Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-24
THE MOQUIs' SNAKE DANCE.
The Unconquerable Savage Instincts of
the North American Indians.

the North American Indians.
RELIGIOUS IDEAS OF THE RED MEN-ApHERINa
TO DISGUSTING RITES AND cEREMoNIEs-rHE
BIENNIAL SNAKE DANCE OF THE MoouIs-A
GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE PERfoRMANcEs
The North American Indian has probably
been more interesting and instructive to the
student OF this country than any other of the
many odd creatures around him. He has been
studied with an energy explainable only by the
TACT that In all OF his bearings and surround
lngs he Is thoroughly unique and original and
That this interest in his life habits and charac-
Ter has continued almost undated until the
present is due to the fact that he has. to a sur
prising degree, retained most of his oddities Of
life even amid the rapidly narrowing
circle OF civilization that is surely
closing in around him. He clings to
some of his beliefs and his ways with a
natural tenacity and doggedness that is a strik-
ing elementin his make up. and although num-
bers OF his brothers have wholly surrendered
to the influences OF gentle surroundings he is,
In some respects as much of a savage today as
he was when Columbus first saw him under the
palm trees in the West Indies. This savagery
that has refused to be uprooted by Indian
agents. schools, missionaries and white neigh
bors Is, of course, dying out gradually and
makes It's appearance only in fitful blazes of his
original temper. In many cases the Indian has
been wholly cleansed of his savage propensities
ana Is today on square footing with his white
brother as far as industry, perseverance and a
desire to learn are concerned. But in as many
more instances there are tribes that refuse to be
divorced from their time-hallowed haunts
and habits and INDUCES in their rites and odd
dOings whenever they think that the eve of the
white man is not upon them. Above all things
they dread scrutiny by the pale-faced brother,
and their demeanor toward him is more apt to
show the side of the native that has been
smoothed down by civilization than that which
nearly always exists-the true native tendencies
of the aborigine.
There is no more religious creature on earth
than the indian that is. if pagan superstition
and object worship can be called, as indeed it
has come to be called, religion. There is no
other habit which the Indian gives up more
reluctantly than that of his belief in the
efficacy OF his gods and divinities. He clings
to them much as the child does to the fond be-
lief of Santa Claus and other fictions implanted
IN his tender mind. Children are so con-
| stituted that in years they succumb to the
widening experience they encounter and see
more clearly in the stronger light shed upon
them by higher knowledge, but the Indian
who has no foundation for such a receptive
mind, whose nature is stubborn, whose ten
dency is belligerent, clasps his idols to his
heart and Swears to die before they are torn
from him.
RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.
Such is the spectacle presented today on
number OF our government reservations, where
bands OF Indians, hardly scorched by the fire
OF enlightenment, are virtual pagans and
worshipers of such gods as were the men of
Arya, Chaldea, India and other far-eastern
lands In ages ago. Despite the teachings of
missionaries they continue to perform their
rites with an aboriginal stolidiy that is disheart
enlng. Today some of the most revolving So
called religious" customs are in active exist
ence among them. Dances intended to pro-
plt1ate dlvinities are performed Frequently
embodying disgusting and inhuman formalities
that send ones mind whiriing backward out
OF the nineteenth century into the dark ages
Dances that are meaningless motions to the eye
OF civilized man are to the Indian teeming with
significance. involving the most abject petitions
to the higher powers for favor. There are
rites that shock the cultured senses as being
inhuman, bestial and sinful which to the In
dian are the most sanctiied Of actions.
INDIAN GODS.
An Indian has any quantity Of gods. He has
one for almost every purpose that can come to
man. Every natural object is either divinity
or an approach to one, planet or satellite.
Animals especially are given high places in
the aboriginal calendar of saints, and those
that inspire fear are put upon the top thrones
OF reverence. An Indian does not respect that
OF which he is not afraid. Weaklings and tim
orous animals, without the desire or the power
to harm, are OF no value in his religious mar
ket, his mind bowling only before that of which
1t Is afraid He, worships the syn. which is all
powerful and beyond his reach. Mighty rivers
receive his admiration and reverence. Carniv-
orous animals are gods, snakes are deities. Thus
ms range OF sanctifcation extends through the
Kingdom OF nature until his religion is living
catalogue of fables and legends, all relating to
the influences Of the hundreds of gods upon
his destiny.
THE SNAKE DANCE OF THE MooUrs.
There is singular instance of this habit Of
the American Indian in the snake dance of the
Moquis of Arizona This dance is for the pro-
pitiation of the gods having charge of the crops
and Is performed once every two years at about
!he time OF the harvest moon, usually happen
ing In the latter days of August Word has
been received at the Smithsonian Institution
that the next snake dance of this tribe will take
place In a few days, probably on the 2Sth of
August. There was at one time desire on the
part OF some government officials to suppress
this rite, which is OF a most revolving charac-
ter and even dangerous, but the Moquis have
continued the process uninterrupteoly I'D to
the present and probably will go on with it for
some time. This dance first attracted popular
attention few years ago, when Capt, John q.
Bourke of the third cavalry published a work
on the subject. profusely illustrated, be-
ing the result Of personal investiga-
tions among the tribe. carried on
by dint of sheer hard work, perseverance,.
SouA"6O ouu etcdt endurance. Ibis
work OF Capt. Bourke's called for the many ex-
pressions Of surprise and even discredit from
European savants who could not believe such
things possible. A number Of them afterward
came to this country for the purpose of looking
into the matter and after some researches thew
returned convinced that Capt Bourke had only
shown up part of the true inwardness of the
Indian nature and that his work was in eyery
way accurate and worthy of credence.
CAPT. BoURKE's INVESTIGATIONS
This officer has made quite a study Of the
Indian and has fund of extremely interesting
information concerning him at his tongues
end, ready to pour forth to delight listener
When STAR reporter called on him the other
morning, however, he found the captain busy
in a struggle with the keys of typewriter and |
with but little time to talk about the Mooui
snake dance. Yet he managed to get a good |
deal of information into his disjointed con-
versation and references to his book gave
the scribe pretty good idea of the character |
of the dance.
THE MoQUI TRIBE. |
The Moquis are a separate tribe Of Indians. |
occupying tract Of land in northwestern Ari- |
iona on the Little Colorado and San Juan |
rivers. They are naturally peaceful, but have |
been the bitter enemies Of the Apacbes and |
Navajos for years, these tribes having attacked |
them whenever a chance offered. Thew are |
agricultural in their habits and live in stone
dwellings piled together on cliffs, after the /
manner Of the Indians of New Mexico. There