The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-12-30

t lengths down their backs, and on theil
shoulders and breasts, representing
D rain. Their faces; from their eyes to
Q their chins, were painted q kind OF
3 terracotta red, with bunch of fuzzy
, terracotta-colored feathers fastened in
r their hair, and necklaces of various
kinds of beads and shells. Their lower
limbs were painted, ornamented with
anklets, and red moccasins on their
b feet.
j The snake men looked even more
savage than these. Their shirts were
of buckskin, dyed terra Gotta red, with
fringe of small pieces of tin. Each
one had on his back grey fox skin,
the tail of which reached to the ankle.
On the right leg about the calf, was
small turtle shell, fastened 30 as to
rattle and clap as they marched. Ter
ra Gotta buckskin moccasins and vari-
GUS kinds of anklets were worn by
them also. Their bodies were painted
red and black, with white streaks rum
ming zig-zag from their shoulders
down, with bracelets made of different
things, and their breasts completely,
covered with strings of beads, Of teeth,
and shells.
Their faces, from their eyes down,
were painted black, and each one had
a tuft of feathers on his head, and car
ried in his right hand a wing feather
of the eagle, having little feather like
the one worn on the head, fastened to
the front of it. The Autelopes carried
q gourd with some pebbles in it, which
they shook and made q noise whenever
they took any part in the dance.
When all was ready they climbed
out of the hivi, or hole in the ground !;
| first the Antelopes, and then the snake
men, and marched one after the other
in an elongated circle around the dance
rock and passing in front of the snake
hivi.
! A small boy heads the line of the
Antelopes, holding rod with several
symbols hanging from it in his left
hand, and in his right a cord having a
piece of board tied to it, which he
whirls around to make the whirring
sound which is to represent thunder,
as he passes certain points in the
march. The others carry something
like fiat gourds, having small pebbles
in them, which make great noise a.
they shake them while they march
round.
After repeating this several times
the Antelopes range themselves In q
line on either side of the hivi aud
await the coming of the Snake men,
who march around several times, each
one stamping his right foot very hard
on plank which has been placed on
the ground near the mouth of the hivi
in which is the Snakes.
They then range themselves in a
line parellel to that already formed by
the Antilopes, when boy of that
clan, having green bushes twined
around his neck and shoulders,
marches down between the two lines
and sprinkles water right and left
from q bowl, by means of a bun nch OF
eagle feathers. All then begin chant
ing wierd song, swaying their bodies
| in unison first to the right and then
to the left; in the meanwhile the Snake
men 20 through the motion Of sprink-
ling with eagle feathers and the An
telopes rattle their gourds.
This concludes all the active part
taken in the dance by the Antelopes,
they remaining stationary to the end
of the ceremony. ...
The Snake Men now divide up
into squads of three. One of each OF
these squads is known as the Scar
rier," he it is who carries the snakes
in his mouth; another is called a
"hugger" and is the one immediate
ly attends the carrier, and the third
one is known as "gatherer," whose
business it is to gather up the snakes
as they drop from the mouths of the
carriers. Each carrier, as he passes
by the hivi stoops down and pulls
out a snake, while his hugger holds
up the fox tail which bangles at the
carriers heels, and strokes the fur
with his eagle feathers.
AS the carrier rises to a standing
position, having procured a snake
from the hivi, he takes hold of it
with his teeth, when the hugger
places his left arm around his neck
and fans the snake with his eagle
feathers to prevent it from coiling
around the carriers neck or biting
him, while they circle around sway
ling their bodies backward and for
ward, the carrier holding his hands
in front of his face. At one end Of
the space allotted to the dancers,
stood a half dozen Squaws holding
bowls containing the sacred meal
which they threw on the snakes as
the Snake Men danced around with
them.
AS the snakes, which have been
taken from the hivi, increase in num-
ber, the performance takes on more
life and bye and bye have all the
characteristics of genuine dance,
although their countenances seems
still very grave and serious.
When all the snakes have been
taken from the hivi and have been
danced with and dropped by the
carriers, the gatherers pick them up
and throw them in bunch inside of
a ring formed by one of the Ante
lope Chiefs with the the Sacred Meal.
After that they sprinkle meal over
the snakes and then each of the
Snake Men grasps as many as he can
and runs to the different trails and
turns them loose.
Next they run back to the hivi
and remove everything; wrap a
blanket around them and after COM
ing out they drink a great quantity
of black liquid which the women
have placed near the entrance to the
hivi.
They now 60 to the west brink of
the Mesa or towering rock on which