The Coconino sun., 1920-12-10
INDIAN FIRE DANCE
 DESCRIBED BY VISITOR

dance, one of the most solemn re- ligious rites, with it's equally impress i've chants, of the Navajo tribe, was witnessed by F. P. Cruise, assistant general freight and passenger agent for the Santa Fe, at the Navajo reser- vation 45 miles north and east of Tuba City last Saturday.
 The dance, as mystic as it is rare, is one of the highly religious func- tions of the nearly pagan tribe, in- dulged in only on the occasion of ser ious or lasting sickness to some mem- Der and is destined to restore the suf- fering to full and lasting health. 1t is the grand finale of nine-day cere- mony, pompously observed by ''invit- ed guests of the host or hostess, as the occasion may be.
 In this particular instance, Chief Sam Begota was the host, the cere- mony being observed on behalf of his son and daughter, who have been suf- fering four years from strange mal- ady. Medicine men came from far and near, at the solicitation of the parent, to administer the rituals while dancers from all sections of the res ervation were in attendance.
 Preparations for the dance are so made, MT. Cruise declared, that con- struction of the inclosure, in which the dance is held, is finished just as the sun is sinking in the western heav- ems. The dance itself lasts from sun down to sunup.
 The inclosure is made of cedar boughs, and is circular in shape and about POO feet in diameter. The 'big fire" around which all dances are held, is in the center of the inclosure. When the torch was first applied, more than a carload of cedar was in the pile. Another carload was used in the smaller fires, of which there were nearly a score, skirting the main about these individual" fires.
 The inclosure has but one entrance, that from the east. The afflicted for whom the ritual is observed, take seats on the west side of the inclos- ure,, facing the east and the rising sun.
 Dancers work in relays, performing about the edge of the "big blaze" Many of them performed in the nude, while others wore elaborate costumes of feathers. Only male members of the tribe participated in this ritual.
 One of the costumes, as described by MT. Cruise, was a great feather shield on the back of a dancer, repre- senting the setting sun with its gold en rays streaming across the heavens. Others wore feathered shields of diff ferent designs, offset with arm or leg bands. All dancers were employed by the host at salary of three wethers. In one of the dances alone, 21 Indians performed.
 The dance finale is participated in by seven performers in the nude, their bodies covered with white clay like substance. They enter the in closure with cedar torches. These are lighted from the "big fire" and then they start their wierd prancing, chant ing musical note the while.
 Their bodies made immune from heat because of the religious cere- mony, the fire brands are drawn back and forth across the skin of the danc- CTS. The wonder is, MT. Cruise de- clared, that they do not sustain ser ious burns, but apparently they suffer no i'll effects of any nature.
 This is followed by the entrance of four medicine men, garbed in long robes. They circle the blaze four times in slow, impressive manner. All save one of them then retires, while the fourth proceeds to the group of the stricken family. There he per forms his ritual, all done in native tongue, touching each of the suffer- ing persons at different points of the anatomy as he talks.
 He then heads the family group back to the blaze and dancing slowly, circles it four times, followed by mem- bers of the family, including the two sufferers. As he concludes his work, the family passes out through the eastern gate just as the sun is rising in the east. That ends the ceremony.
 The big fire is then scattered about the inclosure, while attendants gather up the boughs as talismans for the in- jured, the belief being that a burn touched with them will not blister.
 And" concluded Mir. Cruise, mot withstanding the all-night vigil, both of the sufferers looked much improved and well on the road to recovery Sun