Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1920-12-10

which he hands to the buck. The
snake dancer bends and seises 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 a solemn rhythmic movement, In
which, after each man has been sup
piled with serpents, the whole band =
soon participating.
The Moki women and the several
hundred Moki bucks who do net 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 flve rat
tlesnakes about with them. They
weave the snakes about their heads,
they coil them In huge balls and toss
them up and down; they twine them
about their necks and tuck them be-
tween the belts Of their kits and their
nude waists. and carry them, held at
the middle, in their mouths. All this
time they are hopping about the gun
baked plaza. Now they circle about
the kisi with their burden Of serpents
in their hands. Then at signal by
old KOpali, the snake chief, the dane
ers form In threes, and with the snakes
wriggling for freedom in their hands,
they march backward and forward.
Another signal and they form in q row
and toss the serpents to and fro Then
the dance starts anew. More circllng,
marchings and counter-marchings In
ones, twos and threes. Occasionally q
reptile wriggles Itself loose from an
Indians hand. 1t Is. however. instant
ly picked up like SO much rubber hose.
An Hour Of Horror.
The snake dance lasts about fifty
minutes. At its close the Indian spec
tators have risen to their feet and are
weaving their arms and bodies back
and forth In time to the rapid chorus
they are shouting over and over again.
The dancers are dripping with per-
spiration. The white visitors are dazed
at the Incredible scene. No one who
has not seen 1t would believe these
men can be so thoroughly Indifferent to
the serpent's venom. Several of the
dancers reel and stagger, but catch
themselves as they gyrate with the
tangled snarl Of serpents In their
hands.
Suddenly at signal from wrinkled
Kopali the dancing ceases and the high
snake priest advances to an open
place. He solemnly sprinkles meal in
ring, denOting all compass points to
which serpent messengers are to con-
vey the Moki petitions. At another
signal the rattlesnakes are thrown In q
heap within the circle. Meal Is hastily
thrown upon the wriggling heap, while
cultural invocation is pronounced. In
a moment each Of the dancers snatches
several Of the serpents in his hands,
and starts at full speed for the narrow
trail which leads down from the mesa
TO the plains below. There the grue-
some burdens are thrown upon the
sands and permitted to 90 their way
in peace.
The dance is over, but there's anoth-
er scene. When the athletic dancers
have come running back to the plaza
they hasten to the sacred kiva, where
they remove all the trappings Of the
ceremony. Then they come out and
drink deeply from bowl Of mysteri-
Gus decotion Of herbs brewed only by
Salako, the oldest snake woman In
MOkiland.
Then the Mokis 60 home In silence
They have performed the most impor-
tant service In their lives and have
propitiated the rain god as sacrediy as
they know how. Their wives and
sweethearts wait upon them and wash
them Of their paint. On the morrow
the pueblo feast takes place, and the
new green corn and melons are eaten
without stint.
Very naturally the question is asked:
Are not the rattlesnakes used In the
Moki ceremonies drugged or deprived
of their fangs? II not, why are not the
half-nude snake dancers and priests
bittenf White people who have seen
several Moki snake dances say they
have never known a Moki to confess
he was fanged. but every year specta-
tors see snake dancers pull away from
their arms serpents that have fastened
there Every year some of the reptiles
coll and strike at their captors. The
best-posted scientists who have looked
upon Moki snake dances say that the
priests and dancers have a certain
manner Of handling the creatures. and
that the strange broth which the snake
handlers drink renders venom harm
less. At Sny rate II is unique among