Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1920-08-28
HOPI SNAKE DANCE TOOK PLACE LAST
 WEDNESDAY P. M.

Continued From Page D
 period, it is said, they were frequently irritated so that they would throw off some of the poison that they pos sessed, so that during the dance they would be less dangerous to those talk ing part. t
 Most of the crowd at the dance ar- rived on the scene a day or so prior to the affair and established camp near the Indian village, which is sit uated on a high mesa. ..
 For more than two hours prior to the opening of festivities the crowd occupied seats. Most of the specta- tors gathered on the Hopi's terraced houses to watch the dance, while many lined the edge of the rock dance floor. .
 Two times, before the dance began, an old Indian chief got up on top of one of the houses and in Indian Ian guage,un derstood by only the Hopis and few familiar with Hopi gram mar, announced to the crowd that someone had lost some field glasses.
 The dance took place in a square To- cated between the Hopi homes. It was in the nature of stadium on a small scale. On one end of the square was a "kiva" made from cornstalks.
 Ten minutes before the opening of the dance, an Indian man entered the kiva with the snakes. .-.
 On With the Dance
 The dancers were spied in the dis tance. Someone shouted, "There they come" At this stage, Robert E. Lee Daniel of Keam's Canyon, superinten- dent of the Hopi reservation, asked for attention and, walking out into the center of the stadium, announced that the dance would soon begin.
 "I have one request to make before the dance starts," said Daniel. "This dance is a sacred performance to the Indians and request you to treat it as such. This is one of the most cour- teous audiences ever gathered on the reservation" ......
 In few minutes the dancers began arriving. They were all \men. No women took part. First came eleven Indians, three of whom were little boys. All were brilliantly painted, wore green drape sand coyote or fox tails. These were known as antelope dancers.
 Sacred" cornmeal was sprinkled over a hole in front of the entrance to the kiva, where the snakes were being kept. the dancers stamped board over the hole, then danced around and took a position in front of the kiva. They wore green drapes.
 Next came ten snake priests, sav- age looking, and presenting the ap- pearance of going to battle. Some of these also wore fox tails or coyote tails. They too stamped the board over the hole in front of the kiva, then stopped in a line, facing the antelope dancers. COrnmeal was sprinkled be- tween the two sets of Indians. The snake priests wore snake skins around their knees and long feathers. Green was the predominating color in their makeup.
 Off to the side was planted" some sticks to be used later in tickling the l snakes.
 As both groups arrived on the scene | they were singing and kept perfect | time in their steps.
 After several minutes of going | through a left-to-right motion, as the | two sets faced the other, the dance | began in earnest. The Indian inside 1 the kva handed out the snakes one at | 3 time.
 First came small snakes, and later they got larger and larger as the dance progressed. .,
 The performers took hold of the snakes in every wayEtwisted them about their bodies, placed them in their mouths, and,i n fact, did all sorts ,f conceivable things with them. The performers gre often bitten by the but this year this did not happen. The Hopis were prepared for the bites, for they possess an an-