Evening star., 1926-05-18

How shall We sing the Lords
songs in a strange land?"
The ethnologists point to the fanat-
lctsm of the conquistadores of Mexico.
who ruthlessly destroyed all Iitera
ture and scientific records of the
Aztecs and Toltecs soon after Cor
teZ's conquest-records now held
priceless.
The faiths of the Hopi Indians
were not wholly barbaric. say the
scientists. They believed in the in
visible. omnipresent spirit. the Gre
ator: they prayed with faith In His
beneficence. They We're grateful for
His blessings of food, of water, of
game. of peace. The Hopis espe-
cially were peaceful and agricultural.
Their name means THE Peaceful
People,
The dance has ever been mans
original form Of worshipful express
sion. King David himself danced be.
fore the ark, though he scandalized
his wife by his vehemence. 1t is
explained by ethnologists that it was
in that spirit of expression of wor-
ship that the snake dance, the corn
| dance and buffalo dance, not only
of the Peaceful People," but of many
other tribes of Original Americans
have been observed.
X X Y y
True, there are other dances which
were not so unobjectionable from the
white mans standpoint. The sun
| dance, with which the Indians used
| to worship the Deity through recog-
nizing His presence in the blazing
| luminary, has long since been discon'
tinued. 1t was cruel self-torture in
| fiicted in stoicism. There were dances
to appeal for fertility in all it's forms,
which are utterly condemned as de-
grading, but both ethnelogists and the
| officials of the Indian Bureau declare
that these are no longer practiced by
any tribe.
Only the older generation Of In
dians hold to full faith even in the
dances that are retained. The younger
men who have come into contact
with civilization-includin some, at
least, of the dancers of last Saturday
before the Capitol-no longer consider
| the sacredness of their dances; even
| in the Hopi reservation the customs
are maintained mainly for CONNER
cialism and profit.
X X
Scientists give assurance that the
fangs of the rattlesnakes are not re-
moved from the reptiles nor are the
snakes doped or charmed. An edu.
Gated Indian told Of having witnessed
a tragedy In nature which threw
some light on how the Hopis learned
the method Of handling deadly snakes
with impunity. He had seen a rattle
snake upon the desert, above which
several swallow-tail kites were f1ut-
tering. Both the snake and the birds
were greatly excited. Finally, a. kite
darted down and seized the snake in
the middle of it's body and flew away,
the snake writhing helpless. In the
same manner, the Indian seizes the
snake and 1t becomes helpless.
A scientist tells this story: Certain
travellers owned dog which had a
great knack Of killing snakes. but
once, when it seized a rattler, the
snake struck the dog before it could
be shaken to death. The dog i'm
mediately ran to q creek and buried
its head in wet sand, holding 1t there
some seconds. The dogs instinct
saved it's life. The Indians claim to
| have a secret potion which makes
them immune from snake bites, and
it Is their custom to follow every
snake dance with a bath and a dose
of this secret potion, which Is their
explanation Of their immunity.
tCopyright, 1926, by Paul v. Collins.)