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A JOURNAL
OF
AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY AND
ARCHAEOLOGY
EDITOR
J. WALTER FEWKES
VOL. IV
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
®&e Ktoersifce press, Cambridge
1894
s/
ABE GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
MRS. MARY HEMENWAY
CONTENTS AND LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
A Group of Snake Dancers . . . . . . . ' . Frontispiece
INTRODUCTION • • • 3
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
FIRST DAY (YUN'-LA, ASSEMBLY) .. ... 13
MAKING OF THE CHARM LIQUID (NA"-KU-YI) - . 15
THE DRY PAINTING OR SAND MOSAIC OF THE ANTELOPES ...... 17
Sand Mosaic of the Antelope Priests . 18
Cylinder 20
Heads of the Male and Female Lightning ........ 21
Sand Mosaic or Altar of the Antelopes . , .22
Stone Implements of the Antelope Altar 23
Stick from Antelope Altar . .24
SECOND DAY (CUC-TA-LA, FIRST CEREMONIAL DAY) . . . . . . 25
Hand representing Length of Ca-kwd-pa-ho(s) ........ 25
Prayer-Stick (Pa"-ho) 27
THE SIXTEEN SONGS CEREMONY 28
Great O'-mow-uh Pipe .32
K£-kap-ti leaving the Kiva ........... 35
Jar in which the Snakes are kept .......... 37
THIRD DAY (LUC-TA"-LA, SECOND CEREMONIAL DAY) 37
Snake-Whip 38
Position of the Priests when the Pit- ho (s) were given to the Snake Chief . . .39
FOURTH DAY (PAIC-TA-LA, THIRD CEREMONIAL DAY) 41
Ho-kd-na-ma-na, or Butterfly Virgin Slab 43
Pat'-ne 43
Snake Hunters descending the South Trail ........ 45
FIFTH DAY (NA-LUC'-TA-LA, FOURTH CEREMONIAL DAY) 45
A-wa-ta-n£-tci of the Antelope Kiva .......... 47
A-wa-ta-nd-tci of the Snake Kiva .......... 48
SIXTH DAY (Cuc-T^-LA, FIRST CEREMONIAL DAY) 49
Kd-pe-li, the Snake Chief 50
Cross-Shaped P*-ho Stick 51
SEVENTH DAY (KO-MOK-TO-TO-KYA) 52
vi CONTENTS AND LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
MAKING THE SAND MOSAIC OF THE SNAKE PRIESTS 53
Sand Mosaic of the Snake Priests 54
Snake Bandoleer 57
The Snake Chief's Pipe 58
The Snake Charm Altar 59
Basket in which the Snake Charm Liquid is made ...... 60
Pellet of Clay from Snake Bandoleer 61
DRAMATIZATION IN THE SNAKE KIVA . . . . .' . . . . 61
EIGHTH DAY (TO-TO-KYA, SLEEPS) . . ... ... • . .65
Kilt of the Antelope Priests . . . . . . ' . . . ' . <• . 66
DRAMATIZATION AND SIXTEEN SONGS CEREMONY . . . . . .67
THE ANTELOPE DANCE . . . . . . * . -\ . . . 71
Snake Pa-ho . .... . . . . , . . . . ... 71
NINTH DAY (TI-KE-VE-NI, DANCE DAY) . . . . « ... . 74
THE SNAKE RACE . . . . . •. .. . . * .' .. .74
DRAMATIZATION IN THE SIXTEEN SONGS CEREMONY . . . . . 76
Position of the Celebrants of the Dramatization Ceremony . . . . .76
Decorations of the Body, Arm, and Leg of the Snake Boy . . . . . 77
Snake Kilt . . . .. . . . . . . , . . .79
WASHING THE SNAKES ..... . . . .. . . . . 81
Bowl used in Washing the Snakes . . ' „> . . . . . . .83
PUBLIC CEREMONY OF THE SNAKE DANCE . 87
Ki-si . -. . ...... . . . . . . . . 88
Chief of the Antelope Priests . . . . . . . . . . 88
Embroidered Cloth attached to the Belt of the Antelopes . . . . .90
Wristlet of the Antelopes . . . • . • 90
The Snake Chief taking down the A-wa-ta-iuC-tci . . . . . ... 91
Circuits made by Antelope and Snake Priests on leaving the Plaza . . . 94
Snake Priests after drinking the Emetic . : . ... . . , ' . . .94
DISMANTLING OF THE SAND MOSAIC IN THE MON'-KIVA . ... . . 95
DAYS SUBSEQUENT TO THE DANCE 96
TENTH DAY (OV-EK'-NI-WA) PURIFICATION OF THE SNAKE PRIESTS ... 97
Nu-f-Ti-WA . . . .... •. . . ^ 97
MELODIES OF THE SNAKE DANCE . .... . . . . . . 98
SNAKES USED IN THE CEREMONY . . . 101
LEGEND OF Tf-YO, THE SNAKE HERO . . •. . . . . 106
INTERPRETATION OF THE MYTH . v . 119
BIBLIOGRAPHY .... . . 124
OUTLINE MAP SHOWING THE POSITION OF TUSAYAN • . . 126
£outf)toc£trai
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI
BY J. WALTER FEWKES
ASSISTED BY
A. M. STEPHEN AND J. G. OWENS
INTRODUCTION.
THE ceremonials of the Hopi Indians in the summer of 1891 have
already been described in the second volume of this journal, in which
the author promised to lay before the scientific world his studies, and
those of his assistants, of the celebrated Snake Dance. In the present
volume it has seemed proper to publish what we know of this observ-
ance as a contribution to a knowledge of the most weird, if not the
most interesting, events in the ceremonial proceedings of this strange
people.1
It is a great pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mrs. Mary
Hemenway, of Boston, whose generosity in advancing the cause of
original research in American ethnology and archaeology is well
1 The present article is one of a series
of which the following have been pub-
lished : —
A Few Summer Ceremonials at the
Tusayan Pueblos, by J. Walter Fewkes.
Journal of American Ethnology and
Archaeology, vol. ii. No. 1.
The Ld-la-kon-ti ; A Tusayan Cere-
mony, by J. Walter Fewkes and J. G.
Owens. American Anthropologist , April,
1892. (September observance — a wo-
man's ceremonial.)
The Mam-zrdu-ti, by J. Walter Fewkes
and A. M. Stephen. American Anthro-
pologist^ October, 1892. (October obser-
vance— a woman's ceremonial.)
The Na-dc-nai-ya, by J. Walter Fewkes
and A. M. Stephen. The Journal of
American Folk -Lore, July-September,
1892. (November quadrennial ceremony.)
The Pd-lu-lu-kon-ti, by J. Walter
Fewkes and A. M. Stephen. The Jour-
nal of American Folk -Lore, October-
December, 1893. (February observance
— a Snake ceremony.)
The Wal'-pi Flute (Le-len-tu), the Po-
wd-mu (February), and the So-yaVun-a
(December) ceremonials have been studied,
and will be described later. The Pd-lil-
lii-kon-ti is of special interest in the study
of the Snake Dance. The Wal'-pi Flute,
from its relation to the ceremonials de-
scribed in this memoir, will be made the
subject of an extensive article.
4 INTRODUCTION.
known wherever these sciences are cultivated, and whose unwearied
interest in the Hopi Indians has been the inspiration of this work.
The author must reiterate his obligations to his friend Mr. T. V.
Keam. Without his aid much which is here recorded could not have
been observed, and the debt which American ethnologists owe to his
enlightened interest in this people, with whom he has lived for many
years in close commercial relations, is very great. During these studies
the author was accompanied by his lamented assistant, the late J. G.
Owens, references to whose help are found on many of the following
pages. To this fearless investigator, who lost his life in the cause of
American archaeology at the ruins of Copan, the author owes much
more than this brief reference would indicate.
The difficulties besetting the path of the student of the Hopi cere-
monials are very great, although working under exceptional advan-
tages with the full confidence of the priests. It is impossible for one
observer to be in two sacred chambers or kiva(s) at the same time, and
the complete description of episodes of the ceremonials, such as the
deposit of the offerings in distant shrines and the foot-races going on
in the plain simultaneously with kiva observances, would necessitate
several assistants to study them exhaustively in detail.
While the agreeable work of writing this memoir has fallen upon
the editor of this journal, the help rendered by Mr. A. M. Stephen
has been so great that his name is placed at the head of this article
with that of the author. The legend of the Snake Hero is by his
pen, and the secret observances were noted and discussed by both in
order to verify each other's work and secure all possible accuracy.
It has not seemed well to rely too much on the testimony of partici-
pants for a knowledge of these observances, or an explanation of their
meaning. Most difficult of all is the deciphering of the significance of
the whole or parts of the observances, and the varied interpretations
given by the priests show that in some instances at least we should not
give too much weight to individual testimonies. The most trustworthy
explanations must, it is believed, result from comparative studies, which
ought to be extended far beyond the limits of Tusayan. The object
INTRODUCTION. 5
of this article is to record observations which were made under the
auspices of the Hemenway expedition.
The ceremony in 1893 began on August 6, and was studied
throughout by Mr. A. M. Stephen and J. Walter Fewkes. Messrs.
Julian Scott,1 F. H. Lungren, and W. K. Fales were admitted to the
secret ceremonials of the Mon'-kiva, and were at our request initiated
into the Antelope Fraternity. The attendance at the open dance, on
the culminating day of the ceremony, was about the same as in 1891,
and the other American spectators made no effort to enter the kiva(s)
during the secret performances. This was in marked contrast to the
actions of some of the white visitors in 1891. While the present article
is in the main a description of the Snake Dance of 1891, several refer-
ences to the presentation in 1893 are likewise introduced. The two
observances were marvelously alike, even in details, but the studies in
1893 were necessary to substantiate that fact. The certainty of the
Hopi ritual, as ceremonially carried out in two successive performances,
gives a good idea of its conservatism, and points to a belief that inno-
vations have made slow progress in their introduction. The time, how-
ever, when the ceremonial system of the Hopi will suffer disintegration
and ultimate destruction is not far away. The death of the old Ante-
lope priests will have a most important influence in this modification,
although several of the younger men are still as conservative as their
" elder brothers." The present records were made none too soon for
a scientific knowledge of this most primitive aboriginal observance.
1 Mr. Scott has painted one of the colored plates which accompanies this memoir.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
THE Hopituh or Village Indians of Tusayan celebrate every two
years a weird ceremonial called the Snake Dance. This is performed
in the villages Wal'-pi, Mi-con'-in-o-vi, Cuno-pa-vi, and 0-rai-bi, alter-
nating with the Le-len-tu, or Flute Observance. It does not occur on
the same year in all of the four villages mentioned, but every year
there is a presentation of this weird rite in one or the other. Mi-con'-
in-o-vi and Wal'-pi observe their Snake-Antelope ceremony the same
year, and Cuno-pa-vi on the alternate year. The Snake and Flute
societies, however, never perform their respective dramas the same
year in the same village.1
The present article deals wholly with the presentation of the Snake
observance in Wal'-pi, and is intended as a basis for further compara-
tive studies of the same rite in the other villages. That this ceremony
in other pueblos of the Tusayan province differs in details from that
at Wal'-pi is probably true, so that statements made in the description
of the presentation on the East Mesa cannot be regarded as necessa-
1 There is a considerable literature of ful field for scientific research in many
the Hopi Snake Dance, as will be seen by ways.
the list of references in the bibliography. The letters used in spelling Hopi words
Most of these publications refer to the have the following sounds : a, like a in
Snake Dance at Wal'-pi. We have a short far ; a, as in what ; e, as a in fate ; i, as
description of the ceremony at Mi-con'-in- in pique ; 0, as in note ; u, as in rule ; $,
o-vi by Mindeleff, and much MS. mate- as in but ; #, as in French tu ; p and b
rial on the Cund-pa-vi presentation. sounds indifferentiated ; t and d indistin-
The O-rai-bi celebration, which we may guishable, but like compound of d in dare,
expect to find the most primitive of all, t in ten ; tc, like ch in chink ; c, like sh
has thus far escaped the attention of scien- in shall ; ft, like ng in syncope ; v, like
tine men. This village offers a most fruit- English v, with faint b and p sounds.
8 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
rily true of the others. Not until the details of all are completely
worked out and published can we hope to have an adequate idea of
this subject, and be able to enlarge our comparisons with kindred
ceremonials in other parts of the New World, especially Mexico and
Central America.
Extensive work, with many new observations, has been done upon
the Cu no-pa- vi Snake Dance, but as the 0-rai-bi presentation is yet to
be witnessed, it has seemed best to postpone publication of the former
for another article. There are several gaps in our knowledge of the
Cu no-pa- vi rite which necessitate new investigations. Of these the
character, significance, and object of the prayers, and the wording of
the same, are not the least important. So large is the material dealing
with variants of this ceremonial which has been collected among peo-
ple of other linguistic stocks, that a consideration of their resemblance
must likewise be passed by for the present.
While it must be confessed that it is yet too early to decipher the
meaning of this weird rite, even with the information which we now
have, there are certain conclusions which are wellnigh demonstrated.
The observance is undoubtedly a rain ceremony, in which Snake wor-
ship takes a subordinate part. It dramatizes more or less imperfectly
portions of a legend of Ti-yo, the Snake youth, and the first Hopi
people who came to Tusayan. Perhaps we are attempting too much
in trying to give any simple cause for its biennial repetition. Its true
meaning is probably lost, and can only be resurrected by comparative
ceremoniology. While each and every episode may have, as it undoubt-
edly does, a special meaning, the reason for the whole ceremony lies
far back in the past, and has become more or less obscured by the
progress of time. The priests perform the Snake Dance because their
forefathers did, and these in turn derived a knowledge of it from
others. Who the originators were and why they performed it are
questions which the present Snake and Antelope priests cannot answer.
When asked its meaning they repeat their stories of the adventures
of Ti-yo, who, like Quetzalcoatl, wandered into the house of the
Snakes. Out of a maze of speculation, distorted legends, and modi-
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 9
fications, it is next to impossible to arrive at true explanations ; but
by comparisons, however, we may be able to get some clue to the
meaning of the Snake Dance.
The songs are the traditional melodies which bring the rain, and
the ceremonials are consecrated by antiquity, and venerated as most
efficacious for that purpose. These people hold them as essential
because their ancestors have done so, in their belief, from the birth of
time. The question of origin further than this has not occupied their
attention, and I believe they have no adequate solution of the problem.
It would be strange if they had ; and in that they are not exceptional,
for the origin and reason of ceremonials among white men are lost in
antiquity.
The primary object of this memoir is to record the details of the
presentation ere this curious survival passes away forever, as it un-
doubtedly will in a few years.
The celebration of the Snake Dance in 1891 lasted nine days, begin-
ning on Thursday, August 13th, and continuing until Friday of the
following week. The first days were taken up by secret ceremonials,
to which the uninitiated were not admitted, and the public presentation
occurred on the last days, Thursday and Friday, August 20 and 21.
The secret ceremonials took place in the two subterranean rooms
called the Mon'-kiva and the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva. The former room
was occupied throughout by the Antelope priests ; the latter by the
Snake Fraternity. The snakes were hunted in the plain and among
the foothills in the four quarters corresponding to their cardinal points.1
The public ceremonials on the two last days occurred in the plaza in
which is situated the so-called " Dance Rock."
In order that the reader may follow the account more readily, the
names of the participants are appended. The following list contains
the majority of the members of the Tcu-a-wymp-ki-a or Snake Frater-
nity from Wal'-pi in 1891 : K6-pe-li, chief, Sii-pe-la, Les'-ma, Nii-va-o-yi,
i, N. W. ; Te-vyun'-a, S. W. ; ceptions are referred to in the use of
Ta-tyit-ka, S. E. ; and ff6-pok-yu-ka, N. north, west, south, and east.
E. Throughout this article the Hopi con- 2 Tuh'-kwi, Pillar-mound.
10 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Ta-la-ho-ya, Si-kya-ta-la, Lo-mo-nan'-kwii-cii, Si-kyau-wis'-ti-wa, Ca-na,
Ma-i, Ci-wu, Pi-ba, Ho-mo-bi, Poc'-to, M6-mi? Tco-no, Piir-ya-to, Ma-
ki-wa, Na-ka-vii, Tiih'-kwi, Sis'-kyau-ma, Ne-vat'-i, Na-si-mo-ki, A'-mi,
Y6-yo-wai-ya, Ha-ni, Nii-va-wu-nu, Ma-ran'-ta-ka, Kwa-tca-kwa, Si-tai-ma,
Si-yii'-ku-li, Si-kya-tufi-an-ma, Lo-ma-yam'-ti-wa, Gya-cu-sru, and Si-
kya-bd-ti-ma.
The following members live in Ha-no : Kiitc'-ve, Pa-tun-tiih-pi,
Ka-no, Wi-wi-la, and Tcd-yo. To the above must be added Si-kya-pi-ki,
and Kiitc'-ha-yi from the Middle Mesa.
The names of the Antelope priests are : Wi-ki/ Ha-ha-we, Na-syun7-
we-ve, Hon'-yi, Kwa-a, Wi-ky-at'-i-wa, Ta-wa, Mas-i-um'-ti-wa, Ka-sro,
Sa-mi-mo-ki, Chii-bey, Wey-wey, Tcac-hiim-i-wi^ Tcos-hon'-i-wa, In'-ti-
wa,2 and several children whose names I do not know.
In order that the reader may have a general oversight of the course
of events in this complicated observance, a tabular summary or calen-
dar of the nine days' proceedings is introduced below. This short
synopsis may be an aid to an understanding of the special descrip-
tion given farther on.
Thursday, August 13 :
1. Making of the nd-ku-yi by the Antelopes. 2. Preparation of
the sand mosaic of the Mon'-kiva by Wi-ki, the Antelope chief.
Friday, August 14 :
1. Preparation of pd-ho(s), in the Mon'-kiva during the morning.
2. Consecration of the same by the singing of sixteen traditional songs
by the Antelopes in the same kiva.
Saturday, August 15 :
1. Ceremony in the Mon'-kiva attending the delivery of the Snake
and other pd-ho(s) to K6-pe-li by Wi-ki. 2. Tcil'-d-md-ki-wa or snake
hunt to the north. 3. The singing of the sixteen traditional songs
by the Antelopes in the Mon'-kiva.
Sunday, August 16 :
1. Ceremonies at the delivery of pd-ho(s) to Ko-pe-li. 2. Snake
1 His whole name is S^-mi-wi-ki. 2 Was a novice in 1891.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 11
hunt to the west. 3. Sixteen traditional songs sung in the Mon'-kiva.
4. Ho-'ko-na-md-na tile audpat'-ne first seen in Mon'-kiva.
Monday, August 17 :
1. Delivery of pd-ho(s) to K6-pe-li. 2. Snake hunt to the south.
3. Sixteen traditional songs sung in the Mon'-kiva. 4. Na-tci-a-wa-ta
affixed to the ladder for first time. Sand on the hatch.
Tuesday, August 18 :
1. Delivery of pd-ho(s) to K6-pe-li. 2. Snake hunt to the east,
with feast. 3. Sixteen traditional songs sung in the Mon'-kiva.
