The herald., 1893-09-05
sERPENTS THEIR DECORATIONS,
The Wild, Weird Festival of
the Moqui Indians.
Reptiles Carried in the Mouth and
Hands of Naked Savages.
The Peculiar Religious Frenzy OF .
Well to- Do Indian Tribe An
Herb Tes Which is Believed
to Be Bite Cure.

Needles Eye. OF all the peculiar GUS
toms and ceremonies of the North Amer
lean Indians it may truly be said that
there Ia none so weird, wild and FAM
tastic aB the snake dance OF the MoQuis
"a tribe Of Indians who are located
some go miles north OF Winslow, Ariz.
Like most of the festivals of the abor.
igines, the dance is held for the purpose
of propitating the Great Spirit that he
may send rain.
The snake dance of the Moquis is held
every two years, always in the month of
August. and not earlier than the 18th
nor later than the goth. The religious
ceremonies incident to the dance last
nine days, the dance taking place be-
tween O'Clock and sundown OF the last
day. This year it occurred on Monday,
the 14th. 1t is always held at village
called Hualapi, one OF three Of the
Moquis. This village is located on a
high mesa, which is fully 600 feet above
the surrounding country, trends north
and south, ia probably mile in length
and varies in width from several humid
red yards to an eighth of q mile. There
is beautiful valley on each side Of this
elevated tableland, cultivated by the In
dians and studded with corn fields,
watermelon and squash patches and
peach orchards. The village faces east,
and the dance takes place In an open
court in front of 1t. There is space of
probably $50 feet between the houses of
the village and the edge Of the cliff and
this constitutes the court.
Fully 100 live snakes are used in the
dance, of which at least 80 per cent are
rattlesnakes with fangs unpulled. The
remainder are whip and bull snakes.
The serpents as a rule are quite large,
many OF them being four feet in length.
The dance this year was particularly
interesting, and party from this place
and Winslow who witnessed the specta-
Gle will not soon forget it. Weird and
strange as the festival is ordinarily, it
was doubly impressive on this occasion
from the fact that tie elements con-
tributed to the wild realism OF the
scene. A storm had been threatening
for several hours, and when the dance
was at it's height it broke. The whole
made q picture that would require the
brush OF an Angelo to do 1t justice.
Dense black clouds settled like pail
over the plateau, the lightning flashed
and zigzagged incesHantiy, while up the
valley from the south could be ssen
sandstorm approaching, the swirling
clouds of sand moving forward toward
the scene of the dance az if to heighten
the effect. 1t was mad revelryl
THE ANTELOPE DANCE.
Previous to the dance an Indian brave
approached with q gunny-sack full OF
snakes, which he deposited in tepee
in front OF the houses facing the court.
1t was heavy load, for he bent almost
double under it's weight.
After this preliminary preparation
was made the antelope dance" which
is soit OF an introduction to the snake
dance, began. Sixteen braves entered
the court from an underground cavern,
led by onsTvho assumed cthes role OF
clown and ia called i"thei devil chaser"
by the Indians. These dancers were
profuselyi streaked with white paint,
while their bodies were liberally pow
dered. In one hand they carried an in
strument shaped like dinner bell, the
mouth of which was covered with dried
buckekin, painted white. This was
filled with seeds and beans and was
used as rattle.
The antelope dancers made the circuit
of the court three times, marching
slowly in single file to the music Of q
low chant which they sang themselves.
As they passed in front of the tepee on
each round each dancer struck a board
which had been laid across trench dug
for the purpose-a terrific blow with
his right foot, making hollow sound.
After making the circuit OF the court
three times the dancers formed in line,
facing the east, eight on each side OF
the tepee.
THE SNAKE DANCERS.
After the antelope dancers had formed
in two parallel lines, chanting all the
while in low voice, the snake dancers
entered. There were 81 of them, and
among them were four small boys,
between the ages OF and 10, probably
entered as novitiates. The braves were
as fine looking specimens of Indian
manhood az the imagination could paint
after reading Fenimore Cooper's Leather
Stocking Tales. They were we'll formed,
supple limbed, their skin beautiful
bronze and their hair as black as Erebus.
Each wore on the calf of his leg tor
toise shell, attached to which were
number OF mussel shells, which music
ally ratified with each step. Their dress
was limited to little frocks, suspended
from the waist and reaching to the,
thighs, while their head.dress consisted
of feathers OF different colors. Each car
ried in his right hand a long eagle feather
and in the left a stick somewhat similar
to small boomerang. The legs, arms
and faces of the dancers were painted
shining black blue. They wore look
of intense and stern determination on
their faces, and never bestowed glance
upon the spectators during the progress
OF the dance.
Tne snake dancers passed before the
tepee in large circle, and as they
crossed the board they struck it in the
same manner as the antelope dancers
had done. They circled around the
court three times in single file, the
antelope dsncers chanting all the time,
after which they formed in line facing
the antelope dancers. The latter then
sung seversl chants in very low tone,
go low that the spectators 30 feet away
could hardly locate the sound, the snake
dancers joining in the chorus and keep
ing time with their feet.
After this part of the ceremony bad
been kept up for about 20 minutes the
snake dancers started out again in single
file. AS they pasted the tepee each al
ternate brave-the four boys being ex-
cepted-Went into the tepee. After q