Phoenix weekly herald., 1897-09-02
xHE MoQUl SNAKE DANOE.
Interesting Description By an Eye
 Witness.


 Indians, their customs, country en g recent snake dance. MT. Stoddsr ? stated that the nearest starting roin Q for the Moqui country is Holbrook. th
 Moqui villages being distant oLly 3 miles from that point The Stoddar' party ho wever, went by way of Flag 2 staff, an ovsriapd trip of hundred ant 5 sixty miles. Five visitors, cook and
 guide, two wagons and several saddl
 horses comprised the party and equip
 age. The first dey's march covered , eighteen miles of beautiful country be ) tween Flagstaff and Turkey Tank. at
 which latter point the first camp wal
 made. the surroundings, such as good
 water, wood, stc., being all that could
 be desired. The nexb days drive
 brought the party to the Grand Falls oi
 the Little Colorado Fiver, twenty five
 miles from Turkey Tanks. After leav.
 ing the. Colorado river, the party start
 ed eoFoss the Pointed Desert for BuEro Springs, forty five miles distane, and
 guide lost his bearings and the party
 was lost for thirtytwo hours without
 water, but the fifty quarts of Apolinsris
 water in she wagon prevented any bangs of thirst from essailing man or
 beast. The guide Is said to have had
 the same correct idea of the route
 that the eastern tourist has of Arizona i who passed through it in the night on 6
 Pullman. He had evidently crossed the desert before, but was by no means
 desert wise. The road across this de-
 eert, dim as all timee, is frequently washed away by foods OF covered by
 sand storms. From the Little Colo
 rodo to BurFo Springs the route lies through tbe Navajo reservation. The first Moqui were seen at Burro Springs There are nineteen villages in Ra- dius of foFby miles. The population
 Is given as 1900 souls. One of the two
 principle villages is Wslpi, which with
 Hewa and Sjchumnsvi, two lesseE will
 lggee, is situated on top of a small
 mesa which rises abruptly $50 feet above the valleys which almost encir- cie it. The top of the! mesa is about one helf mile in length, 200 feet scFoss at the widesb point, between two of the villages. The top of this mesa is reached from the valley below by wind- ing and difficult trails. The ipbebi- tants of these 6hree villages represent three distinct branches of.bhe Moqui. tribe, and the inhabitants of each vii
 lage speak 8 language different from that spoken in the other villages These three villgages have population of 600 souls. The people are small of statue, bus symesriosl, bright-eyed, cheerful and the esunnieat kinlidest peo- pie imaginable. Their voicss ara soft and musical and their customary greeting of "hello," without having the harsh accent to which we are sccus- toned, sounds eot5 end sweet. They are very hospitsble
 During the stay of the visitors in the villages not one harsh word was heard | from any of the inhabitants thereof | They are very affectionate people among themselves. At hFse glance, how so 1 m any people so located manage to exist seemed strange, bat they have exsen sive fislds of corn, beans, squash and have large herds Of sheep and some cattle. Corn is their staple product. No whlse man!csn give these people eny pointers On farming in that The governments has uDsuc osssfully tried to get them to take land h severslty, bus th,a they refuee to do, and correctly hold it is not praotics sble, ss She feFsile land of this year, owing to shs aotion of the elements, may be some where elsa next year. They have to 'ollow the soil around to points where 'be wInd and water leaves it, and seem to be wiser shan their white would be instructors On this point. Is is stated bat the Catholics astem mpted, some years ago, 50 establish mission in these 7illagee, and partially succeeded in all he villages save shat of Wslpi. in which ,laoa they could gst no foothoid st sll, md indeed, were not allowed to exist { ong in any of the villages. The slti- ( uds of Walpi is 6,730 feet. There were { bout 125 whites present to see the he snake dsnce and some of them came run ui5 Sduo ScCbIOHS Cl tUS U DlOD; b l pacisi representative of the New York EUening Post was present.. The gov ! has also eodeavored to induce t heee people abandon the old pueblos | nd esta blish themselves in homes in he valieye, and a Shat end has offered [ o aid them to build houses of stone and s 0 give them modern farming imple- 8 nents. So fsr only ahoua ninety such v tone houses have been erected. There school et each of tbe principal viii ages and one at Keem's Canyon, twelve o liles distant from Waipi X consld- 2 reble nun beR of Moquis have received t limited education at these schools D he day preceding the snake dsDce the t ntelope dance occurs. which Is similar l many respects to the snake dsncs F -b night she psFty accepted the hospi- 'l slity of She Welpia, and moved their s lankets to ths meas, sleeping comfors- ply on the ssone floor of an Iodian ouse. This vas done in or Ter to be q resent as the fruit race in she norn- lg, which raos invariably precedes the It lake dance. Preparatory to the fruit o' lce numbers of Moquis go out into the " alleys in the early hours ot the morn "