The record-union., 1893-09-16
HOPI BLACKSNAKE DANCE.
A Frightful Ceremony in a Sub
terranean Temple.
The Skill of the Arizona Indians In
Making Images That Counterfeit
the Form and Activity of Living
serpents-Snakes the Emblems of
Pain Goda
Rain Gods.

Away Oh In northern AIlZOHAsf1u On0
of the most desolate regions of North
America, live the primitive Hopi or Mo-
kis, a most interesting people with re-
ligious ritual full of strange ceremonies
that have been handed down unchanged
for centuries. Isolated as they are IN the
midst Of desert, and still farther cut off
from the world by the fact Of their dwell
ing on the SUBMITS of almost inaccessible
cliffs, they remain the same to-day that
they were when the adventurous Coro-
nado marched to the conquest of the Pue-
bio country in 1911.
One of their strange ceremonies is that
commonly spoken of as the Snake Dance,
which occurs every alternate year, usu-
ally about the end of j uly, on some of the
three mesas on which their villages are
built. In this dance, which is an invoca-
ton or Precipitation of the rain gods, the
performers carry living rattlesnakes In
their mouths as they circle about IN step
with the songs. The Hopl are an agrl-
cultural people, and Arizona IS one OF the
most arid countries in the world. Nat
urally enough, most of their sacred
dances are intended to bring plentiful
supply of rain or moisture upon the
crops. The rain gods are always SYM
bolized as serpents.
Another of these war dances is the Pa
luli-kong, or Dance of the Black Water
snake, which occurs every year about the
end of February. This is a ceremonial
prayer to the black watersnake, the great
water god, to send abundant moisture,
either snow or rain, upon the ground be-
tore they begin the spring planting. L
once had an opportunity of witnessing
the most interesting part of this ceremo-
IA fcpHinry the 9aPr66 snakes
and it was the widest and most startling
performance in all my Indian expert
ence. The whole ceremony occupies
fifteen days and nights, and is partici-
pated in by all the various sacred orders;
but the feeding of the snakes, which
takes place three days before the culmi-
nation, is performed at night in the kiva
or subterranean chamber OF the priests OF
one particular order, whom, for conve-
n1ence, we may designate as the priests
OF the black Watersnake. The writer was
making some ethnologic collections and
Investigations among the HOpi. and had
taken up temporary residence for the
purpose in one of their villages called
Tewa on the first mesa. On the same
mesa are two other villages, separated
from each other only few hundred
yards, and it was at the farther of these,
Walpi, that the strange rite took place.
After several days had been occupied in
LQ6 VI W uNcu WAS a
ceremonial race by the priests around the
entire circuit of the mesa-notIce was
given that the snakes were to be fed that
night in the snake kiva at Walpl. AT the
other village the writer found another
ethnologist, A. \. Stephen, who has been
making a study of this people for years.
His quarters were close TO the Snake
Rock, around which the dancers go i'll
the snake dance already referred to, and
on the other side was the kiva of the
priests of the black watersnake. The
kiva was a grotto followed out of the liv-
ing rock and rooted over level with the
courtyard. The entrance was a square
hole in the root, just large enough TO adj
nit man, through which a ladder pro-
jected from below.
Together the two white met descended
and found themselves in an OblOng cham
her about twenty-five in length. In the
center was burning a small fire, upon
which an old man from time to time put
fresh twigs from a pile at his side. At
the further end was a sort OF low stage,
upon which was growing the sacred corn
and beans which had been planted with
much solemn ritual in the same place
twelve days before. This was the first
surprise-corn growing inside, while the
wintry blasts were bowling without, and
the fresh green of the young blades,
which were several inches high had q
QIGltH Sl16Cts AtIOoS LILO lOOI 1IOuL Vi
the stage was long pole, the purpose OF
which was understood later. The walls
and the round logs which formed the
rafters were covered with symbolic fig
ures in green, yellow, black and red,
representing the clouds, the rain, the
lightning and the rain-gods or snakes.
One painted snake extended the whole
length OF the rafter.
The snake images which were to be
used in the performance were piled just
in front of the growing corn. They were
of enormous size and startling realistic.
The heads were evidently of wood, painted
black, with large circles for the eyes,
horned like the horned serpents of Orien-
tai mythology, with double rows OF
cleaning white teeth, through which
projected red forked tongues. Their
bodies, almost as large in the middle as a
mans leg, were painted dark above and
lighter below, and apparently were made
of the stout cloth which the Hopi weave.
The makeup was perfect and so uncan-
ny in its fidelity to nature that it gave
one the cold chills to look at them.
The performers to the number of about
thirty were already stripped to the
breech-cloth, and, with turtleshell rat
ties fastened to their right legs, were
dancing in unison with a slow chorus
which Mr.. stephen, who understood the
words, explained was an invocation to
the clouds to come near and give their
moisture to fertilize the land of the Hopi.
The dancers moved in double file in a
semicircle from one side to the other of
the kiva, and then, at the signal given by
a rattle, faced about and danced back
AGAIN. They were Of all ages, from gray
haired old men to one little fellow about
II wears old, whose legs were too short to
reach the floor when they sat along q
bench of rock at the side to rest between
the songs.
The songs were like all Indian songs,
. weird. slow. monotonouS and oft-repeat-
ed. and the burden of all was prayer to
the water gods and an invocation of the
spirits of the thunder, the cloud and the
rain, AT last, nearly at the midnight
hour, two of the performers took hold of
the long pole stretched across in front OF
the stage, and, fastening cords TO its ends,
drew it quickly up to the rafters. We
now saw that st was attached to a curtain,
which was drawn up TO conceal the stage
inst as in a real theater. The curtain
also was covered with symbolic figures
i'm various colors, mostly representations
of various mythical deities, and all very
artistieally drawn. The Indian is an art
ist by instinct, and always puts forth bis
best efforts in the depicting of his myth
cal Pantheon. Across the lower part OF
the curtain were six large holes, closed
for the time by movable flags of uniform
nattern with the curtain itself.
The sudden hush that fell on the assem-
blv showed that we were approaching a
climax. Six naked performers stepped
ont from the rest, and going to the front.
took up each a snake and disappeared be-
hind the curtain. Another fastened 8
cort of tube or band over one shoulder
aud passed through it one of the largest
snakes. grasping it tightly by the neck
,rnder the right arm. Another, an old
man. naked like the rest, but with small
Lnnch hanging from his neck. then put
pOo0. = I.s.d O mask rnairlfad rrhifa nUit b