The Winslow mail., 1923-06-22
SMOKI SNAKE DANCE
CONTINUED from page one)

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foot of the cliff, with the eyes of the
dWelIers above looking down upon
them. A priest hurries down and
draws a line of sacred corn meal
across the trail to bar the way-a
bar which no good desert man would
cross"
After parley between the leaders
and consultation on the cliff the
strangers are permitted to come in.
Then follows the flute ceremony alb
out the sacred spring out of which
a messenger rises from the unseen
sources bearing the water blessed
of the Rain God "The return to the
mesa with the gourds of sacred wat
er is one very beautiful part of the
ceremony"
The "Tat-cuk-to or Mud-Heads"
were the ''Mirth-makers" or"delight-
makers and made fun for the crowd
during the intervals between the Sc
rious dances "Their grotesque
masks in fantastic representation of
half-mysterious and wholly irresp-
onsibIe spirits reflect the primitive
imagination at play, and their pranks
are designed to amuse simple and
primitive people, easily moved to
laughter by a travestry of incidents
in their daily life" Two of the
pranks played on this occasion were
the branding of steer in the shape
of a coWhide and horns placed over
the heads and shoulders of two of
their number, and the causing of a
big stalk of magic corn to spring up
in a single moment.
Last of all comes "The Snake
Dance which is the leading rain
ceremonial of the Smoki People
First, the High Priest announces
the dance from the house-tops. Then
comes the Thunder Priest who
sounds his "bullroarer' at the corn
ers of the plaza to drive away evil
spirits" Then comes "Tcamah-hee-ah
who purifies the air and ground in
every direction with a magic liquid
which he sprinkles about with a
feather whip. He then sounds the
call before the Kisi, and then from
the underground chamber the Kiva
emerge the Antelope Priests with
bowed heads and devotional attitu-
des who make triple march on the
sanctifed ground then line up on
either side of the Kisi in which the
snakes are kept The Snake Priests
then emerge from the Kiva. "They
come with lighter and more joyous
fstep. AS they circle the Dance Rock
they strike the sounding board be-
fore the Kisi with their right feet
to convey to their ancestors of the
Underworld assurance that the sac
red ceremonies Of their Clan are
faithfully carried out. When the
Snake Priests have come to halt,
facing the Antelope Priests, both
priesthoods then call the spirit of
the air and stamp upon the ground
for the spirits of the Underworld to
give potency to the rites they are
about to perform.
"Then follows the intoned invoca-
ton by all the priests 1t is address
sed to all spirits and to the Supreme
Being. The Snake Priests are now
about to begin the actual dance and
in single file move in circle around
the Dance Rock AS the High Snake
Priest passes the Kisi on this round,
he receives from the Kisi Priest q
snake and all the priests then take
up the Snake Dance Chant.
after all the snakes have been
taken from the Kisi and carried
thrice around the circle, the Snake
Priests come to halt, facing the
Antelope Priests By this time, each
priest in each rank has one or more
snakes. At this point, the women
Of the Sanke and Antelope clans
make a circle of sacred corn meal
upon the ground, into which the
snakes are later to be cast.
''The circle of sacred corn meal
having been completed, the Ante
lope Priests begin the chant Of the
serpent and also symbolic Of the
serpent intertwine through the line
of Snake Priests The Antelope
Priests having emerged from the
line of the Snake Priests, both clans
join in forming the great serpentine
figure which coils and writhes around
the ring of meal until finally they
form a circle, with snakes held high
above their heads.
"The ring closes and the snakes
are cast into a heap and sprlnkled
with sacred meal. Then they are
gathered and carefully transported
North, West, South and East and
turned loose upon the distant desert
that they may return to the Under
world, bearing testimony as to the
fidelity of the priests in the PRAYERS
they have uttered for rain" (The
snakes are not really let loose, how
ever, in this instance, but preserved
for future use). They were real
snakes of all sizes, but of the bull
snake variety, it was said, which ac-
counts for the fearless way in which
the snakes were handled by these
tenderfoot indians. The snakes did
not seem to enjoy the fun nearly as
much as the audience in the grand
stand. Evidently they didn't know
what it was all about and couldn't
see the funny side of the performance
The dance was well filmed as rep
resentatives from two or three pic
ture companies were there and took
pictures of the whole performance
from beginning to end. Many will
be able to see it in moving pictures
who are not able t ogo to Prescott
to see the real dance.
The people who put this perform
ance on are surely to be congratulat-
ed on the fine work they have done
1Ph1nW-