Wednesday, August 19 :
1. Making of the sand mosaic of the Snake altar in the Wi-kwal'-i-
o-bi kiva. 2. Making charm liquid and medicine pellets. 3. Sixteen
traditional songs sung in the Mon'-kiva. 4. Initiation in the Wi-kwal'-
i-o-bi kiva. 5. Singing at Ta-wa-pa, sun spring.
Thursday, August 20 :
1. Antelope race. 2. Dramatization and sixteen traditional songs
sung in Mon'-ki-va. 3. Renewal of nd-M-yi in the Mon'-kiva. 4.
Public ceremony by Antelope and Snake priests on the plaza with corn-
stalks and gourd vines.
Friday, August 21 :
1. Dramatization and sixteen traditional songs. 2. Ceremonial of
novices in the Mon'-kiva. 3. Snake Race. 4. Snake Washing in the
Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva. 5. Public Snake Dance. 6. Drinking emetic.
7. Feast.
Saturday, August 22 :
1. Purification of the Snake priests.
The game for four days after the Snake Dance is called Nui-ti-wa.1
The official announcement of the time decided upon for the Snake
Dance and the events of the different days of the celebration were
made on August 5, eight days before the Snake Dance began. On
that day Hon'-yi, the public crier for this ceremony, shouted the
1 A description of this game has been authority of several priests. It took place
introduced as an appendage to the Snake in both years in which the ceremony has
Dance, but with some misgivings, on the been studied in a scientific manner.
12 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
announcement from the top of the village, by direction of Wi-ki, the
Antelope chief. The same morning a pu'r-ta-bi, formed by a stringed
na-kwd-kwo-ci on a line of meal, was placed at sunrise on the trail at
the narrow part of the mesa between Si-tcom'-o-vi and Wal'-pi. Two
days before, Wi-ki and an assistant had made prayer offerings at the
house of the former in the plain and deposited them in a shrine to the
south, but the details of their manufacture are unknown to me. Pos-
sibly this had nothing to do with the ceremony, but further observation
may reveal some connection. It is not apparent by what signs the
date was determined, but a ceremonial smoke was held by Wi-ki, Ko-
pe-li, Na-syun'-we-ve, Ha-ha-we, Kwa-a, and Ka-kap-ti the night before
the announcement, and the date in 1891 was said to have been agreed
upon at that time.
Wi-ki also spent some time for many days before the beginning of the
nine days' ceremony in spinning native cotton string to use in the prep-
aration of the pd-ho(s). This he did in his house in the plain, moving
to his mesa home the night before the beginning of the ceremony.
Prior to the celebration of the Snake Dance in 1893 there assem-
bled at Ca-li-ko's (Su-pe-la's) house, on the evening of July 28, the
following men, who had a ceremonial smoke, and then determined the
time proper for the observance : Wi-ki, Kwa-a, Ha-ha-we, Ka-tci (for
his brother Na-syun'-we-ve, who was absent), Hori'-yi, and Sii-pe-la (rep-
resenting his son, Ko-pe-li). The meeting-place was well chosen, since
it was the home of Ko-pe-li, the Snake chief, and his father, Sii-pe-la,
whose wife Ca-li-ko is the eldest female member of the Snake Family.
On this day Wi-ki made the pur-ta-bi, and the other chiefs a na-
kwd-kwo-ci, for Hon'-yi, the speaker chief of this observance, to plant
on the 29th. He announced on the 29th, eight days before the
event, the date on which the observance would take place. The nine
days' ceremony in 1893, therefore, began on August 6.
There were very few, and those unimportant, differences between
the presentations in 1891 and 1893.1 It is an interesting fact that the
1 On the last days of the 1891 celebra- room in Wal'-pi in order to be nearer the
tion Mr. Owens and the author took a ki-va(s). Mr. Stephen lived in Si-tcomf-
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 13
details of the ritual are so closely followed in successive presentations
of the same ceremonial. However, it must be said that dance para-
phernalia of white men's manufacture, which are slowly being intro-
duced, have led to modifications in the appearance of the participants
in the public presentation. The secret portions of the celebration oc-
curred in the Mon'-kiva,1 which was occupied throughout by the Ante-
lope priesthood, and in the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva, where the mysteries of
the Tcu-a-wymp-kia(s) or Snake priests were performed.
The ceremonial events began in the Mon'-kiva, and predominance
was given from the very outset to the Tcub-wymp-ki-ya, or Antelope
Fraternity. Except by the Snake chief, the other kiva was deserted on
the first as well as the following day, and at least two days elapsed
before the Snake priests as a body took a prominent part in the pro-
ceedings. This fact is significant, and emphasizes what appeared
throughout, that the Snake ceremonial is controlled by the Antelope
rather than by the Snake society.
FIRST DAY (YUN-LA, ASSEMBLY).2
At early sunrise Wi-ki was seen at the entrance of the Mon'-kiva.
He was just coming up the ladder, and bore in his hands the nd-tci,
o-vi, at An-i-wi-ta's house during the whole perplexing subject, and is not yet satisfac-
ceremony. It is strongly to be recom- torily made out in its details. The priests
mended that observers, in studying this consulted on this subject had several names
and other ceremonials, take up a resi- for the ceremonial days, which all recog-
dence in the villages. During the presen- nized as correct. They represented the
tation in 1893 Messrs. Scott and Lungren days by four groups of kernels of corn,
lodged in Wal'-pi ; Mr. Stephen and the each group arranged in four rows. The
author in Ha-nd-ki or Tewa. kernel at the left end of the row was
1 For descriptions of these chambers called Ti-yun-a-va, and was pushed away
see Journal of American Ethnology and with the remark that they did not count
Archceolvgy, vol. ii. No. 1. The differ- it. They then counted seven kernels for
ent fraternities of priests are mentioned nights, and the eighth kernel they said
in the same article. was called Yiifn-ya, but it also they did
2 The day of the gathering of the not count. The next kernel was Ciic-td-
priests (Thursday, August 13, 1891 ; Sun- la, the first day. Their nomenclature of
day, August 6, 1893). The nomenclature days would then be, —
of the ceremonial days or nights is a very 1. Yu'n-ya.
14 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
which was made of two eagle wing-feathers tied to a short stick. He
placed it upright in the straw matting at the hatchway, first sprinkling
meal on the ladder. This nd-tci was put up on the morning of each
day at sunrise, and a similar object was also placed at the entrance to
the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva, as a sign that ceremonials were being per-
formed, and when it was put in position a pinch of meal was sprinkled
upon it and thrown in the direction of the rising sun. The floor of
the chamber had been carefully swept by Wi-ki, and the si-pa-pu1
closed with a plug. A large quantity of meal was noticed in a basket
tray on the floor at the west end of the room.
Wi-ki, in 1893, went out, but soon returned with several bags of
different colored sand, which, it was said, were obtained from Ka-kap-
ti's 2 house, and laid them on the floor at the northwest corner of the
kiva.
Ko-pe-li, who up to this time had been seated alone in the Wi-kwal'-
i-o-bi kiva, came into the Mon'-kiva about sunrise, and shortly after Na-
2. Cilc-td-la, first day.
3. Liic-td-la, second day.
4. Paic-td-la, third day ; also called
pa-ko-la-lau-wfi, and tok-tai-yii'n-ya, i. e.,
open-eyed or sleepless assembly, as on this
night all the priests gather and sing.
5. Na-luc-ta-la, fourth day, but more
prominently named ke-kel-ku-kitfyi-va (ke-
les, novices emerge). This is likewise
called Nuc'-wi-ca, food (flesh) eating. The
taboo of food ends this day.
6. Cuc-td-la, first day, also Soc-ka-hi-
mii-i, all do nothing.
7. Ko-m6k-to-tok-ya, wood-gathering
day.
8. To-to-kya, sleeps (reduplicated, plu-
ral of to-kya). The last night the priests
pass in the kiva. This was also called
tok-tai-yun-yti.
9. Ti-hu-ni, we will personate ; ti-ki-ve-
ni, we will dance.
10. 0-vek-ni-wa, holiday. Purifica-
tions performed on this day, but all serious
ceremonials have ended.
1 See description of the kiva(s) in Jour-
nal of Ethnology and Archceology, vol. ii.
No. 1.
2 K£-kap-ti is said to be the collector of
the sand. He is a chief of the Sand or Earth
people, and took the part of courier, de-
positing the ca-kwd-pa-ho(s) in the " world-
quarter " shrines, as will be described later.
In the celebration of 1893 this part was
performed by his brother on account of
K^-kap-ti's lameness. Neither of these
sat in the line of Antelope priests (see
diagrams), nor made any of the pd-ho(s),
which were made from day to day. Kd-
kap-ti's brother was the courier who depos-
ited the offerings of the Flute priests in
their ceremony, which in this respect, as in
many others, is the same as the Snake.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 15
syun'-we-ve followed. These three persons sat together smoking for
a brief time, Wi-ki in the middle facing east, with K6-pe-li on his
left. Wi-ki passed the pipe to K6-pe-li, exchanging terms of relation-
ship. While this was going on, Ha-hau-we entered, bearing a copper
pail filled with water, which he set down near the future position of
the altar, or just south of the fireplace.
MAKING OF THE CHARM LIQUID (NA-KU-Yl).
Wi-ki first carried his nd-kwi-pi (medicine bowl) and a tray of meal
to a place on the floor near the fireplace, and took a taste of honey.
He then emptied valley sand in a little pile on the floor southeast of the
fireplace, and made on it six radiating lines in meal, following the sin-
istral ceremonial circuit, beginning with the north (northwest). At
their junction on the sand he placed his empty nd-kwi-pi with its han-
dle over the southeast line. He next poured into the bowl the liquid
from the copper kettle, moving it in sinistral circuit, first towards the
northwest, when he poured a little liquid into the bowl ; then to the
soiitheast ; and so on until the circuit was completed, after which the
remaining liquid was added.
The next process was to bruise some twigs with a stone and put
them in the liquid, following the circuit as described above, making a
pass to one of the world quarters each time he added a pinch. Wi-ki
then added a little honey to the bowl with a movement of his hand to
each of the six directions in turn as he dropped it.
The celebrants then took their positions around the bowl. The
Antelopes were without clothing, but Ko-pe-li wore his ordinary dress.
The making of the charm liquid was completed by Na-syun'-we-ve,
who added corn pollen l in the sinistral order observed by Wi-ki with
the other ingredients. He then sat and received the pipe, exchanging
terms of relationship. Wi-ki then put into the bowl a small offering2
brought by the Ko-ho-ni-no visitors two years before.
1 It will be noticed that the same man 2 This was efficacious since it had been
later furnished the corn pollen with which brought from a place where water was
to sprinkle the altar. abundant.
16 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
K6-pe-li, who up to this time had been sitting apart, joined the
group around the bowl, received the pipe and smoked. He puffed the
pipe for some time, and at the close of his smoke the assemblage was
joined by Kwa-a, who smoked in turn. With his arrival all the ne-
cessary celebrants were present, and took a squatting posture. Wi-ki
prayed, and the others responded with a short word equivalent to
" amen." This habit is common in Hopi prayers, and is believed to be
aboriginal.
Na-syun'-we-ve prayed after Wi-ki, and was followed in turn by Ha-
hau-we, Kwa-a, and Ko-pe-li ; to whom the others responded.
Wi-ki then shook his rattle, and Ha-ha-we the aspergill, and all
sang a low song over the nd-kwi-pi. The celebrants prayed in the
following sequence : Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve, Ha-ha-we, Kwa-a, and
Ha-ha-we next placed the tip of the aspergill in the nd-kwi-pi, and,
drawing it out, asperged to the six directions in sinistral circuit. He
again dipped the aspergill in the liquid, went up on the roof of the
kiva, and asperged to four directions in ceremonial circuit, beginning
at the northwest. When he returned Wi-ki engaged in conversation
with him, and all smoked, after which Wi-ki placed a bundle of flag
leaves in the nd-kwi-pi, which he set on the floor near the si-pa-pu.
The only difference between the observance of this rite 1 in 1891 and
in 1893 was the addition of the Ko-ho-ni-no offering, but it was
noticed that Wi-ki was more careful in 1891 than in 1893 to puff
smoke to each of the cardinal points.
After the making of the charm liquid, which was later used by Ha-
ha-we in asperging, in mixing the pigments for the pd-ho(s), and for
other purposes, several of the priests left the kiva, but soon returned,
and remained during the second important event of the first day, the
construction of the sand altar.
1 This observance is properly speaking nd-na-ni-vo pott-ya. See this Journal,
an invocation to the gods of the six cardi- vol. ii. No. 1, p. 75.
nal points, and the altar is called the
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 17
THE DRY PAINTING OR SAND MOSAIC OF THE ANTELOPES.
About half past ten 1 in the morning preparations were begun for
making a sand mosaic or dry painting on the floor of the Mon'-kiva.
At that time there were only four persons present, all but one, Les'-ma,
who is a Snake priest, being Antelopes (Tcub-wymp'-~ki-ya(s)). Les'-ma
was finishing a blanket which disappeared from the kiva that evening,
and was not again brought in during the ceremonial.
The stone floor of the kiva around the si-^pa-pu was thoroughly
swept by Wi-ki, who then stuffed corn husks into all the crevices
about the plank in which the si-pa-pu was, and carefully closed the
openings in the floor through which the sand might filter between the
stones or flags upon which the dry painting was to be made. The
si-pa-pu had previously been stopped up with a plug.
In 1891 Na-syun'-we-ve ground different colored sands from the
fragments of rocks which Ka-kap-ti had brought. Ha-hau-we was
engaged in embroidering a dance kilt, and Kwa-a, Hon'-yi, and Ka-
kap-ti were also present. The ti-po-ni2 of the Antelopes, not yet
untied, lay on the floor back of the altar.
The sand-picture was made by Wi-ki, who began this part of the
ceremony by filling an open-meshed basket with fine brown sand which
Ka-kap-ti had brought in a canvas bag from the plain. This sand he
sifted on the floor around the si-pa-pu, renewing it when necessary
from the bag, until a layer of sand about four feet square was formed.
Upon this groundwork Wi-ki next proceeded to elaborate a border of
the different colors that are symbolic of the Hopi world quarters. He
first took a handful of yellow sand and allowed it to trickle between
his thumb and forefinger in the direction he wished to follow, going
over and over the line until it was half an inch wide. In this careful
way he drew a yellow band on each of the four sides of his bed of
sand, several inches from the edge, which described a rectangle about
thirty inches square. It was interesting to observe that Wi-ki was
1 In 1893 Wi-ki began the picture at 2 Society palladium,
nine A. M.
18 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
particular to draw this color across the north side first, because yellow
is the symbol of the north ; also, that he began it at the northeast
corner, moving his hand towards the west until the yellow band on
the north side was finished, when he continued the sinistral circuit
down the west side, across the south, and finally along the east to his
starting-place.
The green sand (malachite) came next in order outside the yellow
band, and Wi-ki added it in the same manner ; only he let the green
sand trickle from his hand first on the west side, as green or blue sym-
bolizes this world quarter. Beginning this time at the northwest cor-
ner, Wi-ki again followed the sinistral circuit in his dry painting until
the yellow border on four sides was inclosed by a green one.
A little digression next occurred, for Wi-ki left the colored border
half completed, to sift white sand from a basket tray over the eastern
half of the brown sand that formed the rectangle within the yellow
stripe, leaving the other portion uncovered.
He then returned to the border ; this time taking up a handful of
red sand, with which he added another band outside the green one,
and the same width as the previous colors. As red is the color of the
south, of course Wi-ki made that side first ; going from the southwest
corner in his usual sinistral course until the four sides had a red mar-
gin. Again Wi-ki left the border unfinished, this time to ornament
the half of the groundwork that he had not covered with white sand.
With a handful of yellow sand, as it trickled between his thumb and
forefinger, he drew on the brown sand the outlines of four semicircles
in a row, just large enough to fill the space at the west side of the rec-
tangle, the curves towards the inner part of the field. Wi-ki relied
upon his judgment in determining the size of these semicircles, and
did not trace a pattern beforehand either for this figure or for any
that followed. He next filled each of these semicircles with a thin
layer of yellow sand, beginning with that nearest the north. He then
added to these semicircles a row of green ones, this time making three
semicircles and a half one at each end to complete the remaining quad-
rants. This he followed by a row of four semicircles, using red sand
SAND MOSAIC OF THE ANTELOPE PRIESTS.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 19
for these. Next in order came a row of white semicircles, which Wi-ki
began by sprinkling white sand over the space between the white half
of the rectangle and the red semicircles, carefully continuing the white
into the angles left by them. He then traced with black sand the
outline of another series of semicircles, thus adding white clouds to
this symbolic figure of the rain-clouds of the four world quarters.
The colored border of the rectangle was next continued by Wi-ki,
who now drew a stripe with white sand the same width as the others,
except on the side towards the west, which he made about twice as
broad. He followed the sinistral circuit as with the other colors,
beginning at the southeast corner and painting the eastern side first,
as white typifies this quarter of the heavens. The four colors of the
border having been put on in their order, Wi-ki took a handful of
black sand and with utmost care traced a line between each of them.
He also drew a black line between the border and the rectangle and
finished the outer edge of the white band with the same color.
The different colored semicircles were next separated by similar
black lines of sand, that which divided the yellow from the green
clouds being drawn first. Wi-ki continued his picture by representing
the four lightning symbols on the white field. Each was so drawn as
to rise from one of the four angles between the white semicircles of
the cloud picture, having four zigzags in the body and a triangular
head which pointed east. He colored them in order, yellow, green,
red, and white ; the white figure being outlined later, when black mar-
gins were added to the others. These four symbols had the same gen-
eral form, but important variations appeared in the head appendages.
After the yellow, green, and red lightning symbols had been made,
Wi-ki outlined the yellow lightning with a black line. He made four
parallel black lines on the neck in place of a necklace, and at the right
of the head drew a curved horn pointing outward and forward. He
dropped pinches of black sand on the head to represent eyes and
mouth. He next made the border of the green lightning symbol in
the same way in which he drew that of the yellow, except that on
the head of this he represented a square with diagonals instead of a
20
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
horn. After having also formed a black margin on the red figure,
Wi-ki added a horn to the head, and spots of black sand for eyes.
Now came the making of the white lightning symbol, which only
needed to be outlined with black sand, since the white groundwork
gave the required color. Upon the head of this figure Wi-ki drew
the square with diagonals.
He next sifted white sand on the west side of his picture, enough to
broaden the white band by several inches. Upon this he drew about
forty parallel black lines, nearly three inches long, to represent rain
falling from the symbolic clouds. He then finished the mosaic by add-
ing pinches of sand here and there in imperfect places.
The drawing of this sand altar occupied about two hours, so that it
was completed at high noon. It was very beautiful as it lay on the
floor, reminding one of a rug or blanket. The maker had not touched
a finger to it, nor used any rule, cord, or other measuring instrument
throughout his work.
When Wi ki had finished the sand mosaic he spun four short and
one long stringed na-kwd-kwo-ci,1 and made
two little cylinders of wood which were about
the size of the first joint of the little finger.
