tho inroi-
untary particlpatOrs ia the "danco. y
This year there were gathered about
$50 snakes Of fair size. Tn; Mo- s
first subjected them TO sudden coii
bath, rolled them in the sand r.il
they were dry, and then laid them Ia
large stone jnrs, which were then
sealed air-tight with tanned skins.
Nobody thought Of extracting tho
poisonous fangs Of the scrpcnts
Through that tho effects Of tho
"charm" would have been destroyed.
On the evening Of the feast ''gcn-
cral rehearsal" was held, which. how
ever, proved harmless, for in that tho
snakes were not brought into reqnial-
,ion. After the "nctive members
had sung and danced enough, they
went 20 rest 10 prepare thcmsclyc1 Tor
the work Of the next day. Close 10
the village there had been erected =
large wooden structure where tue
snakes, carefully tied In bags, wore
brought Before this shanty cxtond-
ed big, clear space, In the middle ~
which there lay n heavy stone. Boz
fore the door Of the shanty thorc lay n
long board, which was scrubbed cloan
aud gprinklcd with Indian moal 10
keep all evil spirits AWAY from tho
dancers. Then came tho dancors
The first group Of them. con-
tcally decorated. Each Moqui held in
one hand rattlcr and In the other II
stick, on the end Of which were fast
oned turkey feathers. The warriors
marched around tho place several
times In n CcrcmOniOus manner, md
then settled ut one end Of IL. Those
were the singers, whose duty IL was 10
enhance tho feast by their song. Then
came the real warriors. also consisting
Of thirty six men. They were groo'cd
with howl. aud the singers then -ont
forth their songs" and thus tho
real foast commenced. Tho dancers
marched In order into the shanty un-
tied the bags and took ns many snakes
ms each could carry, and returned 10
the dancing place. Once thorc, the
dancers put the heads Of tho snakes
into their mouths IL was n ter
rlblo sight To- see tho disgusting
animals make vain attempts To FREQ
themselves from their uncomfortable
position. Other warriors considered
IL an honor 10 hold the snakes by the
tails and keep them 80 straight that
they could not wind themselves around
the breast and neck Of the dancor5. h7
soon IA they completed one circlo
around the place, the snakes wore spit
out and caught by others, who carried
them around IN u circle until the whole
aance was over. New snakes wcro
constantly being supplied from tho
shnnty aud put In tho mouth until the
whole stock was exhausted.
During all this the singers wcrc
heard To mako diaboical noise, the
dancers jumped and wrigglod like
crazy devils, and the scared snakes in
many cases liberated themselves from
tho hands OF the attendants, who held
them by the tail ends, and then
squlrmod and struck around thom.
Sometimes snake got out Of the mouth
OF ono OF Tn, dancers. and as quick ns
an arrow disappeared in the crowd
that surrounded the place. Tho women
and girls screamed and cried, and
tried to save themselves by Night
while tho "warriors' sought to rctaSc
the fugitivcs.
At last tho dance was over. The
snakes were carefully replaced in their
cases aud taken away. and next day
set nj liberty again. The tired dancSrs
refreshed themselves with "wcll-
deserved" meal. and went to rest. and
soon the sccnc OF the strange occur
renee was deserted and empty. Tho
Moquis keep tho composition Of thcir
charm-drink. which makes the bite OF
the snakes harmless, rs n great secret
chronological Journal