The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1920-11-26
MOKIS DANCE; WOULD
APPEASE RAIN GOD

ment of the annual snake ceremonies,
mysterious rites among q of the fore
most men in the Moki tribe begin in
a chamber hewn into the rock down be-
low the pueblo. This is the kiva,
the holy of holes of Moki belief.
DR.. ]. Walter Fewks of the Smithson-
ian institution Is the only white person
who has ever entered the kiva, and he
says that the ceremonies there consist
in washing the serpents captured and
brought there by young men. The old
men engage in barbaric incantations,
and chant appeals to the serpents to
bear messages of devotion and friend
ship to the powers that rule the rain
clouds. The snake priests wear moth
ing to protect themselves from the rep
tiles fangs. Each day they wash the
rattlesnakes, sprinkle sacred cornmeal
on the serpents' heads, and deposit the
creatures in jars. Meanwhile the Moki
housewives cook and bake in prepare
ton for the event of the yeGr-the
snake dance on the plaza of the pu-
eblo. The gaudiest tribal finery is
brought forth and made ready. White
and Navajo Indian visitors come across
the desert to see the public ceremonies
and for a. week all Mokiland bustles
and buzzes.
At the setting of the sixteenth sun
from the official announcement by old
Honi the snake dance takes place. Late
in the afternoon the spectators arrange
themselves in vantage spots overlook
ing the plaza where the dance is per-
formed. Some $500 persons are gen
orally on hand to see the ancient mar
velous ceremony. The roofs of the
squat stone houses are crowded. Moki
children with scarcely a stitch on them
sit along the cornices with their brown
legs hanging down. There are cow
boys from all over the territory, report
ers from newspapers, scientists from
the cities, and hundreds of Indians in
brilliant and quaint costumes. 1t is
a rare scene; zone fit for a salon pic
ture," said an enthusiastic artist The
white people laugh, the dogs and chill
dren make tumult, while every one
awaits the opening Of the dance. At
just about six o'clock, when the sun
Is dropped into the yellow desert
away to the west, some one calls:
Here they come" Instantly there is
silence. Everybody knows that the
antelope men-young athletic snake
dancers-are at last issuing from their
stone chambers. The braves are
scantily clad, and on each leg is a
small terrapin shell, in which are
placed small pebbles, which rattle as
the warrior moves, and make of him,
in sound at least, a human rattler.
The dancers are smeared with red,
white and black paints. Around each
brow is bound flaming handkerchief,
the upper forehead being painted a
deep black, and the lower half with
black and white bands.
Live Snakes In Their Mouths.
The band forms in a circle and a
sack of serpents is brought forth and
Is placed In the branches of a cotton
wood shrub known as the kisi just
where it has stood on Moki dance
days for countless generations. A
chief, hideously painted, opens the
sack and as. each brave marches past
thrusts his naked arm within and jerks
from it several writhing serpents,
which he hands to the buck. The
snake dancer bends and seizes the
snakes by their middle with his teeth,
while he holds one or two serpents in
each hand. The serpents rattle, hiss
and struggle while the human cap
tors, gesticulating and stamping, join
in solemn rhythmic movement, in
which, after each man has been sup
piled with serpents the whole band is
soon participating.
The Moki women and the several
hundred Moki bucks who do not par
ticipate in the dancing at first sit in
mute awe. AS the dance proceeds the
red-skinned spectators start low hum
ming, which gradually develops. Loud
er and louder rises the din of dis
cOrdant voices until the women be-
come wildly excited, and leap to
their feet. Meanwhile the dance goes
on. The dancers glisten with per-
spiration and the paint on their
bodies runs down their bare backs
and legs. Some of the older ones,
to show their prowess with venomous
reptiles, carry three and five rat
tlesnakes about with them. They