These cylinders were painted black. The
feathers of the na-kwd-kwo-ci were stained
red, and were at least two in number. One
of the other priests made two annulets of
the leaf of a flag brought from near Zufii by
some of the participants in the Ana-ka-tci-na,
which was celebrated a few weeks before.
The annulets were formed by winding the
flags over and over a central core, and a
small handle was attached to each annulet.
The two cylinders were then laid, one on the
horn of the yellow and the other on that of the red lightning symbols,
1 A na-kwd-kivo-ci is a several-stranded
cotton string of prescribed length, to one
Cylinder.
end of which one or more feathers are
tied.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
21
while the annulets were carefully placed on the rectangles of the heads
of the green and white zigzag figures. The former are the male, the
latter the female, lightning sym-
bols, and the appendages are
symbolic of the sex. They were
similar to the objects carried by
the boy and girls in the Flute
ceremony.1 The four short-
stringed na-kwd-Jcwo-ci were
placed on the heads of the
lightning symbols, the feathers
pointing forward.
Wi-ki then uncovered the
Antelope ti-po-ni, which up to
this time had been lying on
its side, wrapped in buckskin,
forming an elongated pointed
bundle. He next sprinkled corn
pollen around the border of the
mosaic, across the clouds and
down the length of the light-
ning symbols. A depression
back Of the Western border Of Heads of the Male and Female Lightning.
the mosaic was now filled with
brown sand, by which a bed was made for the ti-po-ni. Six radiating
lines representing the cardinal points were drawn with meal upon this
mound, and a handful of the same was thrown upon them. Over the
junction of these lines Wi-ki waved his ti-po-ni in a horizontal plane,
moving it in the different directions indicated by them, and then
planted its butt end at their intersection. He then deposited at the
side of his ti-po-ni a lion fetish, which was so placed that its head
faced the figures of the clouds.
K6-pe-li, the Snake Chief, standing at the west side of the altar,
1 See Journal of American Ethnology and Archaeology, vol. ii. No. 1.
22
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
then handed Wi-ki the ti-po-ni of the Snake Fraternity. Wi-ki took a
handful of meal and made six passes to the cardinal points, after each
pass drawing a line of meal in one of these directions on the floor just
north of the fetish. He then waved the Snake ti-po-ni horizontally in
the air above their junction, where he placed it as he had his own.
He added three small fetishes by the side of the Snake ti-po-ni and the
same by his own, after which he- threw meal from above his ti-po-ni
diagonally across the mosaic over the head of the white lightning, and
continued it along the kiva floor, casting a pinch out the hatchway.
The longer na-Jcwd-kwo-ci, which measured from the middle of the
breast to the tip of his fingers, having been drawn through meal held
in his hand, was stretched from the base of his ti-po-ni as far as it
would reach across the picture in the same direction. When this
object had been put in position meal was cast upon it.
Sand Mosaic or Altar of the Antelopes.
Na-syun'-we-ve, Ko-pe-li, and Wi-ki then placed ancient stone imple-
ments in a single row with ends overlapping on the brown sand sur-
rounding the white border of the sand mosaic, but spaces or gates were
left on the middle of the north, east, and south sides. The stone imple-
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
23
ments were eighteen in number and had a variety of sizes and shapes,
some being spatulate, others rectangular, triangular, or irregular.
The position of a gateway on the west side was occupied by the two
ti-po-ni(s), and the stone implements on this and the other sides were
so arranged that their edges pointed towards the gateway. These
Stone Implements of the Antelope Altar.
implements are said to have been brought up by the ancients when
they came out of the middle of the earth, and, like many other objects
connected with this dramatization, are undoubtedly very old. Mean-
while Na-syun'-we-ve arranged outside the ancient stone implements a
row of sticks of three kinds, all of which are very ancient, and some,
if not all, represent dead members of the Antelope Fraternity. Of
these the crooked kind, gne-luk~pi, were the most numerous.
These crooks, fifteen in number, were so arranged that four stood
on the north, two on the west, four on the south, and five on the east
sides of the sand mosaic. These were set in little clay pedestals, like-
wise reputed to be ancient. One or two had no pedestal, but were
laid on one side at the northwestern corner of the picture. Each
gateway was guarded by a gne-luk-pi on either side, with the crook
hanging over the opening. There was also a crook at each side of the
three small fetishes which stood on the right and left of the two
ti-po-ni(s). These gne-luk-pi were wooden sticks with one end crooked,
about the size of a lead pencil, eighteen inches long and painted black.
A string with a feather stained red attached was tied to the end of the
crook.
The upright sticks of the second kind which were placed in position
24 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
about the sand mosaic were also painted black, and were
of about the same dimensions as the gne-luk-pi.
They differed from those in being straight at
the end, and about a foot long. A package
of meal wrapped in corn husk and red feath-
ers were tied to each. They were eleven in
number, and as a rule each was set in a small
clay pedestal, which, however, was not without
exception, alternating with the -crooks in their
arrangement around the sand picture. At each corner
of the pon'-ya stood a stick called a ho-hu or arrow-shaft,
which closely resembled the snake pd-ho(s) in form and
size.
After the crooks and similar objects had been set in
place Wi-ki took a double handful of brown sand and
heaped it up in a small mound a few feet in advance of
the east gate of the pon'-ya, and drew across it radiating
lines of meal corresponding to the cardinal directions, and
at their point of intersection set a nd-kwi-pi or bowl with
the charm liquid of which I have spoken. He then placed
an aspergill of eagle feathers to the south of the bowl,
and at the side of the east gate, a short distance in front
of the line of crooks, he deposited a flat tray of sacred
meal. Between it and the altar he laid two slats which
may be called whizzers. K6-pe-li quietly put his rattle on
the banquette back of the sand mosaic (pon'-ya), but
Wi-ki immediately took it up and laid it with his own
rattle on the floor back of the ti-po-ni(s). Each then
smoked ceremonially, Wi-ki, Ha-ha-we, and Ko-pe-li ex-
pectorating1 constantly into the fireplace.
1 This is, I believe, ceremonial, and has been witnessed and de-
scribed in many other observances of a religious nature. The exact
Antelope Altar, significance, however, has not been satisfactorily deciphered.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
25
SECOND DAY (CUC-TA-LA, FIRST CEREMONIAL DAY).
The ceremonies of this day consisted of the consecration of prayer-
sticks or pd-ho(s\ the manufacture of which occupied all the fore-
noon, and they were repeated with
some changes and additions on the
six following days.
The pa-ho(s) are the prayer bear-
ers, and vary in kind according to
the divinity addressed, and in length
relatively to the distance of the
shrines in which they are deposit-
ed. The majority of the pd-ho(s)
manufactured by the Antelope
priests are called ca-kwd-pa-ho(s)
or blue pd-ho(s), and are carried
by a special courier to the fanes of
the rain-gods, who thus become
aware of the wishes of the makers.
The virtue of the prayer-sticks is
therefore in the prayers said to
them or committed to their care.
These pd-ho(s) are consecrated by
traditional songs or ceremonial
smoking, but their manufacture has
more or less of a sacred character.
The attention of the reader
is first called to the making
of these objects and the
prescribed rules which must
be rigidly followed. As
Hand representing Length of Ca-kwa-pa-ho(s).
there are four primary
world quarters, each with its rain-cloud god, so four of these pd-ho(s)
were made, one to be deposited in each of the four shrines. Since
26 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
the distance of these places of offering diminishes day by day for
seven days, pd-ho(s) of seven different lengths were made, measuring
them by the distance from creases on the hand to the tip of the
finger, as shown in the cut, the longest being used on the first day.
In a ceremony in which reptiles played such an important part, it
may seem strange that there was no fetish of Pa-lu-lu-kon, the great
plumed snake, on the altar, although there were several effigies * of this
powerful deity of Hopi mythology in Wal'-pi. The reason is clear, for
this observance is in reality a ceremonial for rain, and. although inci-
dentally offerings were made to both Pd-lu-lu-kon and Ma-sau-wuh,
the death-god, the principal deity addressed was (y-mow-uh, the rain-
cloud god of the cardinal points. It is also suggestive, in support of
the belief that snake worship is only a subordinate factor in the Snake
Dance, that the plumed serpent is not mentioned in the legend of
Ti-yo, which is always recited by the Hopi priests in their explanation
of the celebration.
Before beginning the making of a pd-ho each priest smoked for
some time. He then made two sticks of a prescribed length, each of
which he sharpened at one end, afterwards polishing it on a rough
stone. These sticks were then painted green, with black points, and
placed on a basket tray to dry. Meanwhile the priest wound a native
cotton string four times around his four fingers, to get the required
length, and then tied the two sticks together with it just above their
black points. The two thus united are male and female. A small
corn husk was next folded funnel-shape, and into it were dropped
prayer-meal and a little honey. It was rolled into a packet, and
was attached to the sticks at their union. Above this a short four-
stranded string stained red, with two small terminal feathers, was tied
to the pocket. A turkey wing-feather and a sprig of each of the
1 For a description of the ceremony in connected in some way with the Snake
which these were used, the reader is re- Dance, and later observations may bring
ferred to The Pd-lti-lu-kon-ti (Journal of to light relationships between the two
American Folk-Lore, December, 1893). which have thus far eluded the author.
This ceremony was once thought to be
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 27
herbs kurn-yu and pam'-na-wi, on the opposite side, completed this
strange prayer object. Each priest placed his sticks on a flat basket
tray, and later held them to his mouth and smoked upon them. The
Antelope priests who took part in
this were Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve,
Kwa-a, Ha-ha-we, and Ka-tci.
One important pd-ho, different
from those above described, was
made by Na-syun'-we-ve. This was
a single long, black pointed stick,
of the length of the forearm, and
had many strings with attached
feathers tied to it. It was the pa-
ho of the deity Md-sau-wuh, and
the several stringed feathers were
individual offerings or prayer bear-
ers to the god of death.
In the course of the morning
each man made one or more na-
i) or per-
sonal offerings, to
be carried to the
shrines by the one
to whom the pa-
ho(s) were intrust-
ed. When all had
finished their work
Wi-ki gathered up
the whittlings and
other fragments,
clearing the floor in "^JJK preparation for the solemn
ceremonials about to take place, and depos-
ited them with a pinch of prayer-meal in an appropriate place over
the side of the mesa.
Prayer-Stick (Pa-ho).
28 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
THE SIXTEEN SONGS CEREMONY.
On the second and each succeeding day a ceremonial consecration of
the pd-ho(s) took place, during which sixteen songs were sung by the
Antelopes seated around the altar. This occurred at noon excepting
on the eighth and ninth days, when half of the songs were sung
before sunrise and half immediately after. On the last two days
an interesting dramatization was introduced, in which representatives
of the Snake boy, Ti-yo, and the Snake girl, Tcu-a-ma-na, of legen-
dary history, appeared. On the last two mornings there were also
several persons present who did not appear on the previous days, nota-
bly the Snake chief, K6-pe-li, who occupied a position of honor back of
the sand mosaic. Several of his fraternity accompanied him, and on
the morning of the ninth day women and children also attended.
There seemed, however, to be no important difference between the
songs of the mornings of the eighth and ninth days and those of
the preceding days, although the attendant dramatization rendered the
ceremony more complicated.
It would simply be a repetition to give a detailed description of the
sixteen songs ceremony on each of the seven days, as the element of
dramatization introduced on the mornings of the eighth and ninth
days necessitates an account of them in an appropriate place. The
following description may be taken as typical of this celebration on the
first seven days.
The Antelope participants in 1893 on the first pd-ho consecration
were Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve, Ha-ha-we, Ka-kap-ti, Hon'-yi, Kwa-a, and
Si-kya-bd-ti-ma. The last mentioned was absent in 1891, but in 1893
he acted for his brother Ka-kap-ti as courier in depositing the prayer-
sticks.1 In this ceremonial and in others in which he took part,
Ha-ha-we filled the place of a boy whose father had died, the boy
not yet being old enough to perform his part. The sole Snake priest
present was their chief Kd-pe-h*.
1 A very natural substitute, since he is which identically similar encircling courses
courier of the Flutes in their ceremony, in are taken in visiting the shrines.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 29
From time to time the priests glanced at the line of sunlight on
the floor of the kiva, and when it fell in such a position as to indicate
noontime, Wi-ki deposited a flat basket near the south gate of the
altar, and placed upon it two " whizzers," which he first anointed with
honey. All present said "Td-ai" and drew up about the sand mosaic,
assuming a squatting posture. Ka-kap-ti remained1 seated on the
spectator's part of the kiva floor until Wi-ki assigned him a position
directly in front of the south gate of the sand mosaic. The disposition
of the others was as follows : Wi-ki sat at the northwest corner of the
mosaic, a position of honor which he always occupied. At his left sat
Na-syun'-we-ve, beside whom was Kwa-a, who occupied a position a
little to the east of the north gate. Ka-tci sat at the northeast corner.
In front of these two priests, between Wi-ki and Ka-tci, the pd-ho(s]
were arranged on a tray of meal. After all had squatted in position,
Ha-ha-we, who had moved to the south of a line east from the gate,
lit a small pipe filled with native tobacco, and smoked six puffs on the
sand mosaic, three into the medicine of the nd-kwi-pi before him, and
three more on the sand picture. He then passed the lighted pipe,
holding it low down near the floor, with bowl forward, to Wi-ki. As
the latter received it, Ha-ha-we said, " I-vwd-va" my elder brother, to
which Wi-ki responded, " I-tup-ko" my younger brother.
Wi-ki then smoked on the two ti-po-ni(s), which are the palladia of
the Antelope and the Snake fraternities, and then puffed great mouth-
fuls of tobacco smoke on the pd~ho(s) in the basket in front of him.
As he did this in silence, Ha-ha-we lit another 2 pipe, smoked it for a
time, and passed it to Ka-kap-ti, exchanging terms of relationship with
him.
Ha-ha-we then turned over the gne-lulc-pi on the floor, at the south
side of the east gate, simply placing it so that the crooked end pointed
to the south. Wi-ki, meanwhile, had handed the pipe to Na-syun'-
we-ve, who replied as he received it, " I-nd-a" 3 He smoked many
times on the pd-ho(s), but seldom on the sand mosaic. After a few
1 Note this fact of invitation. It is be- 2 Note this fact,
lieved to signify something. 8 I-nd-a, my father.
30 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
moments, Na-syun'-we-ve passed the pipe ceremonially to his left-hand
neighbor, Kwa-a.
Ka-kap-ti then returned the pipe which he had smoked to Ha-ha-we,
exchanging terms of relationship as he did so. He next took his
feather box and passed two black feathers to Wi-ki, who gave him a
corn husk. Wi-ki made a na-kwd-kwo-ci and talked (offhand1) to
Ka-kap-ti. Meanwhile he also handed a pinch of corn pollen to the
others, and took up the cylinders on the horns of the male lightning
on the sand mosaic and tied na-kwd-kwo-ci to each. He then replaced
the cylinders on the heads of the lightning symbols.
At about this time Kwa-a handed the pipe to Ka-tci, who re-
turned the same to Ha-ha-we, from whom, as he received it, came a
response, " I'-ti-i" A prayer was then offered in a very low tone by
Wi-ki, all bending their heads in a reverential manner. Ha-ha-we
prayed, and smoked the pipe which had been returned to him, vigor-
ously puffing smoke on the sand picture. Wi-ki then said : " Where
is K6-pe-li ? " and sent Kwa-a to get him. In a short time both
came in, and K6-pe-li took a seat west of the sand mosaic at Wi-ki's
right hand. Wi-ki and K6-pe-li raised their rattles in their right hands
as a sign for silence, and Ha-ha-we took up his aspergill. After a
brief solemn interval Wi-ki fervently prayed, followed by K6-pe-li,
Na-syun'-we-ve, Ha-ha-we, and Kwa-a. As each said his prayer the
others responded, "A.n-tcai" right. When these devotions had ceased,
Wi-ki and Ko-pe-li tremulously shook their rattles in unison, keeping
time with Ha-ha-we. Ka-kap-ti took one of the crooks from the
altar, and Na-syun'-we-ve, Kwa-a, and Ka-tci a pd-ho with which to
beat time.
All then began the first song of the series, and as they sang Ha-
ha-we took a pinch of meal, and, throwing a little towards the north,
placed the remainder on different parts of the sand mosaic. He next
dipped the tip of his aspergill into the liquid in the nd-kwi-pi, beating
time to the song. He sprinkled the altar four times, throwing the
1 Not sure what he said. 2 I'-ti-i, my son.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 31
liquid to different parts of the sand mosaic. To do this he dipped the
tip of the aspergill four 1 times in the liquid, each time asperging the
altar. Having sprinkled the sand mosaic, he asperged to the cardinal
points, beginning with the north and following the sinistral ceremonial
circuit. As he did this he kept time with the rattles, and after throw-
ing the liquid from the aspergill in the direction corresponding to the
above, he brought his hand down to a level with his breast and kept
on beating time with the singers. After a short interval he cast a
pinch of meal to the west, and then on the altar, after which, dipping
his aspergill in the liquid four times as before, he sprinkled the sand
picture four times and then asperged to the cardinal points. He
repeated this around the whole circuit several times until the song
changed. At the close of the first eight songs Ka-kap-ti sprinkled the
altar with meal, after which all except Ko-pe-li threw meal upon it.
Wi-ki, however, always carefully cast meal on the ti-po-ni(s) as well as
upon the sand mosaic. Ha-ha-we continued asperging while the meal
was being thrown on the sand picture. The songs then ceased, and
Wi-ki sent Ka-tci to bring him a light. Ka-tci went out, and soon
returned with a burning corncob, while all sat silently awaiting Wi-ki's
preparation for the great Of-mow~uh smoke, which was one of the
most sacred acts performed by the Antelope priests in these cere-
monials.
The wu-ko-tco-no is a huge, stemless pipe, which has a large open-
ing in the blunt end, and a smaller one in the pointed. It is five
inches long, one inch in diameter at the large aperture, and its greatest
circumference is seven and a half inches. The pipe is made of some
black material, possibly stone, and as far as could be seen was not
ornamented. The bowl had previously been filled with leaves carefully
gathered from such places as are required by tradition. In the sub-
sequent smokes the ashes, " dottle," were saved, being placed in a
small depression in the floor, but were not again put in the pipe.
Wi-ki took the live ember from Ka-tci and placed it in the large
1 The number of times varied somewhat, but I think four was intended.
32
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
opening of the pipe, on the leaves which filled its cavity. He then
knelt down and placed the pipe between the two ti-po-ni(s), so that
the pointed end rested on the head of the large
fetish, between the ears. Every one remained
silent, and Wi-ki blew several dense clouds of
smoke upon the sand altar, one after another,
so that the picture was concealed. The smoke
was made by blowing through the pipe, the fire
being placed in the bowl next the mouth, and
the whole larger end of the pfpe was taken into
the mouth at each exhalation.
