Arizona republican., 1921-07-03

to which supernatural virtues are ascribed and which is distributed throughout the village and kept as good medicine"
 The Snake Dance proper begins in the afternoon. Two or three hours before the public exhibition the snakes are washed in the kiva- This washing and drying of the snakes has been seen lay only few white people. Roosevelt saw it, and Kopta has had several opportunities, which he has refused to accept.
 At about o'clock in the afternoon the Snake Dance begins, the audi ence, or as many of them as can purchase and hold places there. being disposed on the tops of the houses, where they will be in no danger Of the snakes when the latter are re- leased by the dancers. The snakes. in the meantime, have been put in cottonwood bower on the plaza which has been built on the preceding morning. In front of the bower is a pit covered by plank, and the danc- CTS stamp upon this plank during the ceremony. From the fact of this pit and the stamping upon the board. Kopta has come to the conclusion that the Snake Dance is not a rain 6Ance, as is commonly supposed, but cer<2aony of ancestor worship. the stamps conveying to the underground worL7. thrauFh rne pit a notification f ss the dead tn&s cha ceremonies have begun. The rain dances are held by the Hopis In June and July.
 The priests of the Antelope clan enter the plaza first. marching around the plaza four times and stamping on the plank over the pit each time as they pass it. They then stand in line in front of the bower, sounding their rattles in a slow movement. Sudden ly the Snake dancers rush from the Snake kiva, their tumultuous entry contrasting with the slow and digni- fled movements of the Antelope dancers. The Snake dancers also circle the plaza four times, stamping upon the plank over the pit, and then | line up facing the Antelope dancers
 The chanting then begins. the Snake dancers singing to the accom- paniment of the rattles waved by the Antelope priests. The chanting takes various forms-now slow and weird | then lively and quick, then the imita . tion of a coming storm. The ending of the chant comes suddenly, and then l the Snake Priests go, one at a time
 to the cottonwood bower. where the snakes are handed to them. Usually 1 the priest takes one snake, if 1t is large one, otherwise he is given two
 With this priest. called the carrier is an attendant to fan the snake with eagle feathers while the priest carries the reptile in his mouth. and the gatherer, whose office it is to gather 1 the snakes after they have beer dropped. The carrier holds the snake by the body In his teeth about eighl
 or ten inches from the head, the body
 of the snake twining about his owr body or arm. Te carrier dances in 2 peculiar movement. with uneven step: and a strange rhythm, the farmer dancing with him and keeping ths I snakes attention from the priest: eyes with his eagle feathers.
 The priest dances, or rather, tht priests dance-for soon there are Il l or 15 sets of dancers weaving abou I the plaza-around the plaza fOul times, when the snakes are dropped I The other attendant, the gatherer watches the snakes on the ground ant prevents them from going near tha part of the audience which has no been able to obtain an observation I post on housetop-
 When all the snakes have beer
 taken from the cottonwood bower, tn
 gatherers begin to collect them iron the ground and hand them to the An
 telope priests, who hold them unti
 all have been picked up. The wom
 en of the village, dressed in thei
 finery, then enter the plaza, and witt
 them is the Snake Mother, who make
 a circle ef corn-meal about eight fee
 in diameter. The women stand ol
 one side, and the snakes are throwl
 in the circle. When all the snake
 are in the circle the Snake Priest
 grab them by handfuls and run witt them to the lowlands, where tn
 snakes are released, again to eac cardinal point of the compass.
 The priests then hold purified
 ton ceremony, which consists c , bathing the body and drinking co
 pious draughts of concoction whic
 in a few minutes acts as a decide , emetic. Then comes a great feas , in which the dancers break fas which has lasted for AS hours. an
 the Snake Dance. the most weird an , exciting of Indian ceremonies. is a , an end