The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1920-12-09
MOkIS DANCE
TO PROPITIATE
GOD OF RAIN
Arizona indians, Far Removed
From Civilization, Cling to
Ancestral Customs.
As m DAYS BEFORE COLUMBUS
Moklland 10 the Richest Part Of the
Union for Prshlstsrlo Exploration
Medicine Man Determine
Date for Snake Dance.

Smithsonian Psychologists say that
the most interesting aboriginal cere-
monies performed nowadays In Amer
lea take place In midsummer days
among the Moki Indians, who live In
northeastern Arizona. Scarcely touch
ed by our civilization and clinging to
ancestral customs, II. G. Tinsey tells
the Dearborn Independent. the Mokis
perform during the last days OF each
August dances and rites In propitia-
tion Of their god Of rain. Identical
with those Of their ancestors ages be-
fore Columbus sailed from Spain.
Mokiland, or the province Of Tusuy.
an as the Spanish named II In the
early part Of the sixteenth century, IL
the richest part of the Union for pre-
historic exploration. Cities OF strong,
intelligent people fiourished here In
the time OF the Caesars. Ruins OF
heathen temples, which crumbled be-
fore the Montezuma dynasty began.
lie among the drifting sands. The
land OF the Mokis abounds In an
cient traditions still kept In their
pristine freshness.
studying MoIsls' Customs.
This month two score of American
ethnologists and psychologists, besides
some from Europe, have gathered In
the Moki pueblos to study the Gus
toms. habits, thought and traditions
of man In prehistoric America, as they
have come down through generations
Of Mokis.
Spanish Adventures under Cor
onad0 reckoned In 1912 that there
were about 1900 souls In the Tusuy-
IN confederacy Of Moki tribes. Now
there are but u few hundred Mokis.
They. are known also as Hopls: and
their name signifies peace loving"
They have q tradition that several
hundred years ago the warlike
Apaches waged = terrinc war against
the tribe. The remnant Of the Mokis
ned In terror and took refuge on the
two great tableiands Of red sandstone
which rise sheer some 70 feet out Of
Z vast sea Of sand. The great rocky
formatio has been z veritable Gil
braltar OF defense to the tribe and from
the day the ancestral Mokis fled they
and their descendants have dwelt
there Isolated. Rain Ia the all-essen-
tial element In the success Of Moki
agriculture. and in the desert region
rains come capriciously.
The date of the Moki snake dance
Is determined by an old medicine man
In the tribe. When during August the
sun at Its setting glints the sacred
rock that stands before the door Of
the tribal kiva. the old medicine man.
Honi. mounts the highest point at
either Walpl or Oraibi and solemnly
gives notice that ~ sunsets hence the
solemn snake ceremonies will take
place. He ends by invoking all to be-
gin immediate preparation for the oc-
casion. The women are to bake for
a tribal feast, to dress themselves and
their children In their best garments,
and the men are to perform their sew
eral parts In the ceremonies.
A certain number of young men, ap-
pointed for the purpose, start out at
next dawn TO perform their part Of
the preparation for the dance They
are jakulali (snake gathereTs). They |
roam over the desert with a forked
stick in one hand and bag made Of
skins in the other. They know where |
to look for rattlesnakes and some
times they get more than 200 serpentS
In week. They plant the forks a |
their sticks over the neck Of the ~
cumbent snake. and BY IN adroit move
ment throw the reptile into the Bag.
TIE serpents are brought to the pusblo
40 turned over u ~ Old snane
ptisatA.