Weekly journal-miner., 1922-09-06
FOLK
 SEE HOP| RITE
Dance of the Smoki at Prescott This Year Actually Stimulated Interest in Weird Aboriginal Ceremony at Third Mesa.

Many travellers have returned from the Hopi dance at Hotevilla. More interest has been manifested this year than for any year in the past accord ing to those who have returned. This greater interest is accredited to the Smoki dance at Prescott. Many of the chiefs and braves of the Smolsi tribe were there to see the Hopi ceremony.
 Neil Clark, A. H. Favour, Norman Hoffman, D. w. Russell, R. O. Bar rett, Mrs. NJ. B. Hazeltine, accom- panied by her two sons, were all there, and many more braves and their wives and children.
 There are two dances of the Hopi tribe This years dance was the one held on the even years and was held at the third mesa. It was of the old style or more truly based on the ancient ancestral traditions with no variations or as few as possible since the rite was inaugurated thousands of years ago. Next year the dance will be at the first mesa, and will be
 given by the same tribe but with the modern or improved ideas of the most recent and greatest leaders of the tribe.
 In the dance this year, single
 snake is held by each dancer. A rattlesnake, or. blue-racer, which is even more deadly poison, is held by the dancer as follows. The neck of the snake is seized in the teeth of the dancer and the middle of the snake is suggorted by one hand of the dancer and the tail by the other hand. Thus each dancer carries on till the dance is done.
 This peculiar grip of the dancer on the snake is not to keep it from bit ing, as the Indians explain, but mere ly is the form of the primitive dance.
 IlC SlldhSS uO IlOl DltC tllSSC SdSlCu priests of the Hopi, for they are friends. They have lived together and battled the elements and have had their victories and their defeats, and are friends But it is claimed that only the ordained and trained priest can handle the venemous snakes thus.
 The dance next year, which is the dance of the odd year, is little diff fcrcnt. The main snake is held in the middle, gently in the teeth of the dancers, while a small boy or maiden attends each dancer with a sacred feather and attracts the attention of the snake so that it will not coil up or try to get loose. This likewise is not to keep the snake from biting as is shown readily and easily, for each dancer in that fantastic performance has a handful of snakes in each hand as he dances through to the end of the dance.
 These dances are not held merely for the mercenary idea of selling wares to the white man, though the Indians do sell souvenirs to any who care to buy. But this is sacred rite with the Indians just as the faith ful church-goer attends prayer meet ing or Sunday service. The Indian makes this his annual prayer for rain for next year, and for all other good | things that the Great Spirit can give.
 Just prior to going onto the first mesa to hold the snake dance for either the odd or even year, IS a pre- Jude dance known as the buffalo dance in which the performers robe themselves in buffalo robes and look like buffaloeS to all intents. This is to celebrate the great time when the buffalo roamed the plains and the red man had his most prosperous years. The Indian does not mourn because there are no more buffaloes, put has the hopeful idea that some lay the same happy conditions may prevail that prevailed when the buff alo was plentiful.
 Most of the Smoki are back from he Hotevilla dance. A few lag be- 1 lind. They have all made a date with themselves to see the odd year l lance at Araibi next year. They all proclaim the young braves of the Iopi as most hospitable and willing nd glad to have the white men look nto their homes and see the manner f their lives. The older ones are a it shy and prefer to be left alone, a ut this -shyness is fast disappearing. Il hey hate to be called Moki as that V 5 their ugly nickname given to them y the Navajos.
 The Smoki dance in Prescott has ls roven to be a great stimulator for il he Hopi affair, and as years go on, O
 the white men see fit to perpetu- te this legend of the Smoki as writ L ar, 1,,y Sbor1o+ Hall if will haco,,,a b