The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-31

wore a little eagle feather in his hair.
| Each of the snake men had a whip form.
ed of two sticks tied together, with three
eagle feathers tied to it. This was usea
| to beat back the snakes and distract their
I attention.
| Il saw a boy not more than ten years
| old running around in the kiva. with a
| Iattlesnake in his mouth. the snake beina
so big that it dragged on the ground. /
| saw another little Indian boy. who had
| just been initiated into the snake order
| bitten b. one of the reptiles. He was get,
| ting used to the bushes when the snakt
| turned on him and bit him in the forehn-
| ger. This little fellow was not more than
| 5 years of age If that. The snake which
/ bit him, fortunately was not one OF the
! poisonous kind. The child whimpered a lit
| tie, but his father spoke a word to him
| and he stopped Immediately, as there Is
| not allowed to be a word spoken during
| the proceedings in the kiva.
/ THE ceremonies were begun with low
| chant. Each of the squatted men, who
were not taking part in the ceremonies.
held up their whips with the eagle feathers
and beat time. The priests standing at
| the Jars, lifted the buckskin covering gem
thy from the tops of the Jars and suddenly
| dashed their hands down In them. As the
| snakes were taken out the chant increased
| in volume. The men passed the snakes
| to the other priests near the middle of the
| room, in front of whom were bowls con-
| tanning some decoction. These priests
took the snakes, holding them in their fists.
| with the heads pointing upward, over the
bowl. keeping time with the snakes, mean
! while, as the chant was sung. 1t raised
| higher and higher until it resembled a
| Veritable war cry. AT this point the priests
| plunged the snakes into the water, then
| threw them across the room on the altar.
which was about three feet square The
alt qYs rHrac r;4T,
| snakes fell off as they were thrown on the
altar, as sometimes happened. they would
| dart across to the group OF squatted men,
| but We're beaten back by the whips and
| their attention distracted by having the
| eagle feather dangling before them. If one
would coil he would he beaten out of 1t
| by a whip until he would get straight and
then would be picked up by the back of the
neck. The Indians handled them with ex-
| IRENE careiessness, some times as if they
| had been mere ribbons.
| The operation was repeated until the
snakes lay a squirming mass on the altar
| The light reflected on the faces of the In
! dams, together with the bunch of snakes
| and the whole surroundings, made IL ap-
pear veritable pit of demons l occupied
a position among the priests on the south
east side. There were about ninety snakes
| altogether, a majority of them being rat
| tlesnakes. 1t was hard to understand how
the priests kept from being bitten. They
We're apparently careless with the REPTILES
| out they knew how to handle them
This washing occurred at noon of the
ninth day The Mokis are very careful
| when they enter upon these ceremonies TO
| be perfectly clean, and the snake washing
| follows as matter of course, as the rep
| tiles are included in it,
In the meantime a cottonwood booth
| had been constructed in the center of the
| plaza. When the washing was finished.
| the snakes We're placed in bag and put
| IN TINS. The remaining time until the last
| ceremonies was spent by the priest and
| members of the order in attring them
| selves for the last rite. which began about
| 6 o'clock. AT that time the Indians ap-
peared in the plaza. the Antelope order
| marching around four times, finally lin
| ing up in a platoon with the booth In the
| center. The Antelope priests simply form
| ed the chorus of the proceedings, not
| handling the snakes. They do all the
| singing. After they had lined themselves
| up the snake priests came in. I forgot to
mention that inlfront of the booth is a log
| of wood set in the ground. This had a
! hole in 1t, though which a communication
| is supposed to be made with the under
| world. AS the Indians pass this they
J stamp on the log. ostensibly to let the
! gods know that they are going on with
| the ceremonies
/
four times around the booth, stamping on
! the log as the Antelopes had done, fin
| ally forming parallel platoon with the
| latter. The Antelopes began singing and
| the snake priests and members divided
! into trios. One is called a Carrier one a
'hugger' and the other a 'gatherer'
There is a man In the booth who hands,
| out the snakes. The carrier approaches 1t
! and is given one. The hugger puts his
arm around his neck. as the carrier places
| the snake in his mouth, holding il near
! the neck so that 1t cannot bite him easily
If the snake gets too obstreperous the
! hugger beats ii with the snake whip he
carries in his hand, around the others
neck The gatherer follows behind to pick
up any snake that may drop.
J ''As the singing increased the excitement
| grew intense, sometimes the priest hav
ing three or four snakes in his mouth at
one time swaying and dancing in an &c
i stasy or religious enthusiasm. My friend
4 the chief snake priest. had little snake
! less than six inches long, which he found
himself He put the tail end of the snake
in his mouth and the head part was stick
ing out like a cigar, as he pranced up and
! down in time TO the singing.
"One of the priests took a handful of
the sacred meal and made little circle
with 1t on the plaza in which the snakes
are all bundled. Another priest address
ed a prayer TO them, which is supposed
to be an admontion to the snakes to tell
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