Cleveland County herald., 1921-01-13
Mizona Indians, Far Removed From Civilization, Cling to
 Ancestral Customs.
IS IN DAYS BEFORE COLUMBUS
Mokiiand Is the Richest Part of the Union for Prehistoric Exploration
 --Medicine Man Determines Date for Snake Dance.

monies performed nowadays Ill Amer lea take place in midsummer days among the MofS Indians, who live in southeastern Arlzona. Scarcely touch ed by our civilization and clinging to ancestral customs, H. c. Tinsey tells ahe 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.
 Moklland or the province of Tusuy. an as the Spanish named il in the early part of the sixteenth century, Is tile richest part of the Union for pre-. Historic exploration. Cities of strong, Intelligent people fourished here in the time of the Caesars. Ruins of heather temples which crumbled be. fore the Montezuma dynasty began, gie among the drifting sands. The land of the Mokis abounds in an- eient traditions still kept In their pristine freshness.
 Studying Mokis' Customs.
 This month two score of American ethnologists and archeoIogists, besides some from Europe, have gathered in he Moki puebios to study the GUS toms, habits thought and traditions of man in prehistoric America, as they have come down through generations of Mokis.
 Spanish adventurers under Cor enado reckoned in 1542 that there were about 13.000 souls in the Tusuy an confederaey of Moki txibes. Now fhere are but few hundred M0kis. They are known also as Hopis; and their name signifies peace loving" They have a tradition that several Hundred years ago the warlike ApacheS waged terrific war against the tribe The remnant of the Mokis Aed in terror and took refuge on the two great tableands of red sandstone which rise sheer some 70 feet out of vast sea of sand. The great rocky formation has been veritable Gi- Sraltar of defense to the tribe and from the day the ancestral Molzis fled they and their descendants have dwelt there isolated. Rain is the all-essen- tial element in the success of Moki agriculture, and in the desert region Ta.ns come capriciously. \
 The date of the Moki snake dance ss determined by an old medicine man in the tribe. When during August the SIa at its setting glnts the sacred rock that stands before the door of the tribal kiya, the old medicine man.
 1l mounts the highest point at either Wapi or Oraibi and solennIy gives notice that 16 sunsets hence the solemn snake ceremonies will take place. He ends by invoking all 10 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 sev- eral parts in the ceremonies.
 certain number of young men. ap- | pointed for the purpose start out al l next dawn to perform their part of | the preparation for the dance. They l are jakulali (snake gatherersl. They | roam over the desert with a forked stick in one hand and bag made of skins in the ouer They know where to look for rattlesnakes and some times they get more than POO serpents In a week. They plant the forks of their sticks over the neck of the re. eumbent snake, and by an adroit move. ment throw the reptile into the bag The serpents are brought to the pueblo and turned over to the old snake priests.
 The Preliminaries.
 Six days after the official announce ment of the annual snake ceremonies. mysterious rites among 27 of the fore most men in the Moki trihe begin in a chamber hewn into the rock down he low the pueblo. This is the kiva the holy of hoies of MOki belief. Dr ]. Walter Fewks of the Smthson. ian institution is the only white person who has ever entered the kiva, and he says that the ceremonies there consist in washing the serpents captured and brought there by young men. The old mon engage in harbaric incantations, and chant appeals 10 the Serrents to bear messages of devotion and friend. ship to the powers that rule the rain clouds. The snake priests wear noth- ing to protect themselves from the reP tiles fangs. Each day they wash th' .rattlesnakes. sprinkle sacred comment -on the serpents' heads. and deposit the creatures in jars. Meanwhile the Moki housewives cook and bake in prepara tfon for fhe event of the yeGr-the snake dance on the plaza of the pu- ebio. The gaudiest tribal finery is brought forth and made ready. White and Navajo Indian visitors core across fine desert to see the public (, remonies ana for 6 week all Mokiland bustles pnd buzzes.
 Al the setting of the sixteenth sun from the official announcement by old