The Worthington advance., 1900-04-13
M0QUI SNAKE DANCE.
GRewsome Incantations Of the Indl.
ans to Placate the Scr.
pent Deity,

Whelmlng in it's beauty and majesty
that it seems to have been created
for Cyclopean race. It is a land of
perpetual sunlight, of sapphire skies,
of awful chasms, of painted rocks,
mesas and .buttes. Crowning one of
these lofty buttes, 70 miles to the
north of Winslow Station, the fair
white castles of the Moqui Indians
stand. The Moquis are peaceable and
picturesque in their native costume.
They are types of the always interest.
ing Pueblo life. With them alone sur.
wives the weird and fantastic specta-
Gle Of the snake dance, once common
to all the Pueblo tribes.
The serpent is singularly prominent
in all human history: From the gar
den by the Euphrates to the deserts
of New Mexico it stretches it's Shiny
trail. The Aztecs sculptured the snake
upon their ornamental stones, and the
North American Indians indent their
pottery with an imitation of it's scales.
The serpent is especially symbolic to
the Indians, and in their quaint folk.
lore it occupies about the same rela-
ton to other animals as does Brt:r
Rabbit or Uncle Remus. In fact, the
Pueblos call the rattlesnake 'Little
Brother" Mystic magical powers are
ascribed to it, and the dance is a re-
ligious ceremony to propitiate the
snake god.
The bite of the rattlesnake is sup
posed to be deadly and is universally
feared, save by the Moquis at these
dances. when they handle the reptiles
with the most reckless familiarity and
without the slightest evil results.
In vain have the authorities at
Washington sent scientific men to dis.
cover the secret of this wonderful an.
tidote of the Moquis. The revelation
of the secret of this decoction, which
appears to be a veritable neutralize1
of the venom of a rattlesnake bite, is
punishable by death. It is known
only to three individuals of the tribe
the chief priest, the neophyte who
is training to succeed him and the
eldest woman.
Every year for several days before
this grewsome ceremony those who in.
tend to participate subject themselves
to strict fast, which is not broken
until the conclusion of the rites. Dur.
ing this period the secret antidote is
freely administered by the medicine
man.
Meanwhile the dancers are busily
engaged in hunting and capturing
hundreds of rattlesnakes on the desert
below the crest of the cliffs. The way
these reptiles are caught is most ek.
traordinary.
The hunters are armed with wisps.
On discovering ''little BROTHER
coiled, angry, Kissing, ready to strike:
they reduce him to quiescence by
gently stroking him with these wisps
When these caresSes have Modified
the enraged reptiles they are dex-
terously thrust into a leather bag and
imprisoned in small corral, where
they are kept to the day of the dance
The ceremonies last seven days. For
the first three the dancers, famished
and faint from their continual fasts
work themselves into an absolute frenl-
~ of religious fervor. Their chant
ings and the doleful music of their
barbaric instruments add to the mys.
ticism and terror of the performance
But the awful climax comes on the
morning of the fourth day, when, rigid
and well-nigh cataleptic, haggard:
staring, frothing at the mouth, the
half-naked braves, with sinister and
awful cries, rush into the mass OF
squirming, wriggling serpents, and
seizing fat, writhing body in each
hand, leap forth and renew their
dance.
Round and round in this demoniac.
al dance they circle, coiling the snakes
about their arms, their necks, their
thighs. The serpents swing to and
fro, twisting and curling in frantic
endeavor to strike their captors with
their wicked fangs.
Droning through this grisly spec
tacle goes the monotonous and M: y
dening tum-tum-tum of the strange.
unearthly music, only accentuating
and emphasizing the hideousness OF
the ceremony.
|
The serpents are cast upon the floor
of the rocky cliff, where they coil and
writhe and struggle to escape. Sud.
denly the bravest of the braves darts
forward, and, bending down quickly.
catches loathsome wriggling mass
in his mouth. This is the signal for
the others. The drums beat a pande-
monium of hccrid sounds, and with
the yells of devils from the internal
regions on furlough each dancer
catches serpent in his mouth and
staggers to and fro, sickening and
overwhelming the paleface lockers on.
After the end of this spectacle is
reached tie snakes are carried down
the cliff and set free to glide to their
homes in the sandy desert, while the
Indians, who have repeatedly been
bitten during the performance, return
to their homes, apparently none the
worse for the marks of affection they
have received from their ''little broth.
ers" of the plains, apd confident that
the great serpent deity is placated
and that for the coming year the rain
will descend and the sun will shine
and the corn will grow.-N. Y. Herald
Good Gu~nAry.
Some extraordinary shooting by the
British gunners is recorded. The con.
ditions of firing were that each guns
crew should score what it could in
d three minutes, beginning at 2,20C
urs1~