At the San Juan pueblo, near Santa Fe, where
I stopped on my way to Tusayan, I purchased a
ceremonial headdress upon which several spruce
Great o-mow-uh pipo. twigs were tied. Wi-ki received some frag-
ments of these with gratitude, and they formed one of the ingredients
which were smoked in the great C/-mow-uh pipe. The scent of the
mixture was very fragrant, and filled the room, like incense. The
production of this great smoke-cloud, which is supposed to rise to the
sky, and later bring the rain, ended the first series of eight songs.
Immediately after this event, Ha-ha-we filled one of the small-
stemmed pipes lying near the fireplace with native tobacco, and after
lighting it puffed smoke on the altar. He passed the pipe to Wi-ki,
holding it near the floor, bowl foremost, as he did so, and exchanging
the customary terms of relationship. Wi-ki then blew dense clouds of
smoke over the two ti-po-ni(s) and on the sand picture. Ha-ha-we,
meanwhile, lit a second pipe, and passed it to K6-pe-li, the Snake chief,
who enjoyed it in silence, indiscriminately puffing smoke on the altar,
to the cardinal points, and in other directions. K6-pe-li later gave
his pipe to Ka-kap-ti, who sat at his right, and Wi-ki passed his to
Na-syun'-we-ve, who, after smoking, handed the pipe to Kwa-a, who in
turn passed it to Ka-tci, by whom it was given to Ha-ha-we. Ka-tci,
the last priest to receive it before it was returned to the pipe-lighter,
smoked for a long time, and repeatedly puffed clouds of smoke upon
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 33
the sand picture. Meanwhile Ka-kap-ti had handed his pipe to Ha-
ha-we, both exchanging terms of relationship and carefully observing
the accompanying ceremonial etiquette. Ha-ha- we, as was his unva-
rying custom, carefully cleaned the two pipes, and laid them on the
floor by the side of the fireplace.
Wi-ki and Ko-pe-li then took up their rattles again and gave the
signal to begin a new series of songs. As the first song proceeded,
Ha-ha-we took a pinch of meal, cast a portion to the north and the
remainder on different parts of the sand mosaic. He then dipped his
aspergill in the liquid before him four times, each time sprinkling the
picture. He followed this immediately by a motion of the hand,
asperging to the north, west, south, east, and the above, bringing his
aspergill down at the end of the circuit to again accompany the rattles.
This he repeated several times, beginning with the successive cardinal
points in the order which has been mentioned above.
The song then changed, Wi-ki and K6-pe-li both taking a crook
from the picture, and the three priests, Na-syun'-we-ve, Kwa-a, and
Ka-tci, taking wu-pd-pa-ho(s). As the song went on, they raised these
above their heads, and, waving them to the cardinal points ceremoni-
ally, brought them down several times until the attached na-kivd-kwo-
ci(s) touched the altar, the accompanying song assuming a peculiarly
weird character at these times. Wi-ki then told Ha-ha-we to use
the thunder pd-ho, and this priest took the whizzer from the basket
at his right, which was at the left of the east gate, and, dipping its
end in the charm liquid of the nd-kwi-pi, stood and rapidly twirled
it so that it emitted a peculiar sound four successive times. He then
mounted the ladder and stood on the roof on the south side, and there
whirled the whizzer,1 making the same number of sounds as in the
chamber below.
1 The whizzer was a thin wooden slab, to a hole at one end of the whizzer. The
slightly rounded on each face and termi- form of different whizzers varies, but is
nated in three terraces. The faces are generally that which has been described,
decorated with longitudinal zigzag bands They are called tu-vwok' -pi(s) (whirligig
or lines. The attached string is composed criers),
of many braided strands, and is fastened
34 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
He descended to his former position by the east gate of the sand
picture, and, joining the singing which had continued during his ab-
sence, began anew his former ceremonial duties of casting meal to
different points of the room, upon the sand mosaic, and in proper
sequence asperging to the cardinal points and the picture.
When the song next changed,1 Ka-kap-ti took up one of the ancient
stone hoes from about the sand picture and beat upon the floor with it
in time with the song and rattles.2 The last two songs were particu-
larly melodious, and were, without exception, the finest of the series.
At the conclusion of the sixteen songs, eight before and eight after
the smoking of the great pipe, Wi-ki said a prayer, and at its close
sprinkled prayer-meal upon the ti-po-ni(s) and the sand picture. K6-
pe-li followed with a prayer, and likewise cast an offering of meal
upon the ti-po-ni(s) and sand altar. Na-syun'-we-ve prayed, making his
offering, and Ha-ha- we, followed by Ka-tci, did the same. Ka-kap-ti,
with signs of deep emotion, offered a very fervent prayer, to which all
earnestly responded. It will be seen later that Ka-kap-ti carried the
consecrated prayer-sticks to the distant shrines, and possibly this fact
accounts for his fervor at this time. Ha-ha-we then lit the pipes and
passed them to Wi-ki and Ko-pe-li, as above described, after which
each in turn smoked ceremonially, exchanging terms of brotherhood
and relationship, and the consecration of the pd-ho(s) was finished.
At the close of the smoke Ha-ha-we arranged thepd-ho(s) in four
bundles, and Ka-kap-ti laid a na-kwd-kwo-ci upon them. Wi-ki filled
1 New song (second of second series). on the eighth day is the Ma-kwdn-ta, who
2 Wi-ki explained this by the statement called out this and other archaic terras at
that Kd-kap-ti was telegraphing to the old the cottonwood bower at the public exhi-
Tca-md-hi-a at the distant pueblo Acoma, bitions on the eighth and ninth days.
as a signal that the Hopi were now wor- All the Antelope priests insisted that
shiping, asking them to come, which call, there was a Snake Antelope assembly at
said Wf-ki, was answered. They came to Acoma, and this is historically supported
the Mon'-kiva on the night of the eighth by Espejo, who has mentioned the Snake
day. dance performed at that pueblo (see Ban-
It has been suggested that the Tca-md- delier.)
hi-a who responded and came to Wal'-pi
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
35
a small bag with sacred meal from the tray near him, and Ka-kap-ti
rose and stood near the fireplace on the north side, facing the west.
Wi-ki handed him a white kilt with green, black, and red border, which
he tied about his waist. While he was doing this, Wi-ki rolled up the
pd-ho(s) in a square piece of cloth. This bundle he placed in a white
ceremonial blanket with white and red border, tying two opposite cor-
ners tightly about the bundle, and the others in such a way that it
Ka-kap-ti leaving the Kiva.
could be put over the shoulder. Wi-ki then affixed a white na-kwd-td
to Ka-kap-ti' s scalp-lock, and put a little honey on the sole of each of
his feet, the inside of each hand, the top of his head, over his heart,
on his tongue, and in the middle of his back.
He next handed him the small bag of sacred meal and the blanket in
which were the pd-ho(s), which Ka-kap-ti slung over his left shoulder.
Na-syun'-we-ve placed in his hand a pa-ho for Md-sau-wuh and a
morsel of food, and Wi-ki then told him to hasten away to the shrines.
36 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Ka-kap-ti without a word leaped up the ladder, rushed through the
village, past the sacred rock, by the three kivas on the east side of the
main plaza, and across the narrow neck of land by which one enters
Wal'-pi. He went down to the plain by the trail on the north side of
Si-tcom'-o-vi, running directly to the shrine of Md-sau-wuh, where he
knelt and deposited the offering to the death-god. He then rose and
took the trail across the plain directly north, running as fast as he could,
and ultimately passing out of sight. He was said to have gone to a
shrine (pa-h6-ki) far outside of all cultivated Wal'-pi fields, or as far as
the main spring of Mi-con-in-o-vi. After he had placed the offering or
green pd-ho in that shrine, he turned to the west and ran to the shrine
near the great spring of Mi-con-in-o-vi. He then hastened to a south
shrine about the same distance from Wal'-pi, and finally to the place of
offering at the east. It will thus be seen that he made a circuit with a
radius of about six miles in a sinistral direction around Wal'-pi as a
centre. At the four shrines (pa-ho-ki(s)) of the cardinal points he
deposited, it was said, a na-kwd-kwo-ci and a pa-ho. We shall later see
that day by day the length of his run diminished, and that on the last
day he did not leave the mesa top, but placed the pd-ho(s) on different
sides of the village corresponding to the same cardinal points. It is
obligatory upon Ka-kap-ti, when he is making these deposits, to run
the whole distance, and he did so as far as we could see him on the first
day, while on later days we observed him running the whole circuit.
The ceremony of giving Ka-kap-ti the pd-ho(s) ended at about half
past one, and at half past five Ka-kap-ti returned, still running even
when he went up the trail of the mesa. As he entered the Mon'-kiva he
approached the sand picture and sprinkled what meal remained in his
hand upon it, and Wi-ki said, " Kwa-kwai" Ka-kap-ti took off his kilt,
which he handed to Wi-ki, who folded it and laid it on the banquette
at the end of the kiva. He also passed Wi-ki the empty blanket in
which the pd-ho(s) had been carried. Wi-ki untied the white feather
from Ka-kap-ti' s hair, and the latter, panting heavily from his violent
exercise, took his seat near the fireplace and spoke for the first time
since his return. When Ka-kap-ti left the kiva to carry the pd-ho(s),
Ka-tci went out also taking pd-ho(s) and a small bundle with morsels
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 37
of food. He went down the south trail, but his subsequent course was
not watched, nor was any information elicited as to the significance of
his departure.
No ceremonies took place in the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva on this day,
although the nd-tci was observed in the matting of the hatchway.
Ko-pe-li, however, ate and slept in the Snake chamber, occupying his
time with carding and spinning cotton for pa-ho strings. He repeat-
edly went out, and always brought his own food from his house,
returning the empty food basins to the members of his household.
This was a custom with the members of the Snake Fraternity on sub-
sequent days, when all ate in the kiva.
Except on the last day, when the feast
took place, the women never brought
food to the Snake priests, but the men
themselves procured it from their houses
and always personally returned the food
vessels.
During this day the Snake ti-po-ni,
inclosed in its wrappings, was sus-
pended on the wall of the kiva, and Jar in which the .Snakes are kept
K6-pe-li had a single snake which he freely showed to visitors. At
dusk he took down the na-tci from the matting at the hatchway.
THIRD DAY (LUOTA-LA, SECOND CEREMONIAL DAY).
This day was the first of the four in which the snake hunts occurred,
and on it and each successive day they took place in the plain in the
following quarters : on Saturday the hunt was to the north, on Sun-
day to the west, on Monday to the south, and on Tuesday to the east. \
During the hunt in any one of these quarters, the Indians, not mem-
bers of these priesthoods, whose fields happened to be in that section,
did not work1 in them, and it was regarded injurious to follow the
1 On one occasion K<5-pe-li carefully to meet us, he anxiously asked which way
avoided meeting Ka"-kap-ti, the courier, Kd-kap-ti had taken in passing through
when on his way to deposit the offerings the village, in order to avoid him.
at the four cardinal shrines. .Happening
38 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
hunters and bad luck to meet them. Al-
though I was very anxious to accompany
the snake hunters, and tried in every way
to get permission either for Mr. Owens or
myself to do so, it was not possible to
persuade the priests to allow us to go
with them.1 They said that their chief
objection was that the four novices or
ke-le(s) might be bitten in the hunt, and
that the snakes would be angry with
them if we were allowed to take part in
the ceremony of their capture. These
events have, however, been witnessed by
other observers in previous years, as will
appear in a description to be quoted later.
On Saturday morning, for the first
1 Similar objections were made to our accom-
panying the snake hunters in the presentation of
1893.
2 The snake-whip (tcu-vwu-vwd-pi) consists of a
shaft about six inches long, to the back of which
is tied three, sometimes two, eagle tail-feathers.
The shaft is of cottonwood, cylindrical, slightly
pointed at one end, and is stained red. It is or-
namented on one side with the incised figure of a
rattlesnake painted blue (green), the head (ko-tu-
ad-ta) of which is triangular, with two anterior
projections representing a tongue. The feathers
are bound to one side of the shaft, opposite the
symbol of the rattlesnake, by a buckskin thong
(cu-me-ad-ta) . To the tip of each feather is tied
a small bluebird feather. Among the snake-whips
which I have examined, there was one which
had a double handle, and a similar double-handled
snake-whip is figured by Mindeleff, but the major-
ity of the snake-whips used at Wal'-pi had a single
Snake- Whip.2 shaft.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
39
time, a majority of the Tcu'-arwymp-tiryaty assembled in the Wi-kwal'~
i-o-bi kiva and prepared for the hunt. They brought with them
planting-sticks and hoes, which were laid on the raised hatchway of
the kiva while their owners descended to the chamber to prepare for
the hunt.
Each hunter rubbed his body all over with red iron oxide (cu-ta)
and fastened a na-kwd-ta, stained with the same color, to his scalp-
lock. His back hair was tied in the ordinary manner, while that
of the sides fell to his shoulders. A simple undecorated cloth was
tied as a kilt about his loins, and he wore moccasins, but with these
exceptions he was without clothing. Besides his hoe or planting-
stick each priest carried in his hand a little red buckskin bag with
fringe at each lower corner and a handle of the same material. It
was said to contain sacred meal with which to sprinkle the snakes
Position of the Priests when the Pa-ho(s) were given to the Snake Chief.
when they were captured. Each priest also had his snake-whip in
his hand, and a canvas bag in which to carry the reptiles he might
capture.
When the snake hunters returned to the kiva, they deposited the
bags in which the snakes were confined by the fireplace, and all the
40 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
chiefs solemnly smoked upon them. Wi-ki came in and sprinkled
each bag with corn pollen. Then the snakes were taken out one by
one, and put in jars which were placed at the west end of the kiva.
There were four of these jars, and when not in use they were kept
in a cave on the northwest side of the mesa.
The exercises, during which the Antelope chief gave the pd-ho(s)
to the Snake chief on each day of the snake hunt, were important.
Before departing for the snake hunts K6-pe-li received from Wi-ki
pd-ho(s) and a na-kwd-kwo-ci to deposit in the Snake house of the
quarter in which he was to hunt. Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve, Ha-ha-we,
Ka-tci, and the Snake chief gathered about a tray in which were two
pd~ho(s), near the fireplace in the Mon'-kiva, in the positions indicated
in the cut.
The pd-ho(s) were then smoked upon by the priests in turn. The
pipe-lighter first lit the ceremonial pipe, and, holding up the tray,
puffed directly on the pd-ho(s). The Antelope chief followed, and the
other priests in turn, the chief of the Snakes being the last to smoke.
Ha-ha-we was observed to be most devout in this duty. The pipe
was handed back to Wi-ki in the reverse order, who, having again
smoked, laid it on the floor. Wi-ki now took the pd-ho(s) from the
tray, and, holding them in his right hand, prayed four or five minutes,
and then passed the prayer-sticks to Ko-pe-li, who received them in his
left hand. Na-syun'-we-ve next prayed, and was followed by Ha-ha-we,
whose prayer was most fervent. As he prayed he held the ceremonial
pipe in one hand, and resumed his smoke after this act of devotion.
K6-pe-li said a short, earnest prayer to which the others emphatically
responded, and then he withdrew. Upon entering the other kiva,
where the Snake priests awaited him standing, he held the two p&~
ho(s) l and the na-kwd-kwo-ci in his hand, and said a prayer to which
the others responded. They then followed him to the snake hunt.
On the first snake hunt the Snake priests formed in line near their
kiva and filed under the arcade into the dance rock plaza, and contin-
1 These pa-ho(s) did not vary in length but were always the length of the middle
on the four successive days of the hunt, finger.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 41
ued past the narrow place in the mesa to the east of Wal'-pi, and then
down the trail north of Si-tcom'-o-vi. K6-pe-li left a red na-kwd-kwo-ci
at the shrine of Md-sau-wuh,1 and each one of the line halted and made
a prayer offering at the same place.
After the departure of Ko-pe-li, Wi-ki renovated all wooden sticks
or " crooks " about the altar, and the others began the manufacture of
the pd-ho(s), to be carried to the world quarter shrines after their cere-
monial consecration by the sixteen traditional songs. These did not
differ from the songs described above ; and the pd-ho(s) were also the
same as on the preceding day except in length.
FOURTH DAY (pAIOTl-LA, THIRD CEREMONIAL DAY).
Exercises similar to those of the third day were conducted in the
Mon'-kiva, but the Snake kiva was deserted, as the Snake priests were
absent from the village, and no one entered it. Sii-pe-la's wife, who is
the senior female member of the Snake people, filled two large bowls
which stood outside this kiva with water for the Snake priests to drink
and bathe with on their return from the hunt. During this ceremony
the priests 2 habitually slept on the ground near the kiva.
1 The shrine of Md-sau-wCih is one of waist high, leaving a small recess open to
many places of offering to this deity which the east.
are found near the trails approaching the In this recess, which practically opens
villages. Ordinarily Md-sau-wuh shrines upon the trail, there are many small clay
are simply heaps of sticks or piles of stones, dishes of the rudest pattern. Some of
and it is customary for an Indian, toiling these are ornamented, but as a general
up the trail with a heavy bundle of wood thing they are coarsely made and too small
on the back, to throw a small fragment to have been used for household purposes,
from the load upon these shrines, or to I have repeatedly observed women who
cast a stone upon them as he goes to his were bearing fuel on their backs throw the
farm. These are offerings to Md-sau-wfih, offering to Md-sau-wdh without halting,
the fire-god or deity of the surface of the Their lips moved as if in prayer, but I was
earth. unable to obtain from them the words
The shrine referred to is, however, much which they uttered.
more elaborate than most of these. One 2 The faces of the priests were very
side of it is formed by a large rock, and solemn, and men who at other times had
the others of cedar and other sticks piled been very kindly disposed to me during
42 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Early in the morning the Snake chief went into the Antelope kiva,
and a ceremony in which Wi-ki gave him his feather offerings, exactly
like that of the day before, took place. When the Snake chief re-
turned to his kiva, all the Snake priests came out dressed in the appro-
priate way for the hunt, and gathered up the hoes, sticks, and other
implements used in the capture of the snakes, which had been laid
over night upon the roof of the kiva. In solemn procession they then
filed away to the snake hunt in the plain at the west. Before the
Snake men left the room, a little girl brought a tray of meal and
tapped with her foot upon the roof of the chamber. At her signal,
the Snake chief came up and took the tray. This meal was possibly
sprinkled upon the captured snakes, but corn pollen is said to be used
for this purpose.
While the Snake men were 'absent on the hunt, a repetition of the
sixteen song ceremony of consecrating the feather offerings * by the
Antelopes took place. This ceremony was performed, as on former
days, at about noon, and did not differ substantially from that which
has been described.2 Yellow, green, red, white, black, and variegated
herbs, with a little honey, were to-day added to the charm liquid used
by Ha-ha-we in asperging. I am not sure whether this mixture
the Snake Dance had a stern and forbid- 1. Twelve ca-kwd-pa-ho(s).
ding manner both in the kiva and outside. 2. Eight black pd-ho(s).
