Arizona republican., 1921-07-03

development Of the Navajo blanket than any other white man, and who is the best known and most pie turesque figure in the northern part of the state, desired that the snake dance be held while Roosevelt was in the state, and with this in mind he went to the Hopi village of Walpi and after distributing tobacco and other gifts to the Indians he prevailed upon them to meet and decide upon the date.
 The meeting was held, the cere- monial pipes were smoked and the proposed dance talked over, and then a date was set which would bring the snake dance on the sixteenth day from the third after the meeting. Then the Indians, and Hubbell also. made a mistake. Instead of inform ing the pueblo chief of the date, the Indians told Hubbell, who immediate ly sent Navajo runner to Roosevelt, 150 miles away, with the information The pueblo chief, however, was un- willing that his prerogatives should be overridden in this manner. and he ordered his town crier to announce the date as 16 days from the day of the meeting. Once announced, there was no way of changing 1t, and no way in which to get the news to Roosevelt. Fortunately, however, the famous White Father came to Walpi several days in advance of the date which had been given him and so was in good time for the dance, which he afterwards described in magazine article which has become classic. The town crfer makes the an- nouncement early in the morning. and the pueblo thereupon is ready to pre- pare for the ceremony. The num- Der of days elapsing between the an nouncement and the dance Is due to which Is based upon the series of eight, so that the dance is two per- iods of eight days each from the time of announcement.
 During the first eight days the Hopis do nothing with regard to the dance. The second eight days. how ever, are devoted to a rigid schedule. On the first day the chiefs of the An- telope and Snake clans meet in the Snake 'kiva," or underground cham Der, where they indulge in cere- monial smoke, talk things over and decide upon the particulars of the dance.
 On the second day there is another smoke and discussion. during which the paraphernalia for the dance is examined and gotten ready for the dance Tpf 1Ne fourth, fifth and sixth days -Ee desScee te snake huHn. ing, one day being devoted to eacn of the cardinal points-north, west, south and east. During these four days the Hopis endeavor s<- capture enough snaks> xo euppfy the needs OF .:ie- lance, which at Walpi means ,, that they must get from 100 to 150 snakes as a minimum. In the event | that the Indians n0f pQf a1n1I0b snakes in the four days, another day is devoted to the hunt. When the snakes appear to be exceptionally scarce the town crier announces the fact to the villagers who are asked to | look for snakes and to send word of i them to the Snake clan, who go out after the reptiles word of them is brought in
 The members of the Snake clan usually trail the snake over the sand
 until they discover their holes. where
 upon they dig them out. The snakes
 are brought to the village every eve
 ming They are placed in large jars I in the kiva and are guarded by the older members of the clan, who also l do the required ceremonial smoking I and other necessary work in the kiva
 On the late afternoon of the seventh
 day the Antelope Dance takes place This dance is practically the same al the Snake Dance, with the exception | that instead of using snakes in tht ceremony the members of the Ante lope fraternity use corn stalks. Int l dancers also are painted in design: different from those worn by ths | members of the Snake clan on tht I following day.
 At this point of his description O. the Snake Dance, Kopta digressed tt give the Hopi account of the begin ming of the Snake clan, which is alst the reason. for the dance. Many many moons ago there was a Hop youth who was a dreamer, and wht I spent his days in looking to the wes and wondering what was on the othe side of the far hills. His dreams wer,
 one day translated into action, and h, l floated down the muddy waters o ], the Colorado until he had entered ] country which seems from the legend to have been what is now known a l California. Here he fell in love witt
 maiden of strange tribe. H } the Hopi village from whence b , came.
 f Then an unheard- of incident oc , cured The first children of tn } young couple were snakes. Fright 2 ened at this, and unwilling that an , member of the tribe should be mar
 ried to a woman whose offsprin f were reptiles, the Hopis expelled tn < couple from the village. Then, i
 modern phrase. things began to hap
 pen. The rains failed. the crops die
 In the fields, the grim spectre o l starvation made it's entrance into tn
 Hopi villages. When their suffering
 had become almost too much to beal
 the Hopis were told by one of thei
 priests that the evil under which the
 were laboring was due to the fac
 that they had expelled the youn
 Hopi and his wife from the countr!
 and that the rain would not fall c
 the crops mature until they had bee
 | brought back.
 The Hopis thereupon set out { hunt for the couple, who were even u tually found. Since leaving the vii lage the woman had borne childre who were human, and these too wer brought back, but the snake -childre had been dispersed over the deser When the young Hopi and his vii and children were brought back the village there was great rejo1cln for now the rains would come and tt evil that had lain over the land woul
 be dissipated, and this rejoicing the basis for the Snake Dance of tt
 day. And since the Hopis are unab
 to distinguish ordinary snakes fro
 the descendants of the young Ho and his wife, they bring in to the fe. \ tiyities all the snakes they can fin III On the morning of the Antelol Dance the members of the cla
 starting long before dawn, rat
 around certain cornfields and retul \ to the village just at sunrise. Accor' | ing to Kopta the ending of this rae E .t-i. h;