Cañon City record., 1910-11-10

we're in Arizona that the Mokis have
been holding their great rain dance.
This ceremony is one of the most
ancient of pagan survivals of mod
ern times. Although hundreds OF
other indians have become Catholics
and have espoused the christian faith,
the Mokis resist all attempts made
several priests approached their vii
lage they were unceremoniously
thrown over the cliffs and after their
horrible fate christian missionaries
have not invaded the Moki villages.
These wild children of nature. who
are supposed to be direct descendants
OF the cliff dwellers. have never allied
themselves with the farce of indian
life as seen for twenty-five cents. No
price will pay for their sacred rites.
wild yet intensely picturesque. and
no amount Of persuasion could make
them forget the Rain Gods and the all
powerful Smoke Father In whom they
have believed for centuries
A month ago the Great Smoke
priest announced that prayers for
rain would begin. The proclamation
is the great event OF the Moki year.
for every indian knows that 1t ends
in the Great Smoke Dance. The sto-
ry Of the rain ceremony might have
come from Greek mythology. so Curl
ously is It allied with ancient pagan
lore Long ago a young buck. says
the Snake legend. followed a little
stream TO see where II went. At the
end OF nine days he found the spider
woman. who weaves the clouds. and
she gave him a liquod which would
quiet all reptiies-the charm against
snake bites. The boy then came to
the place where the sun rose. The
sun carried the youth on HIS should
ers around the world and told him
that the most valuable thing In
the world was n rain cloud.
Finally. the young indian came to
the great Smoke Father. The Great
Serpent gave him two beautiful maid
ems to carry home. One he married.
The other became his brothers wife
Now every night the clouds used to
arise and out OF them would come
smoke people who would turn into
snakes the next day DO you know
what they WANT" asked one OF the
snake maidens. They want TO be
washed and danced with" This Is the
origin OF the Moki Snake dance The
picturesque story combines with the
weird ceremonies and the Wild set
ting and one who witnesses the rites
soon falls under the spell OF the In
dian legend II is all vivid to the
Mokis. The great snake and the Web
Woman. still exist In the northern
part Of Arizona. As for the real
snakes. they are quite tame when ham
died by their indian worshippers.
On the first day OF the rites. a par
ty OF indians goes forth to hunt for
snakes. They bring back several hun
dred and more than half OF them are
rattiesnakes. Nothing is done to
harm them for that would be a sac
rilege. They are placed safely In the
hvas or underground rooms where a
great part OF the ceremony Is held
Al O'Clock In the morning the
priests-which include the antelope
priests and the snake priests-go TO
the sacred springs for water. Then
the whole village gathers on the mesa
IN uyafnh fbftr l..
dian race and the priest who arrives
first may pour the water on his
ground to insure the growth OF his
crops.
The next feature OF the ceremony Ia
attended with romantic significance.
The young bucks engage In a game
Of tag with the indian girls. II is.
however. the girls who do the pursu-
ing and II they are feet enough, the
men they catch will marry them. The
washing OF the snakes occurs In the
kivas. There In bowls OF water they
are thoroughly cleaned and laid care
fully on n bed OF corn meal In the
sun. They are then placed In bow
er made OF brush-wood and here an
indian priest remains with them until
time for the dance. To the wierd
music OF the tom-toms. accompanied
by incantations and prayers. the Mo-
kis take their snakes and begin to
dance. The snakes are held In the
mouth. They are strohe6 continually
with eagle feathers In order that they
may be kept from coiling. while
gourds are shaken to distract tho