Whenever they spoke to me it was in a 3. Eight white na-kwd-kwo-ci(s).
whisper and in monosyllables. With the 4. Numerous red na-kwd-kwo-ci(s).
exception of the initiation ceremonies, Of the first Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve and
which will later be described, no woman Ka"-tci made four each. Wi-ki, HaVha-
entered the kiva of the Snakes at any we, Na-syun'-we-ve, and Kwa*-a each made
time. If a woman approached the Snake two black pd-ho(s), and Na-syun'-we-ve
chamber she never stepped upon the roof, and Ka"-tci a white na-kwd-kwo-ci. Later
nor spoke to the person who came up to all the others did the same. These were
get what she had brought. Strange be- laid on an offering of shells which I had
liefs prevail as to the evil influences which brought.
would come to a woman addressed by the 2 The participants in 1893 were the
Snake priests at this time. same as yesterday, with the addition of
1 The following pd-ho(s) were made on Ka"-tci.
the fourth day : —
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
43
Ho-ko-na-ma-na, or Butterfly- Virgin Slab.
varied from day to day, but on Thursday a pinch of corn pollen was
dropped into it.
On this morning (Sunday) there appeared in the Mon'-kiva for the
first time the slab called the Ho-kti-na-mrf-na, " butterfly-virgin/' nicely
repainted by Ha-ha-we. It was placed back of the altar on the south
side, where it remained during the ceremonies of the following days,
not being touched by any of the priests. Ho-ko-na-ma-na is a smooth
stone slab with rounded
corners, fourteen inches
long, ten inches broad,
and an inch and a half
thick. This slab was dec-
orated with a symbolic
figure of the rain-clouds,
two butterflies, and sev-
eral tadpoles, as shown
in the cut.
Another object on the altar which was noticed this morning for the
first time was a jar called the pat'-ne. It was made of clay, stained
a dark red, with indistinct ornamentations in black. In shape it was
Pat-ne.
44 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
almost spherical, and around the neck was tied a string, from which
hung at equal intervals four other strings with feathers attached. The
two terraced objects on the surface of the bowl, as shown in the cut,
are duplicated on the other side. They are free from the jar except at
its equator, from which they rise, and represent rain-clouds.
The skins of a skunk, weasel, and coon were observed on the floor
back of the altar.
The departure of the snake hunters on Sunday was watched, and
their course followed until they separated in the plain at the west end
of the mesa. They followed the Mi-con'-in-o-vi trail half way down
the mesa, to the petrified wood shrine, where each one deposited a
na-kwd-kwo-ci,1 which he sprinkled with sacred meal. The priests then
made their way to the neighborhood of the pictographs of the giant
eagle, in a cleft in a rock back of which the Snake house of the west
is situated. Here they left the /ja-Ao(s) which Wi-ki had given to
Ko-pe-li, and when we visited the cleft after their departure we noticed
also a large black pd-ho. From this place the Snake priests separated
into squads, who scoured the plain for the snakes. They strongly ob-
jected to our witnessing the ceremonials which took place at that time.
The following account of the capture of the snakes by Messrs.
Stephen and Messenger appeared in the " New York World : " —
" Presently they (Snake priests) broke into groups of two and three,
and then began cautiously to peer and poke among rocks and bushes
for the snake mother's children. In a short time a low call came from
a man who was thrusting his stick into a dense clump of greasewood,
and as the hunters gathered there it was found to be a large rattle-
snake lying in the heart of the thicket. Without hesitation they at
once proceeded to cut away the bushes with their hoes, and strangely
enough, although the snake lay in coil and watched them, it made no
rattling or other display of anger. One of the twigs fell upon it, and
the man nearest stooped down and deliberately lifted the branch away.
1 These na-kwd-kwo-ci (s) are painted and that their festival is being celebrated,
red throughout the ceremony to inform the For that reason, also, the Snake priests
Snakes that the warriors are in the field, and others wear the red feather.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 45
" Each one then sprinkled a pinch of meal upon the snake, and the
man who had found it bent over and tapped it lightly with the feath-
ers of his snake-whip, and then it straightened out to make off, but
just as it relaxed from coil, the hunter, using his right hand, in which
he held his snake-whip, instantly seized it a few inches back of the
if
,2' y '*##"•••' 5B
Snake Hunters descending the South Trail.
head. Holding it out, he gave it a quick shake, and then proceeded
to fold it up, and put it in one of the small bags carried for this
purpose, showing no more concern in its handling than if it had been
a ribbon."
FIFTH DAY (tfA-LUc'-TA-LA, FOURTH CEREMONIAL DAY).
The ladders of both Snake and Antelope kivas were gayly decorated
this morning, for the first time, with a new object, a bow and arrows
with red horsehair hanging from the bow-string. Within the Ante-
46 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
lope room cornstalks, bean, melon, and squash vines, brought in by
Ka-kap-ti, were placed back of the altar, and four small gourd water-
bottles, each covered with a netting, appeared for the first time. On
the hatchway, also, there was a significant addition. Fresh brown
sand had been sprinkled over this portion of the two kivas, probably
to recall the traditions of olden times, for this was the fourth ceremo-
nial day. There are four chambers in the under world, and possibly
the placing of fresh sand around the kiva entrance may typify or
commemorate the fact that each ceremonial day represents one of these,
and that on the fifth the ancestors of the Hopi came to their present
abode, the earth's surface.
The Antelope sand picture was fresh and bright, having been re-
touched this morning by Na-syuii'-we-ve. At about nine o'clock, as
on former days of the Snake hunt, the offerings were given to K6-pe-li
by Wi-ki. The snake hunters went down the south trail and deposited
their pd-ho in a shrine near Wi-ki's house in the plain.
In the singing of the sixteen songs about the sand picture on this
day there was one variation. Just before Wi-ki asked for the light
to use in the (P-mow-uk pipe ceremony, a girl came in and silently
squatted back of the line of Antelopes on the north side of the sand
mosaic.1 During the songs she beat time with a ca-Jcwd-pa-ho, and at
the close of the prayers which followed the last of the sixteen songs,
she left the kiva after having scattered meal as an offering upon the
altar.
Ka-kap-ti was dressed and anointed with honey by Wi-ki in the
same manner as on former days. His smaller circuit to-day brought
him back into the kiva in about an hour, and the last offering was
made at a shrine near the sun spring, Ta-wa-pa, before he came up
the south trail to Wal'-pi. It was noticed that Ka-kap-ti wore a red
na-kwa-ta in his hair, in place of the white one of previous days.
Up to Monday the nd-tci, or symbol by which the people know that
the ceremonials were going on in the two kivas, was a black pd-ho
1 This was also the first appearance of the girl in the 1893 celebration.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 47
with eagle feathers tied to it, placed in the straw matting. The shafts
of this standard were not ornamented, and were identical in the two
A-wa-ta-na-tci of the Antelope Kiva.
kiva(s). They were set in place at sunrise each day, and taken into
the kiva at sunset. Every morning, when they were placed in position
48 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
at sunrise by their respective chiefs, a pinch of meal was thrown to-
wards the sun. The more conspicuous d-wa-ta-nd-tci(s] were not hung
upon the ladders until the morning of the fifth day.
The d-wa-ta-nd-tci of the Antelopes hung across the ladder of the
Mon'-kiva about ten feet above the hatchway. It consisted of a bow,
slightly bent, tied to the ladder by
yucca threads. Two blunt arrows
were fastened to it, and from the
string hung long red-stained horse-
hairs thickly crowded together. An
eagle tail-feather was attached to
each end of the bow, and two wea-
sel skins depended from the middle
of the string. In addition to the
three skunk skins at each end of
the bow there was also a weasel
skin which had been on the altar
the previous day.
The d-wa-ta-nd-tci of the Snake
Fraternity was hung across the lad-
der of their kiva about the same
distance above the hatchway, but
nearer the end of the ladder than
the Antelope standard.
It was similar to that of the An-
telopes, but was stouter. The arrows
were armed with sharpened stone points, and three eagle feathers were
attached to the bowstring. At one extremity of the bow there were
three skunk and two weasel skins, and at the other end hung three
skunk skins, and a single weasel skin. The red horsehair fringe was
neither so long nor so thick as that of the Antelope d-wa-ta-nd-tci.
The following pd-ho(s) were made on the fifth day : —
1. Sixteen ca-kwd-pa-ho(s).
2. One ho-tum-ni-pa-ho, and one additional ca-kwd-pa-ho.
A-wa-ta-na-tci of the Snake Kiva
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 49
3. Numerous na-kwd-kwo-ci(s).
Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve, Kwa-a, and Ka-tci each made four ca-kwd-
pa-ho(s) for the rain-gods of the world quarters, and Na-syun'-we-ve
an additional pd-ho for Md-sau-wuh. The na-kwd-kwo-ci(s) or per-
sonal offerings were manufactured by all the priests. Wi-ki likewise
made two additional blue j)d-ho(s) for K6-pe-li to take on the snake
hunt the morning of the next day.
The sixteen songs by which the prayer-sticks were consecrated were
the same as on former days, but the cheeks of the Antelope priests
were painted for the first time with sesqui-oxide of iron, and each wore
a red-stained feather in his hair.
SIXTH DAY (CUOTA'-LA, FIRST CEREMONIAL DAY).
Early on Tuesday morning Ha-ha-we refilled his bowl with charm
liquid, pouring into the vessel first from the north side, then from the
west, south, east, above, and once more corresponding to the below. At
this time Na-syun'-we-ve was retouching the sand mosaic, the figures of
which had become more or less obscure on account of the liquid and
meal which had been scattered upon it in the song ceremonials of the
afternoon before.
The first event on this morning, as on all the four days on which
the snake hunts took place, was the delivery by Wi-ki of the pd-ho(s)
to the Snake chief. There was a slight variation in the ceremony
performed this morning from those on preceding days ; but, although
by no means important, still it may be worth while to describe it.
Wi-ki, Ko-pe-li, Ha-ha-we, Hon'-yi, and Na-syufi'-we-ve gathered
near the fireplace of the Mon'-kiva in the early morning. K6-pe-li was
seated near Wi-ki, who first lit a pipe and smoked for some time upon
the sand mosaic. After an interval the Antelope chief handed the
pipe to the Snake chief, who said, " I-vwd-va" Wi-ki responding,
" I-tup'-ko" K6-pe-li then smoked in silence, puffing whiffs towards
the sand mosaic. Meanwhile Ha-ha-we had seated himself in the
position indicated in the diagram, and to him Ko-pe-li passed the
lighted pipe which he had received from the Antelope chief. He
50
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
smoked ceremonially for a short time, and then gave the pipe to the
Snake chief, who, after smoking, returned it to Wi-ki. During this
interval Hon'-yi was smoking without formally receiving the ceremo-
nial pipe.
Wi-ki then took the pd-ho(s) from a tray which stood between him-
self and Ko-pe-li, and, holding them in his left hand, bending his head,
said a prayer, to which the other priests responded. He then brought
his right hand to the pd-ho(s), still grasped in his left hand, and gave
them to Ko-pe-li, who received them in both hands, although he later
held them in his left. Ha-ha-we then said a prayer in a low tone, and
Ko-pe-li followed, uttering inaudible words, after which he left the
kiva to join his fellow Snake priests.
Ko-pe-li, The Snake Chief.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 51
This ceremony occurred at sunrise, and immediately after it the
Snake priests formed in line outside their kiva and followed the trail
through Si-tcom'-o-vi and Ha-no, descending from the mesa on the
north side of the last mentioned village. The backs of the older
Snake priests were loaded with bundles of food, for on this day, after
the hunt, the Snake priests had a great feast at Ga-ne-lo-ba, the sheep
spring. On entering their kiva after their departure, it was noted
that the snakes which had been captured in the previous hunts had
been placed in the four jars at the west end of the room. There was
one exception, a small snake in a little bag, which for some reason
unknown to me was kept separate from the rest.
While the manufacture of the pd-ho(s) was going on in the Mon'-
kiva and we were listening to the priest's explanation of the various
parts of which they were formed, there was a rap on the roof, and
word was passed down that a Ko-ho-ni-no Indian had ar-
rived with offerings. Wr-ki hurried up the ladder to re-
ceive them, but in his haste forgot his bag of sacred meal.
Immediately one of the priests spoke of this omission, and
m
another hurried after Wi-ki with the requisite meal. Wi-ki
greeted the Ko-ho-ni-no, and received the presents which
he brought from his home, the " moist bank of the river,"
and threw a handful of meal along the path of the vis-
itor. The presents which the Ko-ho-ni-no brought were as
follows : 1. A water-worn root of a cottonwood tree several
feet long, which grew in the Grand Canon, on the banks of
the Colorado River. 2. Pi-ba, tobacco, and grass from the
Ko-ho-ni-no gardens, "the place where the clouds always
hang." 3. Willow sticks from the river bank. 4. Damp
earth, as a " token of the copious rains " which had lately
fallen near their homes. These objects were offerings of cross-shaped
, „ Pa-ho Stick.
good-will, and their donor was regarded as the bearer ot
blessings. The objects were laid on the floor east of the sand picture,
and sprinkled with meal and smoked upon ceremonially. Later they
were used in the manufacture of special pd-ho(s) and other prayer
52 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
emblems. The fate of the cottonwood root interested me considerably,
for it was made into a cross-shaped prayer offering and called a wu-
pd-pa-ho. The root was whittled and polished into a round stick,
pointed at one end, and marks called frog children, tadpoles (pa-
vat'-i-ya), were scratched on the shaft. A crosspiece was let into a
slot near the other extremity, and upon this six black dots representing
rain (yok-i) were painted, and above them as many semicircular rain-
clouds (O'-mow-uh) were depicted. To this wu-pd-pa-ho were tied
many feathers, sprigs of the herbs pam'-na-m and kiirn'-yu, and a corn
husk package of meal (nu-cu-a-ta). Ka-tci was delegated by Wi-ki to
deposit it at the side of the Zuni trail a few miles south of Wal'-pi.
The sixteen ceremonial songs were sung at noon, and the rain-cloud
pd-ho(s) sent out for distribution as on former occasions.
SEVENTH DAY (KO-MOK-TO-TO-KYA).
This day was a very important one in the Snake ceremonial, for on
it was made, in the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva, the sand mosaic or pon'-ya
of the Snake priests. On the same day, also, the snake charm liquid
was made, a ceremony which had never been witnessed by white men
except Mr. Owens and myself. This mystic rite has thus far been one
of the most securely guarded of all the ceremonies, and it was only by
the kind help of Mr. Ream and the unusual confidence of the chiefs
that we were able to be present in the secret room.
As the snake hunts have now been held in the four world quarters,
there was no departure of the Snake priests in a body to the fields,
and no ceremonial delivery of the offerings to K6-pe-li. Several
snakes were added to the collection on this and the following day, but
apparently there was no recognition of the remaining cardinal points,
the above and the below, in formal snake hunting.
The sixteen traditional songs were sung around the poft-ya of the
Antelopes on this date, with a few ceremonial variations which will be
noted in my account.
At the close of the day a ceremony of initiation was performed in
the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva. This drama is one of the most interesting
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 53
and suggestive of all those connected with the Snake Dance, and has
never been described.
MAKING THE SAND MOSAIC OF THE SNAKE PRIESTS.
The pon'-ya of the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva was made by Les'-ma, who
was repeatedly prompted in his work by others, and K6-pe-li, the
Snake chief, had no hand in its production. Les'-ma, as we shall
afterwards see, personified the bear in the public ceremonies and in the
initiations, and was one of the most important priests throughout the
ceremonial.
At about ten o'clock, Les'-ma swept the west floor of the kiva, and
began the Snake pon'-ya.1 A large number of Snake priests were
present at the time, and as was always the rule since the snakes had
been brought into the kiva, silence prevailed, no one speaking above a
whisper. The snakes were at the east end of the kiva, some within,
some outside the four jars, which were uncovered.
Les'-ma first sifted from an open basket tray a layer of fine brown
sand upon the floor of the kiva, forming a rectangular field. He
then sprinkled upon this, several inches from the edge, another rec-
tangle, of green sand, twenty-two inches in length and breadth. This
formed the inner field, upon which, later, an animal was depicted.
After the green field had been made over the brown, he sprinkled
pinches of meal on it.
Les'-ma then drew on the green field a yellow rectangular band
about three fourths of an inch broad. He did not follow a sinis-
tral ceremonial circuit in drawing these lines in all instances, but, as a
rule, made the north, west, south, and east sides in order. Taking a
handful of black sand, he bordered the yellow band on each side with
a narrow black line, first on the north side of the rectangle, then on
the west, and in the same way on the south, finishing on the east.
1 I reproduced in sand copies of this A reproduction of the former I have like-
and the O'-mow-uh mosaic of the Ante- wise made for the National Museum at
lopes in a case of the Hemenway exhibit Washington,
in the Columbian Exposition at Madrid.
54 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
He afterwards made a black line about three fourths of an inch from
that which lined the outer edge of the yellow band, cutting off a
green border from the green field which extended outside the yellow.
He followed no ceremonial order in his work, but repeatedly repaired
now one line and then another, passing from north to south or from
east to west, as the case might be, or as convenience dictated. Outside
of the black line with which he bordered the green, he drew a red
stripe of about the same width as the yellow and green, forming another
band parallel to those already made.
Les'-ma then took a handful of white sand, and, disregarding the
sinistral ceremonial circuit, drew a band of white outside the red. He
then made a black line outside the white stripe, and another between
it and the red. This border of four colors having been completed, he
made outside of it a broad black zone as wide as all the others com-
bined.
Upon the northern part of this black border he delineated a yellow
snake with head facing west, and body with six zigzags. His method
of drawing was as follows : He first made the outline of the head, then
that of the body, and filled in these outlines with yellow sand. Les'-ma
followed by drawing a red line around the head and body of the snake,
continuing it into two tongue-like projections. He then made a neck-
lace of red lines, and five rattles of the same colored sand on the tail,
and for the eyes he dropped on the head small pinches of black sand.
The green snake was next made, on the western part of the black zone,
with the head directed south. The mode of making this snake was
identical with that adopted with the yellow, except that the edge of
the body and head, the necklace and the rattles, were made with
white sand.
The red snake was drawn in the same way as the two preceding,
on the south border, with head facing the east. The border of both
its head and body, as well as the tongue and necklace, were made of
yellow sand.
Lastly, the white snake was drawn on the east border with white
sand, and the head was represented facing north. The body and head
SAND MOSAIC OFTHE SNAKE PRIESTS
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 55
of this snake were edged with green, and the tongue, necklace, and
rattles were the same color.
A nondescript animal,1 with head facing south and legs extending
to the east, was next depicted in the middle of the green field. This
was made with yellow sand, and around it was later placed a black
margin. Along the rim of the tail at intervals spots were made by a
more liberal deposit of black sand. Four radiating lines, black, white,
red, and yellow, extended from the mouth. Yellow sand and a black
border were then placed at the feet, and a little red color was added
to the claws. Last of all, an oval red figure, representing a heart, was
made in the middle of the body, and from it a line of the same color
was traced to the snout.
After this animal had been made on the green field, a broad white
border was added outside the black, carefully following a sinistral cir-
cuit. When the sand mosaic had been finished, K6-pe-li laid upon the
heart of each snake in the black border a na-kwd-kwo-ci, with the
feather pointing towards the head, and the string extending along the
body. He also placed over the heart of the quadruped in the centre
of the field another na-kwd-kwo-ci, the feather of which extended
towards the neck, the string towards the tail.
