The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1915-08-31
INDIANS ARE DANCING
THEIR SNAKE DANCE
WEIRD CEREMONIES MARK THE
ANNUAL FESTIVITIES OF HOPlS
IN NORTHERN ARIZONA.
JARS OF VENONOUS REPTILES
rhythmic Movements and Tragic Gest-
ures of Participants Rob the Az
fair of Much of Its Horror. Wit
messed by Crowds of Spectators.

ureS of participants hOD Cle AL
fair of Much of Its Horror. Wit
messed by Crowds of Spectators.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.-The annual
nine day celebration of the Hopi In
dams in northeast Arizona is under
way. Feasting and wierd ceremonies
to beseech the gods for good crops
have begun, and preparations have
been made for the great snake dance,
which is the final event and the most
spectacular of all, during which the
dancers carry live snakes in their
mouths.
The Hopis hold their ceremonies
during the end of August. The In
dams of the principal Hopi pueblos
of Arizona gather for the event.
Snake priests, known as sustainers,
carriers and collectors, or rather, to
this effect in the Indian language,
form the principal figures in the final
rites, which are always held out of
doors. A few maidens are also called
upon to perform, their part being to
scatter sacred meal on the partici-
pants as a sacrifice to the gods.
Reptiles Handed to Dancers.
The dance takes place in the plaza
of the village, one on either side of
which is built a bower of cotton
wood branches, in which the keeper
of the snakes sits with jars contain
ing venomous species. The reptiles
are handed out by him to the car
riers'' The dancers march in file
a small board set in the ground as
notification to the gods of the I'M
derworld that ceremony is about
to begin. Then they assume their
places in two files, facing each 9TH
er. They chant and sway for few
minutes, shaking their rattles.
The file of snake priests then
breaks up and they dance around in
circle, receiving the snakes as they
pass the brush house, the carrier"
holding one or more in his mouth,
the "sustainer" diverting the atten-
ton of the snakes with feather
wand, while the collector" attends
to gathering the stray snakes. After
this wierd and dangerous dance the
snakes are dropped on the ground,
to be received by the collectors"
who keep them in their hands until
completion of the ceremony, when
| priests carry the snakes swiftly to
the country below and release them.
The ceremony originated and is
kept up in accordance with the be-
| lief that the first children of union
| between an ancestral culture hero
and a mythical snake princess were
rattlesnakes, and hence the elder
brother of the latter generation.
Being sprung from a source in some
respects supernatural snakes are
! believed to be in close touch with
the god that controls rain, which in
sures the crops and other blessings
needed by the Hopi tribe, whose
country is arid and desolate.
Regards Snake as Sacred.
None of the Hopi tribes would
willingly kill a snake, poisonous or
harmless, as they are regarded as
sacred and imbued with powers of
the gods. In their ceremonies rat
! tlesnakes are principally used, but,
due to care in handling them, acct
dents rarely happen during the cere-
monies.
The Hopi priests become so en-
Unused over the dance as it progresses
that the horror does not appear amid
! the rhythmic movement and tragic
! gestures of the dancers. The priests
are long haired and painted in lurid
colors. A chorus of tribesmen forms
| the orchestra, and the music comes
from rattles that beat time for the
dance.
The snake dance is not the only
big event of the nine day celebra-
ton. A snake race is enjoyed by the
Indian boys. There is an antelope
dance and other fantastic dances in
which the entire tribe takes part.
The spectators form cosmopoli-
tan crowd. Cowboys, prospectors,
army officers, scientists, photogra-
piers and tourists mingle with the
Hopis This year an unusual number
of tourists are in the region await
ing the snake dance, which is the
| only one of the many sacred rites
| III at iS narformad in tha omen