The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-10-27

tiles the chosen warriors march forth 10
the dancing ground which has been
strewn by the sqraws with sacred meal.
The braves are scantily clad and on each
leg is a small terrapin shell, in which
are placed small pebbles. which rattle
loudly as the warrior moves. and make
of him, in sound at least, human rat
tier Around each brow is bound fam
ing red handkerchief the upper part OF
the forehead being painted deep black
and the lower half with black and white
band.
The band forms in circle and the bas-
ket of serpents is brought forth. One OF
the chiefs, hideously painted. opens the
cage and as each brave marches past
thrusts his naked arm within and Jerks
from it a writhing serpent, which he
hands the buck The snake dancer bends
forward his hldeously marked face and
seizes the snake by its middle with his
teeth The serpent struggles wildly,
while his human captor, gesticulating and
grating, joins in the solemn rhythmic
movement in which. after each brave has
been supplied with serpents, the whole
band is soon participating. Roundabout
the sacred circle the entire MoQui ma
tion sit in dumb, religious awe There Is
nothing to break the stiffness save the
kissing of the serpents and the rafting
of the pebbles in the shells OF the war
riors' legs. The snakes themselves, al
though highly animated, seem neither to
rattle nor to attempt to sting. once in a
while In the course of the dance q Ta-tler
will bury his fangs in the body of brave,
but he will be pulled away as if nothing
has happened and thcbrave who has teen
bitten will continue the dance with per-
feet eQuanimity-
After perhaps half hours dancing the
snakes are thrown in a writhing mass into
III g N r{r .
with holy meal. The dancers draw of and
then at a given signal rush upon the mass
OF serpents, each brave selling as many
as he can with his two hands and then
bounding away over the prairie at TOP
speed The snakes are then turned loose
and The dancers return, racing al their ut
most to the village. and are gathered il
the religious council or ceremony which
follows
The pa-luli-kong is another dance OF ths
Moquis to propitiate the black snakes and
it takes place annually in the first week
Of September, and less than half a dozen
persons outside of the tried and true war
rioTs of the nation are permitted TO look
upon the hideous performance. The pa
luli-kong is performed for FIVE successive
nights, and it was only by extraordinary
influence with the snake priests that three
white people were admitted to the kive
Feeding the Serpents.
Of the pa-luli-kong the feeding of the
sacred serpents is the most shocking an6
grewsome- This part Of the Moqui ritual
is performed in the dead OF night in q
sort Of stone grotto or subterranean cham
Der, about twenty feet square, called the
kiva, in the side of the mesa at the pueblo
of Walpi. It is the holy spot among tbs
highest order of medicine men, who are
known as water priests by the Moquis. a
few whites were permitted in the kiva dur
ing the recent feeding of the snakes. When
the chosen guests were escorted to the
gTotto and helped down a few stone steps
at about II p. N. they saw a small burn
ing fire in the middle Of the apartment
An old Indian, striped with paint from
head to foot, slowly and solemnly added
branches of twigs to the flames. A rude
stage of adobe and stones had been made
at the farther end of the kiya. Upon il
were growing stalks of corn and shoots Of
bean plants, that fourished in complete
absence from the sun. The Indian guide
said il had grown there rapidly in the kivs
this season, and that it meant the big snake
was going to send heap rain for the Moqui.
this year. About the rough-hewn walls OF
the chamber were horrible wooden image!
OF snakes. with green skins, blood-red anf
shiny eyes and black tongues. At each enc
of the raised stage were mammoth repre-
sertatives of horned toads done in wood
The Indian guide whispered that they were
heap old''-had been there long before
there were any white men anywhere.
There were dozen snake Images, cary
ed and painted with remarkable realism
They were lying near the growing corn
They were five and six feet long, three Of
four inches in girth at the largest parts
The painting on them gave a startling ant
serie appearance. No one was allowed t.
approach nearer than about ten feet Il
the grewsome efigies, and no one evei
handles them on pain of dreadful punish
ment, unless after appointment by tn,
watch priests for participation in the an
nuaI ceremony Of feeding the sacred ser
penis.
The heads of the images were as iarg,
as a mans head and evidently of wood
/ The eyes were of a peculiar green tina
! gave them a shocking CLEAN even in tn.
darkest part OF the stone chamber. Their,
were contrivances by which the eyes o
the eflgies were opened and closed a:
quick as an electric flash and without tn,
unTuETN THE