Les'-ma was thanked by Kd-pe-li and one or two others after he had
finished the sand mosaic. He silently smoked upon his work, and
as he did so K6-pe-li placed a bank of brown sand along the western
border, in which Sii-pe-la planted upright a row of nine large eagle
feathers.
While the sand mosaic was being made, K6-pe-li, Sii-pe-la, and
Se-kyau-wis'-ti-wa were busily engaged making pd-ho(s). The Snake
chief left the kiva with a small feather at the beginning of the ceremo-
nial, and returned in a few minutes. Other Snake men sat around in
silence, some smoking, but none speaking above a whisper, and several
priests came in, and one or two went out, as the work was going on.2
The whittlings from the sticks used in making the pd-ho(s) were gath-
1 Called by Bourke a " mountain lion." of construction the reptiles were all free
2 While the sand mosaic was in process in the east end of the kiva.
56 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
ered by K6-pe-li in a bundle, and before leaving the kiva he sprinkled
a little sacred meal and tobacco upon them. He then went outside the
kiva and cast them over the cliff without ceremony.
During a part of the time when the altar was being made, K6-pe-li
and the other priests smoked upon it. Ka-no fashioned pedestals,
to hold the gne-lu'k-pi and other objects, from two lumps of clay which
had been brought in near the close of Les'-ma's work.
The three kinds of gne-lu'k-pi, crooks, straight sticks with Attached
corn husks, and the four arrows, were then placed in position around the
outer border of the mosaic. These were similar to the objects around
the Antelope picture, but were differently placed. They were arranged
in position by the Snake chief, assisted by one or two others, and it was
noted that K6-pe-li put the arrows at the four corners in the order,
north, west, south, and east. The Snake chief then took a crook to
which was fastened a long string na-kwd-kwo-ci stained red, and placed
it by the side of the tail of the green snake on the west border of the
picture, between it and the row of feathers. He drew this string1
diagonally across the picture towards the head of the red snake, allow-
ing the feather to fall upon the quadruped. K6-pe-li placed a second
crook, with a similar but longer string, by the side of the head of the
green snake, outside the border of the figure, and stretched it diag-
onally across the mosaic, likewise allowing the feathers to fall into the
rectangular field. He then placed two crooks side by side in the same
relative position at the east side of the picture, after which the other
objects were set in place apparently with order, but not following any
rule which could be discovered. Sii-pe-la fastened to each arrow,
beginning with the northwest and following a ceremonial circuit, a
large bundle of red-stained feathers. To the tips of these red feathers
were tied little blue feathers. The altar was destitute of ancient stone
hoes, which were so prominent in the Mon'-kiva, and there were no
well-defined north and south gates, although an interval was left
between the two crooks on the east side.
1 The length of this string was four times the distance from his heart to the tip of
his outstretched middle finger.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 57
After these things had been placed about the altar, Su-pe-la brought
in a buckskin bag containing a most heterogeneous collection of ob-
jects. In this were several trochus shells and a half dozen unidentified
bivalves, the skulls and lower jaws of some carnivorous animals, bears'
claws with skin adhering, several water-worn stones, a stone hoe, and
other objects. There were, also, two stone fetishes, one of which
was brown, the other white in color.1
Les'-ma now emptied a bag of brown sand on the kiva floor north
of the fireplace, half way between it and the wall, making a small
conical mound. Across this mound he drew in meal three lines cross-
ing at common centre, and forming six radiating lines corresponding to
the cardinal points. He then laid upon the point of intersection one
of the bandoleers to be worn by the Snake men in
the public dance which will be described later. As
he did this, another man tied a second medicine cord
about breast high on the north upright of the ladder.
Les'-ma placed a Ko-ho-ni-no basket, a flat, brown, tray-
like dish capable of holding liquid, on the bandoleer.
After the basket had been thus deposited, the bear's
claws, skulls, lower jaws, stones, and other objects,
were distributed into groups and placed at the ex-
tremities of each of the meal lines. The trochus
shell, bivalves, and some other charms were dropped Snake Bandoleer
into the basket, and Sii-pe-la added a few bruised nut-like objects and
sticks.
At this time, Ko-pe-li entered the kiva with his ti-po-ni? which he
planted midway in the west border of the pon'-ya, and arranged two
fetishes by its side. The ceremony with which these were taken from
the Moii'-kiva altar was very simple, and there was no special observance
1 Wi-ki later gave the following as the other shells, stone and crystals typifying
objects used : The feet and claws of the the six directions.
bear, wolf, and puma ; the jaw of a puma 2 Up to this time this ti-po-ni had been
and stone effigy of the same, trochus and with that of the Antelopes, as described
above.
58 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
in the Wi-kwar-i-o-bi-kiva when they were set in position. A string
was stretched diagonally across the sand picture from the Snake ti-po-ni,
a little to one side of the middle line. Sii-pe-la brought into the kiva a
small spherical gourd of liquid, which was taken by Les'-ma, who poured
the contents into the basket from the four cardinal points, up, and
down, following the sinistral ceremonial circuit. By this time all the
Snake fraternity had collected in the kiva, and had arranged themselves
in position at the south side without any special regularity. The four
boys who were ke-le(s], or novices, were seated in a row on the spec-
tator's dais, south of the ladder. The older Snake priests then took
positions about the basket, Sii-pe-la, K6-pe-li, Les'-ma, and Mo-mi in
line facing the south. Su-pe-la handed some unknown object to each
of the priests near him, and, after they had followed his example by
chewing it, they placed the cud in the liquid of the basket. A quan-
tity of fresh water from the jars on the roof of the kiva was then
brought and poured without ceremony into the basket. After this
had been done, the whole fraternity of Snake men assembled in the
room took their snake-whips in their hands, and, holding them up-
right, squatted on the floor facing the basket.
The pipe-lighter then lit the ancient Snake pipe and passed it to
Kd-pe-li, as he did so exchanging terms of brotherhood or relationship.
The Snake chief smoked in silence, puffing smoke at
times into the liquid contained in the basket. He
then handed the pipe to his right-hand neighbor,
Les'-ma, who smoked into the liquid and at the distant
7
altar. The pipe was then passed to another priest,
The Snake Chief's Pipe.
who returned it to the pipe-lighter. After this a pipe
was again lighted and passed to Ko-pe-li, who smoked and handed it
to his father, who was seated at his left. Su-pe-la smoked and gave it
to a priest at his side, and although other Snake priests received it,
the ceremonial significance seemed to be lost after it had been in the
hands of the first two or three persons. Many other Snake priests
now crowded into the ring, which had become a long ellipse surround-
ing the basket. All, one by one, smoked in silence for a considerable
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
59
time, generally puffing whiffs of smoke into the liquid of the basket,
or towards the altar. The pipe was at last laid by the fireplace, and
~>
--
S
The Snake Charm Altar.1
Ko-pe-li, still sitting, took his rattle in his right hand and prayed
fervently.
At the close of the prayer he shook it vigorously a few times, and
all the priests in the kiva began a rapid, weird song. Mo-mi, who
who sat opposite Les'-ma, held upright in the middle of the basket a
1 In the celebration of 1893 there were
seventeen objects in the bag brought by
Sii-pe-la, as follows : —
1. Two large trochus-like shells (ko-
2. To-hoJih (puma), skull.
3. To-ho-uJi, f orepaw.
4. Ho-nau-uh (bear), skull.
5. Ho-nau-fih, forepaw.
6. Ktve-we (wolf), skull.
7. Kwe-we, forepaw.
8. To-ko-che, forepaw.
9. Fetish of To-ho-uh.
10. White stone fetish.
11. Large stone spear point.
12. Bivalve shell (kU-klUce).
13. Paw of unknown carnivore.
14. Six water-worn pebbles.
60
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Basket
stick painted black, to the end of which was at-
tached a na-kwd-kwo-ci. Four songs were then
sung by all the Snake priests, accompanied by
the rattles and by motions with the snake-whips.
As these melodies followed one after another,
Les'-ma laid his rattle on the floor and took up
one by one the objects at the ends of the six
lines of sacred meal, and following the ceremo-
nial circuit placed them in the basket around
the stick held upright by Mo-mi. At the close
of the fourth song all present broke out in the
wild war-cry, and as their piercing yells filled
the room, Mo-mi stirred the mixture in the bas-
ket with the stick, which he held perpendicular
..ake charm Curing the stirring. A verj rapid song followed
the war-cry, during which Les'-ma laid the stick
down by the side of the basket and kneaded the contents of the same
with his hands. While this went on the song sank to a low and
weird melody, but as it continued the voices of the chorus rose again
to a rapid measure with loud and piercing tones. Les'-ma frequently
raised his rattle aloft in the air, and, as he did so, cast meal into the
basket of liquid. The songs continued for a long time, until at last
they died down to a low hum, and the whole assemblage ceased to
sing, but the rattles and the tremor of the snake-whips continued for
a few moments after the voices were hushed.
In the breathless silence which followed, Ko-pe-li prayed, and at the
end of his prayer he cast sacred meal into the liquid. Sii-pe-la did the
same, and others followed, but Mo-mi slowly rose to his feet, and
dipping the stirring-stick into the mixture, shook drops from it to the
cardinal points, sprinkling all present with the liquid. He then touched
a bear's paw to the liquid, and threw the charm mixture from it to the
cardinal points, following the sinistral ceremonial circuit. Mo-mi
climbed up the ladder to the roof, asperged with the bear's paw in a
sinistral ceremonial circuit to the cardinal points outside, and immedi-
ately after descended into the chamber.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 61
Mo-mi then moistened fragments of white earth with some of the
medicine which he had taken into his mouth from a univalve shell, and
made a white paint in the palms of his hands ; approaching K6-pe-li,
he rubbed some of this from the palm of one hand first upon K6-pe-li's
breast, then upon his back, cheeks, and the fore-arms and legs. Ka-no
later assisted him, and every one present was rubbed or daubed with
the white paint on the same parts of the body as the Snake chief.
While this was transpiring, many of the priests stepped up to the altar
and moistened their hands in the liquid of the basket, rubbing it
over their breasts and other parts of the body. Many also took the
objects from the medicine and sucked the liquid from them, some even
drinking the same from the univalve shells. I then detected, for the
first time, fragments of clay which the priests were rolling in their
hands into balls about the size of marbles. Ka-no was
passing pieces of clay about for this purpose, but, while
I did not see where he obtained it, there was no doubt
that it was dipped in the charm liquid. After each
priest had made his clay ball, he marked a zigzag light- Peiiet of ciay from
ning snake on its equator with his thumb-nail, and tied
it in a little piece of buckskin. This was the pellet which, with oth-
ers, was later worn on the medicine cord or bandoleer throughout the
public ceremonies when the snakes were carried in the mouths of the
participants.
At the close of the ceremony K6-pe-li transferred the liquid from
the basket of fetishes into another basket, leaving, for a time at least,
in the former a trochus shell, a bivalve, a white fetish, a quartz crystal,
and a brown stone. As he did this he put each to his mouth, sucking
up what liquid remained upon it, and later drinking that in the basket,
which was afterwards deposited near the altar.
DRAMATIZATION IN THE SNAKE KIVA.
One more ceremonial occurred to form a fitting close to this event-
ful day.
There was evidence that something significant was to take place
62 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
when Wi-ki and other Antelopes assembled in the Mofi'-kiva, cos-
tumed themselves, and prepared to leave it, the evening after the
ceremony above described had taken place. Wi-ki took his ti-po-ni
and tray of meal, and led a procession with the novices in the rear, each
bearing an ear of corn with appended feathers and a handful of meal.
Under the lead of Wi-ki all filed up the ladder of the Mori'-kiva and
marched to the adjacent Snake kiva, into which all descended. Wi-ki
deposited his ti-po-ni behind the altar, in the same relative position to
the Snake ti-po-ni which it had occupied in the Mon'-kiva. Still hold-
ing the tray of meal, he returned with the other Antelopes to the spec-
tators' platform, where they sat down. Immediately the room, in
which already many Snake priests had gathered, began to fill with other
men and women : Among these Sii-pe-la's wife, four married women,
five maidens, and a mother with an infant were noticed. The novices
had taken their positions under the north wall, and the Snake priests
squatted along the opposite or south side of the kiva. The women
who had last entered sat near the spectators' part of the room, just
south of the fireplace, and Snake and Antelope priests crowded the
chamber, occupying every available spot, especially about the fireplace.
East of the ladder, cutting off a section of the spectators' region and
concealing the four snake jars, was stretched from wall to wall a
wagon cover, forming a dressing-room for the performers to retire to.
K6-pe-li sat at one side of the room, muffled up in a Navajo blanket,
over which was thrown a white buckskin. For some time all present
preserved the most profound silence, the Snake priests holding their
whips in a vertical position. K6-pe-li said a short prayer, after which
the rattles were taken up, and for a few moments nothing was heard
but the noise of these instruments. As this continued all began to
sing ; at first a low mumble, then the voices increased in volume until
they broke out into a wild song.
Wi-ki, who sat near the entrance to the dressing-room, threw a pinch
of meal across the floor to indicate a pathway for the strange actor
who immediately emerged from behind the screen.
A little meal was cast from behind the curtain as an actor hob-
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 63
bled into the room, assuming a squatting posture, and swaying back
and forth like a bear on its hind legs, though his movements were
rapid. He wore a great bunch of red feathers on his head, with
smaller tufts on the shoulders, and his face was covered with paint.
Making his way to the fireplace, he seized a cane cigarette, put it in
his mouth, and twirled his hands, one about the other in front of his
breast, dancing to the song. He returned behind the screen and again
came out, moving about in the wild manner which characterized his
first appearance. The actor went up to K6-pe-li, preserving as he did
so a squatting posture, and drew a vine-stalk from under the Snake
chief's blanket. He then went from one to another of the novices,
thrusting the stalk into their faces. The wild song continued until
he again retired behind the wagon-cover, when it sank to the same
low murmur with which it began before his entrance. After a few
such strains the song burst forth into a wild chorus as a new per-
former, the " Puma-man," appeared upon the scene. His next act was
to thrust his head under the blanket of K6-pe-li. As he drew it back
he had an unlighted cane cigarette in his mouth, which he pretended to
smoke as he hobbled about, and while he did so the Antelopes threw
meal towards the sand mosaic picture in the eastern part of the kiva.
The performer, stih1 keeping the squatting posture, repeated the whirli-
gig movement of his hands. He returned to Kd-pe-li, pushed his head
beneath the latter's blanket, and as he drew back was seen to have a
live arrow-snake in his mouth. Approaching the novices, he took the
snake from his mouth and thrust it in turn into their faces, moving it
up and down as near as possible four times. The reptile was returned
to the chief, and as the actor retired behind the screen the song sank
to a murmur. When the first actor reappeared, with a lighted ciga-
rette in his mouth, the music rose again as usual. During all this
performance K6-pe-li sat like a statue, silent and motionless. The
performer went up to him once more, and this time when he drew back
his head he had a cornstalk in his mouth, which he thrust into the
faces of the novices. He then withdrew.1
1 The Bear-man does not touch the snake, nor the Puma-man the vines. The first
64 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
The second man now came from behind the curtain, assuming the
posture and gait of the former. He likewise poked his head under
the blanket of K6-pe-li and drew back with a snake in his mouth, which
he thrust into the faces of the novices. The song sank to a low hum-
ming sound as he also retired behind the curtain, but as the music rose
again no dancer appeared in response. This song was followed by
two others ; the whips of the Snake men, which had been moved in
time with the music, gradually quivered, and the song wholly ceased,
although the rattling continued for some time. Finally even this died
out and all was quiet. K6-pe-li, still preserving his position, then
uttered a short prayer, was divested of his wrappings and went back
of the sand picture, followed by Wi-ki, and each took the ti-po-ni of
his assemblage.
Ko-pe-li squatted in front of each novice and moved the ti-po-ni up
and down before his face, muttering something in a low, inaudible
voice, to which each novice responded. The example of the Snake
chief was closely followed by Wi-ki with his ti-po-ni, and the novices
likewise answered him.
An elder Snake priest then took the Snake ti-po-ni and went about
among the novices as his chief had done, and handed it to a Snake
boy, who likewise imitated K6-pe-li's course in front of each novice.
Ha-ha-we took the Antelope ti-po-ni from Wi-ki and did the same
as his chief had done before him. One by one many of the Snake
priests held the Snake ti-po-ni and carried it before the novices, each
standing upright as he waited to receive the badge from his pred-
ecessor. The last priest to receive the ti-po-ni, after he had followed
the example of those before, handed it back to Ko-pe-li, and then made
an offering of meal on the altar.
Wi-ki and Ko-pe-li stood up back of the altar side by side, each
holding the ti-po-ni of the society of which he is chief in his left
hand with his right below it. Wi-ki prayed, and as he ceased moved
man who appeared was called ho-nau-uk, the clouds, but there is some doubt of
bear ; the second, td-ho-iih, puma. The this explanation. When the personator
twirling motion of the hands is called went to the novices he was known as
nun-ak'-in-i, and is said to be a call to tii-hii'-an-ti, imitator.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 65
his ti-po-ni in a horizontal circle in front of him, and K6-pe-li followed
in prayer, after which he waved his ti-po-ni in the same manner. Then
a person chosen as his sponsor or "father " tied a feather in the scalp-
lock of each novice. Wi-ki again prayed while this was transpiring,
and then drank brown liquid from the bowl, until his mouth was filled
with the liquid. He then spat it out on his hands, with which he
rubbed his breast, and all the Antelopes followed his example. Wi-ki
and the others in turn took meal from the tray, made an offering on
the sand picture, and as they left the room sprinkled pinches of meal
upon the roof, after which they returned to the Mon'-kiva.
The initiation is an entirely voluntary proceeding upon the part of
the neophytes, and they may choose either of the two societies they
prefer. A person initiated into the Snake order does not as a con-
sequence join the Antelope, nor vice versa; the membership, as de-
termined by tradition and in current ceremonies, is quite distinct,
although the leader of the Snake-Antelope assemblages is chief, or
father, of both. Mothers came with their children and infants to the
Snake kiva on the seventh evening, and to the Snake-Antelope on the
ninth morning, not to become members, but only to partake of the vir-
tues of the charm ; that fear of the ophidian may be dispelled from
themselves and their children, and that these reptiles may recognize
that they have been baptized and refrain from biting them. The terms
condensed in the word baptized do not express consecration, although
that is certainly implied ; but they are merely descriptive of the acts
of drinking, rubbing, waving the feather with ashes, and similar sacred
performances.
EIGHTH DAY (TO-TO-KYA, SLEEPS).
Shortly after dark on the night of the seventh day, the Antelope
priests, Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve, Kwa-a, and Ha-ha-we, accompanied
by Mo-mi visited the sun-spring, Ta-wa-pa, and remained there over-
night. The Antelopes wore their ceremonial kilts, and Mo-mi, who
assumed the role of warrior, had a whizzer, bow and arrows, and wore
66
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
a buckskin over his shoulders. They first went to the edge of the
water on the eastern bank, where they deposited a pa-ho, smoked, and
prayed. After remaining there some time, they sought a convenient
place to sleep near the bank of the spring, and rested until three
o'clock in the morning, when they returned to the edge of the water.
