The Springfield herald. (Springfield, Baca County, Colo.) 1887-1919, 1900-08-31
MoQUI SNAKE DANCE.
1T DRAWS A BIG CROWD.
Indians Dance with Live Rattlesnakes
Hold In Their Teeth-How They Avoid
Being Bitten.

On Oribi mesa. Arizona, towering 600
feet above the level of the plain, the
Moqui Indians on the 10Th held their
annual snake dance. Fully 200 tour
lists witnessed the spectacle and the
many white tents made the place look
more like IN army encampment than
an Indian pueblo.
The vistors>f from the East were near
ly all artists or scientists, who were
accompanied by their wives. One OBJ
ject of the scientists is to ascertain
how 1t is that the Indians are not pois-
oned by the bite of the rattlesnakes,
which they carry about in their teeth.
For long time 1t was thought the
MOqui was immune to the bite Of n rat
tier. An investigation made by the
government proved that this theory
was incorrect. But the snake dance
was not suppressed because of the ex-
tremely small fatality involved in the
affair and because II was believed that
the Indians had an antidote for the
venom of snakes.
The opinion that the snakes used In
the dance We're "doctored" was current
for a long time. In 1897 DIR. Tewkes
of the Smithsonian Institution of
Washington upset that theory. He at
tended the dance mt Walpi that year,
and by bribing an Indian he secured
several of the snakes used In the dance.
Carefully examining them, he found
that their fangs had not been extracted
and that the snakes were perfect In ey-
cry respect.
"rhe Arizona RATHER" said DR..
Tewkes, sis unable to strike without
first coiling The MoQuis has taken
advantage of this fact and in handling
the RATHER lie takes every precaution
not to allow 1t to coil. He is an expert
at this and consequently he Is very
rarely bitten.
1.-THE casual observer who has seen n
snake dance will tell you positively
that he saw Indians bitten. That per-
haps Is true, but the Indians he saw
bitten were not bitten by rattlesnakes.
About two-thirds of the snakes used In
the dances are rattlesnakes; the others
are of the non-venomous sorts. 1t Is
snakes of the latter varieties only that
the Indians allow to bite them.
ION entering the dance the Indians
go in pairs. Some are known as hug
gers and others as .snakemen.' The
'hugger' carries II sort of wand tipped
with eagle feathers. The 'snakeman'
has his mouth painted and his teeth
heavily covered with clay, SO that he
will not cut the snakes skin when he
takes 1t in his mouth. Together n
'hugger' and n 'snakeman go into the
dance, 'hugger' with his left arm about
the crouching 'snakemans' neck.
"As they pass the kisi n snake Is
handed out to the 'snakeman.' BY
careful handling 1t Is not allowed to
coil, and the snakeman' places it be-
tween his teeth with its head protrud-
Ing about six inches beyond the left
corner of his mouth. Then, with
III 10 or
and round the plaza. the hugger' with
his wand all the while tickling at the
snakes tail. The animals natural i'm
pulse is to straightcn out and run. In
this way 1t is kept from coiling, and
thus from striking. Should the snake
coil, however, 1t is dropped as quick
as flash.
"In such case an expert catcher
with a wand goes on the plaza, dallies
with the snake until It starts to run,
and then, with good true aim, he
catches 1t close mp behind the jaws so
that 1t cannot bite and returns it to the
kisi, where It is again handed to the
'snakeman' who dropped 1t.
This long-continued squirming of
the snake in the Indians mouth causes
him to swallow an enormous quantity
of saliva, which, after washing the
snakes body, is nauseating. To relieve
himself after the dance he takes a
swallow of the brown liquid which is
brought out by the Moqui girls. This
emetic acts quicker than almost any
other drug known in the practice Of
medicine. I have timed strong bucks
upon many occasions, and have found
that the potion had Its effect within
twenty to forty seconds after it was
swallowed"