Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1893-09-02
ARTIST LUNGREN'S LUCK.
lie Sees and Tells of the Famous
Snake Dance of the Pagan
IIo-pi Indians.
Real Live Rattlers Harmless as Doves
"A Barbara Ceremony and
Its Why's and Where
fores.

ISltS.
Mr.. F. II. Lungren the brilliant artist
who prefers New Mexico to Europe rs
affording opportunity for studying effec
and picturesqueness, has just returned
from novel experience among tho Mo
qui, or, as he terms them, the Hop
Indians, which means peaceful men
Moqui is a term of rcproach applied t.
them by the Piutes and the Navajos, ant
means dead men, and refers to the fac
that their enemies thought them iner
and listless in self-defense or revenge.
During his stay among the Hops Mr.
Lungren witnessed
THE FAMOUS SNARE DANCE,
and he gives many quaint descriptions o
the ceremonial incident to it. He is one
of four white men who have been initiated
into the priesthood of the Antelopes and he
has therefore been admitted into the kiva
or underground chamber, corresponding
to the estufa of Spanish speaking
Puoblos.
He describes these people as veritablt
pagans, the last remnant in the United
States Of pure idol worship. Not An iotf
of Christianity has permeated thor theol
ogy. They say the Christian ''cachinas'
or gods may be good but they know theil
own gods to be better. So hostile are
they to christianity that they have refused
to sell the mystery of their snake dance
to the Zunis, who have repeatedly offered
beeves and other riches for it. The reply
this year as every other is, you have hat
your heads washed by the Spaniards ant
are not worthy" This means baptism
The Zunis this year made strong plet
on the ground that white men had beer
initiated; but after some deliberation owe.
this poser the priests concluded that thu
Pahanos had not
HAD THEIR HEADS WASHED
By the Spaniards and the plea was void
Pahano means American and comes from
the Navajo Pelicano.
THESE PEOPLE
live in northeastern Arizona. There ar
three mesas upon which the seven vii
| lagos are situated. On the eastern one
the principal pueblo, Walpi, where tn
| dances take place, and Cichumivi, Tegua o
Hano, on the middle mesa is Chimopav:
Chimolavi and Chipolavi. On the ives
mesa is the pueblo of Oraib. There ar
about 1000 Of these Ho-pis all told, an
about 700 of them inhabit the town o
Walpi.
Mr.. Lungren was adopted into thi
tribe by Mashiumptawa, former hig
priest of the Antelopes, the chief priest
hood, in the pueblo, and his name
Honani Mungwee, or badger chief, afte
his mother, as all descent among the In
dams goes through the female.
Mr. Lungren describes the ceremonie
of these Indian dances as all connecte
with rainmaking, and he intimates tina
the Indian priests are shrewd enough
know when rain is coming or likel,
Preparatory to the snake dance there is
nine days ceremony, the first three {
which is devoted to publication an
prayer by the priests shut up in THE
kiva. On the fourth day the
RATTLE SNAKES ARE COLLECTED
from the north, on the fifth day from til
west and So on. On the eighth day til
Antelope priests dance, and on the mint
just as the sun is setting and the dane
court in shadow the snake dance take
place.
Some have never believed that thes
reptiles used were regular biting rattlers
but Mr.. Lungren says this is really tru
| As they are brought il on the sever;
days they are placed in the kisl or snal
house, from which they are not take
until the dance begins.
The Antelope priests begin the cer
monies by stalking in grandly. The
control all the dances, and the religion
insignia, called Pabos, must be receive
from them. After them come the snal
men, two and two, one with his left arr
around the neck of the other. They Giro
the court and in passing the snake hous
the led one seizes snake, which he cal
his elder brother, places it in his mout
and Immediately is supposed to becon
blind. The other leaning on and leadin
him attracts the snakes attention b
gently waving a sacred wand of two Gag
feathers before its face preventing
from striking. After the circuit of IL
court the snakes are thrown into I'll
court and the snake men return to IL
kisi for more. After the procession fo
lows gatherer who grabs the reptiles
they are thrown aside and piles them
the center of the court. They are then
, srR1NKLED WITH SACRED MEAL
and the snakes grabbed up and restored |
. their native vega Or meadow at the 70,
of the high rock on which Walpi stand
: Although over 80 rattlesnakes were use
this year no one was bitten.
Mr.. Lungren describes himself stan
ing on the edge of the rock which had
fall of 200 feet down behind him, and
the snakes were dropped out of the I
dians' mouths he could feel some of the
+ crawling around his feet before they We
suatched by the gatherer.
This ceremony is biennial and alte
mates with the flute dance, which like q
other Ho-pi dances is to bring rain
Mr.. Lungren's pictures show these pc
pie to be fine looking race. The
! women are pretty. A girl is known as
Mana, and wears her hair in two doub
rolls on each side of her head, called Il
. virgin discs. The married women we
+. it long and bound in a sort of club ill
f arrangement. They are very chaste, nj
) the men are monogamists.