After they had gathered netted gourds and other objects which they
had left there the night before, they formed in line to return to the
village. Wi-ki made a line of prayer-meal along the trail, and traced
at equal distances across it four figures of rain-clouds, each with three
Kilt of the Antelope Priests.
semicircles similar to those already described in my account1 of the
ceremonies at the spring at Ci-pau-lo-vi. At the conclusion of this act
Mo-me whirled his whizzer four times, and the line advanced to a
second station distant a few hundred yards from the first, where the
ceremony was repeated. The squad again took up its line of march,
and halted at four other stations before it arrived at the Antelope kiva.
The ceremony at Ta-wa-pa is probably an abbreviated form of the
Flute celebration, which takes place on alternate years. The reader
may note the similarities by consulting my account of the Ci-paii-lo-vi
Flute,2 to which I have already referred.
1 Journal of American Ethnology and
Archaeology , vol. ii. No. 1.
2 The reader is referred to the O'-mow-
uh celebration in the Flute festival. Jour-
nal of American Ethnology and Archae-
ology, vol. ii. No. 1.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 67
The other event, which occurred outside the kiva on the morning of
the eighth day before dawn, was the Antelope foot-race. This took
place in the plain at the south of the mesa, and was practically the
same as the foot-race of the ninth morning, which will be described
in the appropriate place. Seven runners took part, all of whom wore
cotton shirts and had rattles tied to their waists. The race was an-
nounced long before dawn by the town herald, who called out four
times at short intervals. The victor passed through the village just
as the Antelopes were finishing their sixteen songs ceremony and
dramatization.
DRAMATIZATION AND SIXTEEN SONGS CEREMONY.
The singing of the sixteen songs l on the mornings of the eighth and
ninth days was different from that on the preceding, on account of
the introduction of two personifications, Ti-yo (the Snake Hero) and
Tcii-a-md-na (the Snake virgin), and the dramatization of a legend
connected with them. The dramatic element was very imperfect, and
did not follow the details of the legend, which is given later, but
several episodes of it are introduced. Ti-yo, so the story runs, by his
marriage with the Snake virgin in the under- world joined her people,
and as on the morning of the eighth day the one personifying him had
not yet become a Snake man, he did not wear the characteristic kilt.
The ceremonial was also marked by the presence of the Snake chief
and several of his fraternity, as well as a few women and children.
When I reached the kiva, coming from Ta-wa-pa, where I had been
observing the events described, it was still dark, not a trace of light
having yet appeared in the east, and nothing was transpiring, but in a
few moments a maiden came in. Wi-ki immediately began her deco-
ration, and rubbed the upper part of her feet and the backs of her
hands with black shale. He then took a white blanket and placed it
over her shoulders, and tied a sash with long white knotted cords, such
as is worn by the Ka-tci-na dancers, about her waist. She took down
1 The first eight songs of this ceremony on the eighth and ninth days are sung before
sunrise.
68 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
her hair, which Wi-ki carefully brushed, and tied with a string behind
her back, so that her ears were partly concealed, and the large whorls
of hair characteristic of a Hopi maid's coiffure were wanting. Over
her shoulders Wi-ki placed a second white undecorated blanket, to
which he tied feathers, one on each shoulder, and two on the back
near her shoulder-blades. He tied a na-kwai-ta in her hair, and
painted her chin and lower jaw black. The maiden wore earrings.
Her name was Ko-kyan-ma-na and she personified Tcu-a-md-na of
the Snake legend. Wi-ki led her to the northwest (true west) corner
of the kiva, where she remained during the ceremonial.
A small boy about sixteen then came in, and Wi-ki painted his
insteps and the backs of his hands black, in the same way he had
painted the girl. He daubed on the outer side of each leg a zigzag
line of the same color, and made similar decorations on the outer side
of each arm. The black zigzag lines l were also placed on either side
of the breast. As he entered the kiva, the boy wore a large shell neck-
lace, and a red feather on his head, and these were not removed, but
Wi-ki tied a kilt about the loins of the boy, and above it fastened a
sash. He combed the hair, tying it, as he had that of the girl, behind
his back. He lastly placed him in the southwest (true south) corner
of the room. Hon'-yi, In'-ti-wa, and Ha-ha-we were smoking about the
fireplace while the decoration of the Snake girl and the Snake boy was
going on. When it was finished, Wi-ki himself took a seat in silence
at the sand altar.
Ka-tci, In'-ti-wa, several other novices, and a Snake priest, all but
the last bearing an ear of corn and feathers attached to a stick, visited
the pa-ho-ki, which is situated half way between Wal'pi and Si-tcom'-
o-vi, where they deposited two red-stained na-kwd-kwo-ci, after which
they hurried back and laid the ears of corn by the side of the altar.
On this morning for the first time Mo-mi tied to the ladder a bando-
leer or medicine cord in the same way which we have already men-
tioned in the ceremonial preparation of the charm liquid by the Snake
priests.
1 He omitted the white line across the cheek, and the black zigzag lines on the arms
and legs.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 69
When the novices had returned, Ha-ha-we lit the pipe and passed
it ceremonially to Wi-ki, who smoked and extended it to his neighbor
as in former ceremonies. Ta-wa came in, followed by Ma-si-um'-ti-wa,
Wi-ky-at-i-wa, and one or two other men, who seated themselves at the
north of the sand mosaic. While the ceremonial smoke was progress-
ing, Wi-ki talked a long time, constantly referring to the things about
the altar. He seemed to be speaking to those about him in regard
either to the history of the ceremonials which were being performed or
the legends connected with them. When he had finished this lecture,
to which all the others listened in silence, he handed thepat'-ne with
cornstalks and bean vines to the girl, who stood in the corner of the
kiva. Wi-ki next raised the Snake ti-po-ni and gave it to the boy, who
at first held it upright in both hands and then allowed it to lie over
his arm. Prayers followed by Wi-ki, Ha-ha-we, and others.
Wi-ki then shook his rattle for a few moments without singing, and
the assembled priests began the series of songs, sixteen in number,
which have been elsewhere described. During the first song Ko-pe-li
came in, and handing the boy a large snake (pityophis\ sat down at
his customary place near the southwest corner of the sand mosaic, took
up his rattle, and joined in the song with the others. The boy held
the live snake by the neck in his right hand, beating time with it to
the song. When Ko-pe-li came in not a word was spoken to him by
any one present, and he himself was silent. Several Snake priests,
each with his whip, now entered and seated themselves at the south
side of the room, back of Ka-kap-ti and the Snake priest, who had
returned with the novices. The Tcu-a-wim-kya celebrants were as
follows : Wi-ki, Hon'-yi, Wi-ky-at-i-wa, Kwa-a, Ta-wa, In'-ti-wa, and
Mas-i-um'-ti-wa. Behind and between the last two was a small boy.
Ka-tci sat at the south of the altar by the side of Ka-kap-ti, and behind
In'-ti-wa was a woman who came in during the second part of the cere-
mony, bringing an ear of corn.
After the first eight songs had been sung, and Ha-ha-we had as-
perged the altar and the cardinal points as in previous ceremonies,
Wi-ki took the ti-po-ni from the boy and the patf-ne from the girl ;
70 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
placed the former in position, and the latter back of the sand mosaic.
K6-pe-li relieved the boy of the snake, and Wi-ki sent out for a coal
of fire and lit the great O'mow-uh pipe, the smoke from which he
blew four times in big whiffs over the large fetish on the sand mosaic.1
After this we heard the approaching runners of the Antelope race and
stepped out to see them, returning immediately to the kiva. It was
now just sunrise, and Na-syun'-we-ve set up the nd-tci on the hatch.
Before the second series of songs began, a woman and the boy who
later sat behind Ma-si-um'-ti-wa came in, and a little after several
Snake priests followed, all with their snake- whips, and took their seats
at the east corner of the chamber, south of the fireplace.
Wi-ki handed the pat'-ne to the maiden, and the ti-po-ni to the
boy, who received the snake again from K6-pe-li.
The second series of eight songs was then sung with no variation
from that of previous ceremonies, except that the Snake priests beat
time with their snake whips, and the boy kept time with the snake
which he held in his hand. Ha-ha-we asperged as before, and Ka-
kap-ti rapped on the floor with the stone hoe as in former celebrations.
At the close of the songs Wi-ki prayed, followed by Ko-pe-li, Na-
syun'-we-ve, Ha-ha-we, and Ta-wa, to whom the others responded,
while Wi-ki and K6-pe-li engaged in conversation. During the cere-
monial smoke which followed, the Snake priests sprinkled prayer-meal
on the sand mosaic and left the room, and the woman who sat behind
In'-ti-wa did the same.
The forenoon of the eighth day was passed by all the Snake priests
in their kiva, and they were occupied with the manufacture of the
long prayer-sticks which were to be carried in the public dances.
These pd-ho(s) were as long as the forearm, painted black, and
pointed at one extremity. Each was a single stick, at one end of which
was tied, with cotton string, a corn husk, which projected far beyond
it, a sprig of a yellow flower (pam'-na-vi), and a twig of kurn'-yu.
To these were also added a feather and a small quantity of meal envel-
1 This is not described, because it is an exact repetition of what has been already
given.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
71
oped in a corn husk. Four encircling parallel black lines were drawn
on the cotton, and an equal number of na-kwd-kwo-ci stained red with
iron oxide were tied to the same at equal intervals. When each priest
had finished his prayer-stick, he held it in his left hand and puffed
upon it great whiffs of tobacco smoke, holding the
pipe meanwhile in his right hand, and without fur-
ther ceremony placed the pd-ho upon the tray with j
the others. The basket was deposited on the floor I
of the kiva between the pon-ya and the fireplace, ||
the sharpened ends of the sticks turned to the l|
north. When all had placed their pd-ho(s) on the ||
basket, the older priests smoked upon them cere- \-
monially.
THE ANTELOPE DANCE.
The first public observance in the long series of
ceremonials which we are describing occurred at
5.30 P. M. of the eighth day. It is called the Tcub'-
ti-ki-ve or Antelope dance, and was performed
in the main plaza near a small conical structure
called the M-si, which was temporarily erected for
that purpose. The material used in the construc-
tion of the ki-si was cottonwood boughs covered
with leaves, which had been brought to the alcove
between the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva and the sacred
rock during the morning. The poles which sup-
ported it were about fifteen feet long, driven into
the ground at one end, and tied together with
straps above in a conical form. The boughs were
so arranged as to leave an opening facing the
south, which was closed by a wagon cover. In
front of this entrance a thick plank, in which was a hole representing
the si-pa-pu, was set in the ground. The ki-si was erected at three
p. M., but the plank was put in place without ceremonies some time
earlier in the day.
Snake Pa-ho.
72 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
At a little after 5 P. M. the Antelopes came out of the Mon'-kiva in
the following order, and stood in line facing the Snake kiva : Na-hai-
pii-ma, Wi-ki, Na-syun'-we-ve, Ha-ha-we, Kwa-a, Se-kwa-wec'-te-wa,
Ma-si-um'-ti-wa, Hon'yi, Ta-wa, Ka-tci, In'-ti-wa, and five boys.
These sixteen Antelopes stood in a line facing south, and as each
took his place he stepped upon the roof of the Snake kiva and cast a
little meal into the hatch of the room where the Snake priests were
assembled preparing for the dance. After this ceremony they silently,
with solemn faces and slow step, marched through the alcove and fol-
lowing the sinistral ceremonial circuit described a long ellipse with its
diameter extending east and west from the rock to the east end of the
plaza. They encircled the plaza four times, and as they passed in
front of the M-si each priest stamped with all the force of his right
foot upon the plank in front of it. After the fourth circuit they
formed a platoon on each side of the M-si, the head of the line going
to the west, and the novices with the whizzer bearer to the east of the
bower, all facing the south. They then began a slow movement of
their rattles, accompanied with a weird and characteristic song.
The line of Snake priests headed by Ko-pe-li, responding to their in-
vitation, now rushed in, and, passing to the south of the sacred rock,
made the sinistral circuit of the plaza four times in a long ellipse ex-
tending from the Snake rock to the Al-kiva. As each of the thirty-
eight Snake priests passed in front of the M-si he also stamped violently
on the plank, at the same time dropping a pinch of prayer-meal upon
it. They formed a platoon facing the Antelopes, with K6-pe-li on the
extreme west end, nearly opposite Wi-ki.
When the Snake priests had taken their positions opposite the Ante-
lopes, the latter, accompanying the music with the rattles, sang a low
melody, slightly swaying their bodies from side to side. The song
then rose louder and louder, and both priesthoods moved their bodies
in unison without breaking their lines. The song continued to increase
in volume, and became more stirring as both platoons moved a step
forward and back.
This movement continued for a few minutes, and at the same time
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 73
Na-hai-pii-ma walked down between the two lines in a stately man-
ner and halted before the ki-si, holding an ear of corn, a nd-kwi-pi,
and an aspergill in his hands. Upon his head he wore a garland of
cottonwood leaves, and his body was painted lavender. His loins
were girt with a white blanket kilt, similar to that of the Antelopes,
with whose paraphernalia the rest of his dress corresponded.
Na-hai-pu-ma l called out his invocation to the four directions in a
low voice, at the same time asperging upon the ki-si and to the differ-
ent world quarters. The words which he uttered will be given in the
account of a similar ceremony on the following day, and as he said
them no sound was heard save that of the Antelope rattles. The
asperger returned to the head of the platoon and the song began again,
accompanied by the swaying movement of the dancers. As the melody
increased in volume from a low hum the asperger again marched be-
tween the two lines to the front of the ki-si, and as he stood there he
again called or chanted in a low voice. The Antelopes continued the
low humming song, and both Antelope and Snake priests swayed back
and forth in a monotonous but rhythmic way. Four times Na-hai-
pii-ma visited the ki-si, and as many times he called to the world quar-
ter deities. Ha-ha-we crossed from his position in the line of the
Antelopes near Na-syun'-we-ve to a corresponding position in the line
of Snake priests, and Kwa-a and a Snake priest, putting arms about
each other's necks, slowly marched between the platoons to the ki-si
entrance. The Antelope leaned over and took from the ki-si corn-
stalks and vines, which he placed in his mouth, and the pair together
moved up and down between the platoons of singing, swaying Ante-
lope and Snake priests. They returned with their burden to the ki-si
entrance and Kwa-wa replaced the corn and vines.
The Snake priest, handing his snake-whip to Kwa-a, placed the corn
and vines in his mouth, and the pair, with arms about each other's neck,
slowly ambled between the two platoons of Snake and Antelope priests.
1 For some reason Tci-no, who had taken by a man who had to be repeatedly
performed this ceremony in former years, prompted,
did not officiate, and the part was poorly
74 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
As they did this the Antelope and Snake priests stepped forward and
backward one step, keeping time to a slow, almost inaudible humming
song. Four pairs of Snake and Antelope priests in turn carried the
cornstalks and vines in this way, and the Snake priest always passed
his whip to the Antelope before he took the corn in his mouth. A
Snake priest with whip erect and left arm about Kwa-a's neck now
marched twice, with a slow, halting step, up and down between the
swaying platoons of Antelope and Snake men, the former singing and
using their rattles, the latter beating time with their snake-whips.
When they had returned to their position, the line of Snake priests
led by Ko-pe-li filed around the sacred rock with a quick step, once
more made the long oval circuit of the plaza in a sinistral direction,
and as they passed the Td-si entrance stamped violently upon the plank
in front of it. When they passed the asperger, he sprinkled the charm
liquid on each of them.
The Antelopes more deliberately filed around a small circle which
did not include the sacred rock, and as they passed the M-si each one
stamped upon the plank. They, too, were sprinkled by Na-hai-pu-ma
as they left the plaza.
Both societies returned to their respective kivas, and shortly after,
having divested themselves of their paraphernalia, one by one went to
their houses to procure food, which they carried into the kiva, where
singly or in squads they ate their suppers.
NINTH DAY (TI-KE-VE-NI, DANCE DAY).
The public ceremonials of this day have been fairly well described
by other observers, but several secret rites took place in the kivas
which are here published for the first time.
THE SNAKE RACE.
All that is known of the beginning of this race is that Ka-kap-ti
went to Wi-po before daybreak, possibly to start the runners. Mr.
Owens witnessed the finish at the foothills to the north of Wal'-pi, and
his observations were practically as follows : At early dawn Hon'-yi
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 75
repaired to the terminal goal to meet the racers. In preparation for
their arrival he outlined in meal four ff-mow-uh cloud figures across
the trail and the same distance apart. Each of these symbols had
three semicircular clouds connected by a straight line about four feet
long, which was placed at right angles to the trail. Parallel lines rep-
resenting falling rain were added, pointing in the direction from which
the racers were to approach. These symbols were given the names of
the four cardinal points, and their corresponding colors, yellow, blue,
red, and white, were mentioned in connection with them. Two na-
kwd-kwo-ci(s), with feathers extended in the line of advance of the
runners and with strings parallel and reaching to the middle of the
east cloud, were likewise laid on the trail. In the neighboring shrine,
Hon'-yi deposited three green pd-ho(s) that had been made in the
Mon'-kiva the day before. Hon'-yi, with the gne-lii'k-pi (crook) in his
right hand and a tray in his left, stood by the figures of the O'-mow-uh
which he had drawn in meal, facing the direction of the approaching
runners. His cheeks, body, arms, and legs were whitened with kaolin,
and he wore a white kilt with a knotted sash. When the racers ap-
peared in sight he shouted to them, and as they drew near he remained
stationary, holding the crook in his right hand.
As the contestants, of whom there were about forty, passed Hon'-yi,
each one touched the crook with the palm of his hand, and sped on his
way up the mesa. Hon'-ye anxiously waited until he was sure all had
passed, and then he too ran up the precipitous mesa trail, following
the racers. Between Hon'-yi's position and the foot of the mesa stood
a number of girls and boys with cornstalks in their hands, who also
turned and hurried up the mesa sides. The bodies of many of the
contestants in the race were painted, and some of them wore flowers in
their hair, but none as far as could be seen carried ^a-Ao(s).
Hon'-yi made his way to the Mon'-kiva, and entering gave the crook
to Wi-ki, but the racers passed over the roof of the kiva just at sun-
rise, about the close of the dramatization and sixteen songs ceremony.
76
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
DRAMATIZATION IN THE SIXTEEN SONGS CEREMONY.
This morning at 3.30 the same girl who had taken the part of the
Tcii-a-md-na on the preceding day entered the Mon'-kiva. At that time
several of the priests were asleep in the room, but a rap on the roof
roused Ha-ha-we and some of the others. As soon as the girl entered,
Position of the Celebrants of the Dramatization Ceremony.1
1 1. Wf-ki.
