The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1923-11-23
indian SNAKE
DANCE is FAKE
Hopl Ceremonial Exposed by
Federal Inspector.
POISON and FANGS REMOVED

| NUU NEWS nus TtuCuCu AHVNiilNi a. AH'i
that the widely celebrated snake dance
of the Hopl Indians Is fraud. no be
sure there Is q dance, and II is de-
cidedly snaky, and there are cere-
monials Of keen interest to the whites
who gather from afar.
| For at least three-score years have
been tales how the Indians fearlessly
pursue and capture the rattlesnake
ind take him to their klvas, there to
be associated with and adored till the
time of the dance, whereat the snake
priests, gathering the rattles by the
double handful, and carrying the ex-
cess in their mouths, go through the
ancient mystic ritual, regardless of the
fangs of their deadly captives. Rat
tiers have been seen to strike the
priests on the cheek or body and hang
till taken away by the attendant Ante
lope clan members, leaving bloody
wounds. 1t has been told that the
members of the snake clan had
achieved immunity to the poison and
that they possessed the formula for
an antldote of which the secret never
had gone beyond their own member
ship.
Myths Punctured.
Only this year has there been pune
turing of these time-honored myths
The Indian bureau has had an lnspec-
tor, e. M. Sweet, Jr, making investiga-
lions Of the Hopl ceremonials. He had
been getting afIidavlts from govern
ment employees and from the better
educated Indians. Along the same
line is letter written by young
Hopi, Otto Lomavitu, who writes from
Oraibi village that "the snake dance
Is a fake" that the snakes lose their
fangs and poison before they are car
ried into the dance. "The white man
does not know this, nor any outsider
The Indian laughs in his sleeves at
the poor deluded pompous paleface."
The writer tells that considerable
number of the Hopi, especially among
the Christianized element, no longer
care for the snake dance. 1t has been
discontinued in his home pueblo of
Oraibi and is being carried on In only
few other villages. He declares, 1T
is beyond my comprehension how Il
man of intelligence Of the white man
can wish that the Hopis should con-
tinue in this disgusting ceremony of
holding a filthy snake in ones mouth
for five or ten minutes at time"
Indian Sustained.
The Sweet papers sustain the young
Indian in his declaration that the
snake dance is a fake" A number
of witnesses, one of them former
ex-high-priest Of the. snake clan, tell
how, in the annual snake chase, all
kinds Of snakes are taken. When a
RATHER is found, the hunters hold the
reptile while the fangs are raked out
and the poison sacs emptied. Some
times the larger teeth are knocked
out 1t is appreciated that the injuries
heal quickly and that fresh venom
will form within four days, so there
is renewed inspection In the under
ground kiva before the snakes are
brought out to the open kiva.
No preventive medicine Is taken and
the emetic, after the dance, is drunk
mainly as a cleanser Of the filth and
slime left in the mouth and throat from
the skins Of the reptiles. Snake bite
Is feared by the priests as by the
whites Several tribal remedies for
the effect Of the venom are known.
1t may be remembered that, early
In the year, was a hue-and-cry over a
circular message" of Indian Commits
sioner Charles II. Burke in which rec
ommendation was made to the Indians
themselves that t'~y discontinue some
Of their ceremonial dances that hardly
agree with modern ethics. There was
special reference to the Sioux sun
dance, with it's acute tortures of the
"give-aWay" festival, in which men,
bers of certain tribes have been wont
to beggar themselves and their fami-
lies, and Of the dance with poisonous
snakes. In the letter also was refer
ence TO the time that was wasted and
recommendation that seed time and
harvest, at least be spared for work,
while there was reiteration Of the oft
CeDSdleu Willing u6oiA9b Vi uSS NAAN
intoXicants.
Practices immoral.
Possibly the Indian bureaus answer
with respect to the Hopi is contained
in the portfolio of papers gathered by
Mr.. Sweet. Copies Of the evidence
have been passed on to the Indian
Rights association which now for at
least once in it's history is in full ac-
cord with the bureau. The association
now is represented in the Southwest
BIZ S. NJ. Brosius. He is making in
spection Of the condition Of south
western Indian tribes and only incl
dentally is taking up the Hopi fea-
ture. Leaving the unprintable report
merely as corroborative evidence, stat
ing that neither the commissioner and
his bureau nor the Indian Rights asso-
citation is seeking to destroy any In
dian customs of historical or ethnologl-
cal value, he expresses his belief that
the time has come when the Indian
should be discouraged, at least in his
abandonment to filthy and immoral
practices that are known in the period
Of tribal license that is coincident with
the celebration of the snake and some
thar dances Of the southwestern