New-York tribune., 1901-11-03
ETHNOLOGY'S NEW AID.
INDIAN DANCES PICTURED BY THE
CINEMATOGRAPH.
RECENT WORK IN THE soUTHwEST-INsTRUC-
TIVE ANALYSES OF MOTION.
From The Washington Star.


A brand new enterprise of Uncle Sam is the
application of the motion picture machine Tor
the analysis of the hitherto mysterious ana IN
explainable dongs Of primitive man Never pe-
fore this year was this attempted Professor
q. p PhiIlirs of the University of PennsyI-
vania commissioned few months ago by the
governments Bureau Of Ethnology TO initiate
this work in the Far West, has Just returned
from the field
-.-rhis year 1 conceived the idea of anaiyzing
the customs of primitive man by means Of the
cinema atoSraph camera said Professor Philips
yesterday TO your correspondent. THE Amerl-
can Indian is fast passing away as child OF
nature. and many OF his aboriginal practices
have @One out Of existence within the last few
years Ethnologists can obtain a more accurate
conception Of Indian customs from ten minutes
study by aid OF moving pictures than from q
days observation by the Unaided eye
With the best equipment TO be had in the
world l started for the field last July, and have
since spent my time photographing all of the
Pueblo Indians. Zunis and Moquis, OF Arizona
and New-MeXicO, also the DiggerS, Of the high
Sierras. From Canyon Diablo. small station
on the Santa Fe Railroad, first journeyed
north in covered wagon to the Seven Cities OF
TusaYan, discovered by the Spanish under Coro-
nado 800 years ago
Generous tipping is essential to successful
photography such as I carried on in the Indian
country. l soon discovered this Each primitive
red woman demanded a fee anywhere
from - cents to - before conSentlnS TO pose
Even when l snapped them cand@stine!y they
made me pay up as soon as realizing that they
had been taken In addition TO distributing lucre
iE generous quantities. ! had to keep stocked
with abundance of calico. yeast cakes, CANDY,
matches and tobacco. The yeast cakes went far
TO persuade the women, who manufacture their
native heaven by chewing up meal and allowing
it to ferment in The uoiscened state
The common camera has ever excited Indian
superstition The cnematograph camera, by
reason Of the rumhling Of lis films has an even
more formidable effect Within twenty-five tett
this noise VAS audible When heard, Il in most
cases excited far Next summer. Nhtn re
turn to the field. ] shall take with me a parior
instrument n which l can exhibit the motion
pictures and explain the purposes OF my work
r4o.-f r Ar
graph the Nogui snake dance both al MIShph-
ginovi. Middle Mesa and WalpI. on Last
Mesa Early IL August the sun priest OF each
village, seeing the sun set in q certain niche III
the mountains, scheduled the festivities Two
weeks later
4 succeeded this year in something never be.
fore done with the snake dancers-persuaded
them TO come out early This was essential TO
the success OF my photographs, Tor the dahcT
has hitherto begun always at sunset A fund
WAS raised among other photographers ana the
sr,.ct.-o-s With this as an incentive. even
Nccui conserva tisn was overthroWn- We prom
ised the snake priests that s., would be placed
upon their altar i theE would tesln the dafSe
at 4:10 in the afternoon. but that 81 would 1e
slIhtracted for each fifteen minutes they were
behind time At MishonSinoNi the cancers
Were q quarter hour late and hence got only
so: but At Nalpi they showed up IN cue lllii'
Al the latter pueblo the Indians had arranged
that no I, hite could go into their klTa-the
subterranean chamber where the Sh'tneS az
kept-for less than so. on the mesa ltS'eI1
for less than 81 But governmen 1T credentials
admitted me to the kiya for $40.
when ae tried to get down INTO the hlSIloh-
einovi kiva before the dance We were admitted
only on the proviso that We would ask the sodS
of the white man for rain the snake dance
being 4 sInpIication 10 the MOqul rain goes we
consented and q missionary III our party con-
ducred an eloquent religious service IN the dark
kiVa- Efforts Were made to nave some PAuS9
made in the dance TO offer better faculties Tor
photography. but from this the MoqulS dlS-
sente,l This IS q prayer for ram. sald a snake
nriect TO my interpreter " e must leeu Vul
children After they fed, il there is any
thing left over the white man Is welcome 10 ~
-ai inst
native huts overlooking the dance plaza
focussed upon the entire field of action. aver
aging thirty feet distance The dancers hloV-
in:. oyer the plaza with lunches OF live rattle
snakes clItched in their teeth and GartlElS al
their faces afforded a revolving spectacle 1t
looked very much TO me as II several dancers
felt the fangs of The serpents.
II photographed the finish of the Moqui ante
lone race which annually occurs the day prior
antelope priests of the tribe preside over IL
F1yIr of these sacred IeersonaSes descended IllS
mesa bet ,vt.en . and O'Clock that morning dhc
sci out over the plains TO perform CERTAIN cei S
monies az q spring sixteen miles away 'oiioI tiS
.f,a-uard sixty racers. almost nude. hao as
eer,F.led aF9It the Just as tfle sun
.t,-,-os ire first raw they set of on a running
chase back TO the top OF the nf'Sd- Coii-
rnAnCed the exposure of my films just as they
,,o-a ,.cr7,i,e un They were waited by all the
boys and girls Of the village. congresated IN tile
riaza the boys bearing WaJeriEeloflS ana coi1
stalks The instant the neeteSt runner eit ieN
~ r,laza an antelope priest made a louo puH|
~ -rbTrIinss a stick at the end OF a coru 1his
NC a signal for each Mo4ui swain TO oeStoN
his melon OF cornstalk upon some 1pqui
= maiden Thus have these primitive people @ con
ola, Tira.lP Pare H.