Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-19

lowed to retain all of their garments.
While the vigorous fogging necessarily
hurt all of the former. the majority bore it
bravely, and held back the tears with that
stoicism which characterizes their race. The
annual supply of youngsters having been
finished with. each man and woman of Tu-
sayan stepped up to get a severe whacking
over his bare arms and legs. held out for
that purpose.
A Dramatic Entertainment.
What DIR. Fewkes described as the most
elaborate dramatic entertainment Witness
ed during his seven months at Tusayan
was the regular March complaining cere-
mony. Sixteen days before the date set for
this show corn was planted in many boxes,
since kept warm in the underground vaults
of the priests. When the appointed day ar
rived the young plants were uprooted and
stuck into the tops of many inverted cones
nodded of clay to represent corn hills. On
the night of the performance all of the viii
layers gathered in the subterranean cham
berS. each with a blazing fire built in the
center of its floor. In the duhgeon-iike
apartment where the doctor witnessed the
show the anxiety of the impatient specta
tors was relieved by a rap upon the hatch
way and the dropping therefrom Of a ball
of sacred meal Immediately two priests
made the chamber utterly dark by screen
ing of the glare of the fire with two blan-
kets. A procession of men was then heard
descending ladder leading from above,
and. making hasty preparations in a vacant
end of the room. At a given signal the I'M
covering of the fire revealed to the spec
tators wide screen of cotton cloth held
to the ceiling by two priests. Thirty or
forty of the little earthen cones were ar
ranged in front to represent a field of
growing corn. Masked priests. lining the
walls on either side of the performers
space, set up weird, monotonous chant.
The cotton screen was decorated with
paintings of rain clouds, zigzag thunder
bolts and various gods. Across its width
were cut four round holes, each with cir
cular flap decorated with the sacred symbol
of the sun.
AS the chanting of the priests continued
the flaps of the screen opened. Through
each of the apertures below a huge black
serpent then thrust it's head. made hideous
by white teeth, red lips and long horns.
Darling out to a length of six or eight feet.
these reptiles threatened the spectators.
until masked man. dressed to represent
the mother of the gods, satisfied their appe-
titles with tray of cornmeal. After de-
vouring this, the giant Serpents, issuing ter
rible roars the while, thrust down their
heads and turned over all of the hills of
green corn Thus was represented the
March wind in the act of breaking down
the early crops. The fire was then hidden
the paraphernalia taken away in the dark
ness and the first act of the drama brought
to an end.
EmSfes in Buckskin.
The four serpent figures used in this act
were but effigies. skillfully made of buck
skin, painted black and stretched over series
of hoops. The heads were made Of gourds,
Enthusiastically decorated. By means of a
rod, forming their backbones. these eff1gies
were manipulated by men behind the screen.
Ten minutes later the falling of another
ball of meal and the redarkening of the
fires announced the second act. In this
there appeared but two snakes, which strug-
gled with a man, and later knocked over
another field of corn. The browning feature
of the third act was a pair of marionettes.
worked by strings, which represented Tu-
sayan maidens kneeling before small stone
and grinding corn thereupon. During the
fourth, monster snakes rose out of jars
and struggled together, and in another a
Tusayan LAGOON participated in these
struggles, the horned monsters appearing
to extinguish his life at several thrilling
moments.
DE-. Fewkes also witnessed an exciting