The times., 1898-11-06
THE SNAKE DANCE.
Savage Rites That the Pueblos still
Indulge In.
(From the Chicago In,er.ocean.)


Indulge In.
(From the Chicago Inter ocean.)
For n dozen years stories of the snake
dance among the Pueblo Indians, when
the chief men and priests of the tribe
are Enthusiastically dressed. and carry
poisonous reptiles in their hands and
mouths have bene written, but scarcely
credited. 1t is only within a few years
since 1S9l-that the Smithsonian Institu-
tion at Washington. through DR.. j. Wal
ter Fewkes, has carefully investigated
this ceremony. with the result that now
within the circles of science II is known
that the often-described ceremony Is the
climax OF the August rites. which for
days are conducted in secret passages
beneath the ground.
For one reason and another the Walpi
ceremony has become the best known, be-
cause it has been most frequently and
elaborately described, but these accounts
dealing as they have with but part of
one ceremony, have given wrong impress
sions of the extent and curiosity of the
whole years ceremonial. Equal in in
terest. however, to that of the Walpi is
the August ceremony of the Cipauiovi
village. which. though fundamentally the
same, Is different In technicalities from
the well-known rites. Sixteen days be-
AOhc ehc SSacDidlioH Vi the SUdht udUGt
after formal smoke of the chiefs on the
night before, there comes the official an
nouncement of the snake dance. week
later-this year on August 21-begins the
nine days ceremonial. seven of which are
secret. and take place in underground
caves. with two public exhibitions. in
which occur dances on the plaza. The
first OF these falls this year on August 2S
the eighth day of the ceremony, and is
known as the antelope dance. On the
next day comes the now famout snake
dance.
There are many complications in the
snake dance of this village. as In the
dance at Walpi, which has often been
described. but in the main points II is
the same. 1t comes just before sunset.
and with its strange ceremonies the
crowd from the ne.ghboring villages. with
fewer than half dozen whites. 1t pre-
sents queer scene to civilized eyes.
The antelope and snake priests who par
icipate go through much the same pre-
liminary ceremony as in the antelope
dance of the day before. When the two
sets of priests were arranged in lines
the snakes divided into four groups, each
trio composed of carrier, a hugger and
gatherer The carrier knelt before the
kisi Cthe huD, received a snake from the
ihseA within. pul ~ lnoulns
caused a shudder in the knot of whites,
and began circuit of the plaza with the
hugger behind, resting one hand on his
shoulder. The carrier did not touch the
snake after putting II into his mouth.
When he has finished the gatherer picked
the snake up from the ground. where the
carrier had placed II, and continued the
ceremony.
But first, as the snake carrier left the
kisi in his circuit, the asperger sprinkled
him with medicine, and after the snakes
had been carried in the mouths OF all
the participants In the dance the snake
chief made circle of sacred meal twenty
feet in diameter, in front of the shrine.
and in it he drew six radiai lines with
meal, corresponding to the six cardinal
points. Into this the reptiles were
| thrown, and the asperger sprinkled them
with medicine, after which the maidens
and women threw sacred meal from their
basket plaques upon this writhing mass.
At signal the snake priests rushed TO
the reptiles, seized as many as they could
| and. as at Walpi. departed hastily down
the mesa trails and distributed them to
| the cardinal points. Then followed the
| unique features of the day. As the
! priests disappeared a rain of spittle from
| the spectators on the housetops followed
| and subsequently came the grand feast
| which characteriZes all the villages In
| the Cipaulovi snake dance there are more
| primitive and less complex traits than in
| the Walpi. which has been studied and
| doubtless influenced by white visitors
! But the essential features are the same
| and to any citizen of this country this
| aboriginal. pagan worship which occupies
| so much of the year, with its weird cere-
| monials and many repulsive characteristic
/ les will ever be source OF surprise and
will be met with much incredulity. The
meanings and interpretations of the rites
| in the southwestern corner of our country
| are very elaborate. Some are rational
others theoretical, but the purport of the
widespread snake dance Is still mysteri-
GUS. DIR. Fewkes, who is undoubtedly the
man most conversant with the subject
| says:
1.-The meaning of the snake dance can.
| not, | believe, be made out completely
| without comparative studies, and cannot
be obtained from living priests, as point
| ed out by Taylor in speaking of the re.
| ligions Of great nations He says the
| sacerdotal tendency is to ignore and OBJ.
literate, traces of the inevitable change
of religion from age to age, and to con.
| vert into mysteries ancient rites whose
| real barbaric meaning is too far out ot
! harmony with the spirit of later time.
have no doubt that at some future time
| enough material will be collected to en-
! able the ethnologists to give a rationa
explanation, but l doubt very much
whether the Tusayan priests know it:
| original meaning. Whatever curren
| opinions are now regarded as orthodo,
by the priests should be regarded as evi
| dence, but not regarded as decisive.