2. Kd-pe-li.
3. Tcu-a-msi-na.
4. Snake Boy.
5. Wi-kyat'-i-wa.
6. Na-syun'-we-ve.
7. Kw^-a.
8. Antelope.
9. Kd-kap-ti's brother.
10. Antelope.
11. Ma-si-um'-ti-wa.
12. Woman.
13. Girl.
14. Antelope.
15. KjC-tci.
16. Snake priest.
17. Ta"-wa.
18. Snake priest.
19. Hjt-ha-we.
20. Snake priest.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 77
Wi-ki began to paint her feet and the back of her hands with corn smut
mixed with honey and liquid from the nd-kwi-pi. He placed on her
a white blanket with feathers at the back, and tied a white feather
from the altar to her hair, which he combed and fastened behind. He
then painted her chin black, and arranged a sec-
ond blanket over her shoulders, above the first,
and sent her to the west corner of the kiva.
While this went on, Ha-ha-we, in response to a
call on the roof, took two of the clay balls 1 cov-
ered with meal which had been prepared by the
girl, and a number of little sticks of which I
have spoken, rolled them up in a blanket or cloth,
added a pd-ho, and carried them to a man who
waited outside. Before passing the bundle into
the hands of the latter, he sprinkled meal upon
it. As soon as the man outside received his
charge he hurried away.
Then the lad who was to personify the Snake
Hero entered the room. He was somewhat dif-
ferently dressed from the day before by Wi-ki,
and this difference was appropriate, since he now
represented the husband of the Tcu-a-ma-na,
or Snake virgin. To-day he wore the Snake kilt
with the figure of the feathered serpent, while yesterday he was clothed
Decorations of the Body, Arm,
and Leg of the Snake Boy.
1 These clay balls, to which reference
is likewise made in my account of the
Flute celebration, are patted into shape
by the hands, and then sprinkled with
sacred meal. The little sticks are cov-
ered with some sticky substance, possibly
honey, and likewise have meal sifted over
them. In the presentation of the Snake
Dance in 1893 these balls were twenty-
one in number, and were made by the
same girl who personified the Tcii-a-md-
na. They were about the size of an or-
dinary baseball, and when made were
carefully laid on a flat basket. Kd-kap-
ti's brother cut up the little sticks, and
gathered them in a blanket. They were
then placed in a food basin with what re-
sembled mud. The md-na received her
instructions from K^-kap-ti, whom, it may
be noted, is the courier who deposited the
prayer-sticks in the shrines.
78 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
in the ordinary ceremonial blanket. His facial and bodily decorations
were the white zigzag lines described in my account of the Snake
priests.
Several Snake priests went to their fields this morning and brought
in any snakes which they happened to find, and some of the others
went to the Mon'-kiva to celebrate the sixteen songs ceremony. As
Ka-kap-ti had not returned, Ka-tci took his place at the south gate of
the altar during the dramatization.
The priests then grouped themselves about the pon'-ya, the Ante-
lopes, except Ka-tci, on the north side, the Snakes on the south. By
Ka-tci's right there sat a man (novice) with an ear of corn in his hand,
and Ka-tci himself had an ear of corn tied to a stick. Ha-ha-we first
lit the pipe, and handing it to Wi-ki, the ceremonial smoke followed,
similar in details to that which has already been described. Wi-ki
gave the pat'-ne to the Tcii-a-md-na, and said a few words as if in
prayer. Ko-pe-li then passed his ti-po-ni to the Snake youth, who
held it across his left arm, and likewise gave him a live snake, which
the boy held by the neck. The Snake chief then prayed, and Hofi'-yi
wrent out with a tray of meal and a crook, and all the novices followed,
each with his ear of corn. The latter hastened to the shrine between
Wal'-pi and Si-tcom'-o-vi, where they deposited breath feathers, and
returned to the room shortly after. In visiting this shrine they went
and returned on the run.
Hon'-yi hurried to the foot of the mesa to take his stand at the ter-
minus of the race-course as described.
»
All the Snake men to-day wore their Snake kilts, and had other
characteristic decorations. They kept time with their snake-whips,
which were held vertically, but did not themselves join in the chorus.
The boy personifying the Snake Hero and the girl representing the
Snake Woman stood, but all others squatted on the floor.
The songs and ceremonies about the altar were much the same as
those we have described for the day before, but differed in one or two
particulars.1 On this day there were more people in the kiva than on
1 The encircling runs were not made by K^-kap-ti.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 79
any since the ceremony began. At the close, after the pipe had been
passed ceremonially among the chiefs, both Wi-ki and K6-pe-li stood,
each holding his ti-po-ni in his hand.
The Antelope chief first prayed, followed by the Snake chief, bowing
their heads as they did so. Both then together waved their ti-po-ni(s)
four times, and K6-pe-li sprinkled meal upon the altar. Wi-ki placed
<=• .*- ... 1-'>l-i».^±B / '=£/. jfi/, /^i -o,-— ^ .-_ ^^^-Sir^i^+irr:. ^= fc^Z' ^-M-.^^/^-I — FT, lyt
Snake Kilt.1
1 The dance kilt of the Snake priests
was made of coarse cloth, sixteen inches
broad and forty inches in length. It
was stained a brownish red with cu-ta,
and along the lower rim there hung by
buckskin thongs pendents of two sizes
made of small triangular metal plates bent
together in a conical shape. The name
ce-vd-mac-e has been given me as the
name of one of them. The smaller kind
were said to have been obtained from the
Ute Indians, and are called se-la-la. Sim-
ilar pendents are found among the no-
madic tribes.
The middle of the kilt was occupied by
a zigzag band representing Pd-lu-lu-kofl) ',
the great plumed snake, which has four
zigzags on its body. The middle of this
band was black, with a white border on
each side. Upon the black interior there
were depicted arrow-shaped decorations al-
ternating with four sets of double parallel
markings. The former are called pa-vi-
ku-kii, footprints of the duck ; the latter
frog (pak'-wa) footprints. Between the
zigzag zone and the upper and lower bor-
der of the kilt were two sets of parallel
bands representing the rainbows. The
lower set had three black bands, the mid-
dle of which was broken at intervals by
five white marks. On either side the mid-
dle black line was separated from that
above by a yellow band, and from that
below by a blue (green) band, both of
about the same breadth as the black. The
upper rainbow was similar to the lower.
80 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
his ti-po-ni horizontally on the altar, which signified that the ceremony
was over. Ko-pe-li wrapped up his badge of office in a blanket. Two
mothers came in with their babies on their backs, carrying cornstalks.
The pipe-lighter then passed the pipe, and several other persons, among
them a small boy decorated with brilliant plumes, entered. Hon'-yi
brought a crook to which was tied a string with an attached feather,
and handed it to the Antelope priest, who passed it to a Snake priest.
Many Snake men now came in and seated themselves on the south
side of the chamber. Wi-ki then put some ashes on a feather, which
he moved up and down in a solemn way, saying a prayer in a low tone.
He waved this over the heads of the people, and threw the ashes out
of the entrance to the room. He did this four times, after which he
touched the head of each novice with the feather, saying a prayer at
the same time. He waved the feather once more over the heads of all,
repeating a prayer as before, and gave each boy and his mother a
piece of dried root, which 'they put in their mouths. Having done
this he passed a bundle of dried roots to a neighboring priest, who
nibbled a piece and passed the root to his neighbor, until every one had
helped himself to a bite. Each woman and child rose in turn, sprinkled
the altar with meal, and, passing south of the fireplace, mounted the
ladder. The Snake chief then left the room with the boy who per-
sonified the Snake Hero.
The Antelope priest meanwhile took off the garments of the Snake
girl and folded them in a blanket. The Snake chief proceeded to his
kiva with the boy, and there took off his apparel. Those who remained
in the Snake room during the dramatization, after the return of their
fellow-priests who had followed K6-pe-li from the Antelope kiva, took
positions about the fireplace, and a pipe was passed and smoked in
silence as Su-pe-la washed the black smut from the feet, arms, and legs
of the Snake boy. The Snake priests one by one smoked long, full
puffs from their pipe, which had been brought from the Antelope
kiva.
From the close of this smoke until the ceremony of washing the
snakes began, the occupants of the kiva were employed in painting
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 8l
their kilts, making new moccasins, and in doing various other things in
preparation for the dance, going to other kivas for these purposes,
but all the members of the fraternity returned to their kiva when the
mystic ceremony of snake baptism was performed.
Directly after the close of the dramatization the Antelope novices
were sent to different houses in the village to have their heads washed.
Each novice was given an ear of corn, called his mother, to which was
tied a stick with four feathers at equal intervals. An account of Mr.
Owens's initiation gives a good idea of that of the other novices this
morning.
When a person wishes to join the Antelope Society, it is customary
to choose a father from among the members, and to designate him in
the presence of the others by placing some prayer-meal in his hand.
A few days before, Mr. Owens had performed this preliminary act by
handing Ha-ha-we such an offering, who sprinkled it upon the altar.
Every morning at sunrise he deposited a na-kwd-kwo-ci in the shrine
between Wal'-pi and Si-tcom'-o-vi, and on his visit to it he carried his
ear of corn, or mother, which was placed by the side of the altar on
his return.
On this morning his head was washed by a woman of Ha-ha-we's
family in her house, with water and amole or soap-weed, and his face
covered with prayer-meal. A name was given to him by one of the
members of the household, and a red-stained na-kwd-kwo-ci was tied
to his scalp-lock. This he wore until the close of the Snake- Antelope
ceremonials.
During Friday none of the Snake priests ate anything until the
close of the day, a fact which they frequently reiterated to us. The
reptiles were free at that time, and but little attention was paid to
them.
WASHING THE SNAKES.
The ceremony of washing the snakes, which took place at noon
on the day of the public dance, have, as far as I know, never been
witnessed by white men, and certainly have never been described. En-
trance to the kiva in 1891 was refused to all except myself, but up
82 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
to the last moment, before the ceremony began, there was considerable
doubt whether I could remain, and although a previous agreement had
been made with the chiefs that I alone should be permitted to witness
the ceremony, several of the more conservative were inclined to refuse
me permission at the very moment when the cryptic celebration was
about to begin.1 A happy circumstance made it possible for me to
witness the ceremony, and gave Mr. Owens also an opportunity to do
the same. It was agreed that Mr. Owens should stand on the ladder
at the entrance to the kiva and keep all others away, and that I should
remain in the room. From his elevated position Mr. Owens had a fair
view of this interesting event, and his observations are embodied with
my own.
At one o'clock in the afternoon a large earthen vessel similar to a
food basin was brought to the kiva by Sii-pe-la. This bowl was of
yellow ware without ornament on the outside, but decorated within,
especially near the rim, with festoon-like markings and star-like figures
alternating with each other. A groove on the outside? slightly sepa-
rated from the rim, surrounded the bowl. The name a-asf-kap-ta was
given for this vessel, but the name is not confined to it, as any bowl
used for bathing the head has a similar designation.
Su-pe-la first spread common brown sand on the floor in the space
between the fireplace and the north wall, forming a slight mound situ-
ated about midway between the two, but nearer the fireplace. Ko-pe-li
then brought his rattles and a tray of meal from the altar, and laid them
down on the north side of the sand. Meanwhile, the leading Snake
priests gathered about the bowl, and seated themselves in an irregular
crescent, reaching from between the sand and the fireplace around the
east side of the sand, and along the north wall of the room. The
space between the Snake pon'-ya and the altar was unoccupied, but
the whole of the south floor of the kiva was also crowded with Snake
men, who squatted facing the chiefs. Three men stood at the east
1 This ceremony was observed a second and myself were allowed to witness the
time in 1893. These difficulties were not washing of the snakes,
encountered in 1893, when Mr. Stephen
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
83
end of the room, near the four jars in which the snakes were confined.
Every Snake man was naked and had rubbed himself with spittle and
iron oxide (cu-ta), and wore a red feather in his hair. No word above
a whisper was spoken in that solemn conclave, and it was evident that
the most awful ceremony in the whole series was about to begin. At
the very last moment I was again warned to leave, and told that I
would swell up and burst, or that other direful troubles would come
to me, as a consequence of beholding rites which no one not a priest
had ever witnessed.
At one o'clock Sii-pe-la solemnly poured a liquid into the bowl from
a water jar, holding it as he did so to the four cardinal points on the
four corresponding sides of the bowl. In doing this he followed the
ceremonial circuit, beginning with the north side of the bowl and end-
ing with two passes representing the above and the below. He 1 then
drew with meal upon the mound of brown sand a rectangle with a
series of three clouds on each side, the semicircles curving inward and
parallel rain lines around the outside. This was done very hastily,
and so poorly that one could not have told whether cloud lines were in-
tended or not, if he had not been assured that such was the case. One
of the snake bandoleers was then made into a rude coil and placed on
the sand within the rectangle
of cloud symbols, and upon
it was deposited the bowl al-
ready mentioned, which was
about half full of liquid. An-
other bandoleer was tied to
the ladder by another priest
while this was being done.
The following chiefs were
seated at the north and east
of the bowl, in the order
named : Si-kya-wis'-ti-wa, Sii-pe-la, Ko-pe-li, Les'-ma, M6-me, and
Kiitc'-ve. Ko-pe-li sat exactly north of the bowl, and a pipe-lighter
squatted on the opposite side facing him.
1 In 1893 this was done by K6-pe-li.
Bowl used in Washing the Snakes.
84 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
The pipe-lighter lit an old Snake pipe ornamented with the. cloud
symbols and passed it to Ko-pe-li, who puffed smoke into the liquid.
After a short smoke the chief handed the pipe ceremonially to Les'-ma,
who sat at his right, and he followed, performing the same acts in
smoking as the Snake chief. As this was done, all the other Snake
men sat in silence, the majority, except the chiefs, holding their whips
upright. The pipe-lighter lit a second pipe and passed it directly to
Sii-pe-la, and the ceremonial smoke lasted several minutes, being par-
ticipated in by all those about the bowl. I was unable to keep track
of the course of the pipes in their ceremonial rounds; but Sii-pe-la
passed his pipe to Ko-pe-li, who returned it to the pipe-lighter. At
the close of the ceremonial smoke, K6-pe-li held a handful of meal to
his mouth, prayed upon it, and scattered it in the liquid, an act which
was immediately followed by Sii-pe-la. The latter at the same time
dipped his fingers in the mixture in the bowl, and I have the impres-
sion that others did the same ; but just then the Snake priests, who
stood by the snake jars which were in the east corner of the room,
began to take out the reptiles, and stood holding several of them in
their hands behind Su-pe-la, so that my attention was distracted by
them. Su-pe-la then prayed, and after a short interval two rattlesnakes
were handed him, after which other venomous snakes were passed to
the others, and each of the six priests who sat around the bowl held
two rattlesnakes by the necks with their heads elevated above the bowl.
A low noise from the rattles 1 of the priests, which shortly after was
accompanied by a melodious hum by all present, then began. The
priests who held the snakes beat time up and down above the liquid
with the reptiles, which, although not vicious, wound their bodies around
the arms of the holders. The song went on and frequently changed,
growing louder and wilder, until it burst forth into a fierce, blood-
curdling yell, or war-cry. At this moment the heads of the snakes
were thrust several times into the liquid, so that even parts of their
bodies were submerged, and were then drawn out, not having left
the hands of the priests, and forcibly thrown across the room upon
1 Two rattles were used.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 85
the sand mosaic, knocking down the crooks and other objects placed
about it. As they fell on the sand picture three Snake priests stood
in readiness, and while the reptiles squirmed about or coiled for de-
fense, these men with their snake-whips brushed them back and forth
in the sand of the altar. The excitement which accompanied this cer-
emony cannot be adequately described. The low song, breaking into
piercing shrieks, the red-stained singers, the snakes thrown by the
chiefs, and the fierce attitudes of the reptiles as they landed on the
sand mosaic, made it next to impossible to sit calmly down and quietly
note the events which followed one after another in quick succession.
The sight haunted me for weeks afterwards, and I can never forget
this wildest of all the aboriginal rites of this strange people, which
showed no element of our present civilization. It was a performance
which might have been expected in the heart of Africa rather than in
the American Union, and certainly one could not realize that he was
in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. The low
weird song continued while other rattlesnakes were taken in the hands
of the priests, and as the song rose again to the wild war-cry, these
snakes were also plunged into the liquid and thrown upon the writhing
mass which now occupied the place of the altar. Again and again
this was repeated until all the snakes had been treated in the same
way, and reptiles, fetishes, crooks, and sand were mixed together in one
confused mass. As the excitement subsided and the snakes crawled
to the corners of the kiva, seeking vainly for protection, they were
again pushed back in the mass, and brushed together in the sand in
order that their bodies might be thoroughly dried. Every snake in the
collection was thus washed, the harmless varieties being bathed after
the venomous. In the destruction of the altar by the reptiles the snake
ti-po-ni stood upright until all had been washed, and then one of the
priests turned it on its side, as a sign that the observance had ended.
The low, weird song of the Snake men continued, and gradually died
away until there was no sound but the warning rattle of the snakes
mingled with that of the rattles in the hands of the chiefs, and finally
the motion of the snake-whips ceased, and all was silent.
86 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
But the ceremony was not wholly finished, although the snakes had
been thrown into "their home/' the sand picture, and thoroughly
dried by the sand. Sii-pe-la sprinkled sacred meal in the liquid in
which the snakes had been bathed and threw a pinch of the same to
each of the six cardinal points. He then prayed, and as he did so
all the assembled priests responded, while those who had handled the
snakes washed their hands in the liquid, and rubbed it on their breasts
and other parts of their bodies. K6-pe-li also prayed fervently, and
sprinkled meal in the liquid, followed by some of the remaining
Snake priests.
The pipe-lighter then lit the ceremonial pipe, and passed it to Ko-
pe-li, who smoked in silence, puffing first into the liquid and then to the
cardinal points. All the other chiefs did the same, as their turn came,
and conversation of a secular nature, but in a whisper, indicated that
the ceremonial had ended. The pipe-lighter repeatedly lighted the pipe,
and passed it to the chiefs, while many of the other priests smoked cigar-
ettes or turned to their work of repairing dance paraphernalia. Su-pe-la
took the bowl of liquid from its position, raised the bandoleer, and
tied it to the right-hand upright of the ladder. He carefully gathered
all the sand upon which the bowl had rested, and that from the path-
way over which the snakes had been thrown, placed it in the liquid,
and carried the bowl with its contents across the plaza through the
western arcade. Following the path to the end of the mesa beyond
the point where the trail descends, he halted a moment, and threw a
pinch of meal to the north. He then threw some of the liquid to each
cardinal point in the sinistral ceremonial circuit, and having done this,
he poured the sand over the west side of the cliff, washing out the bowl
in which it was contained. He descended the first terrace and carried
it to a recess in the north side of the mesa where the snake jars are
kept. Meanwhile the four snake jars had been brought from the kiva
to the same place, and side by side three (one falling and breaking)
were deposited with the bowl in the cave. The ceremony of washing
the snakes lasted a half hour, and Ko-pe-li went out after its termi-
nation, carrying the rattles with him, but returned later with empty
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 87
hands. The decoration of the dance paraphernalia continued until the
time for the dance.1
PUBLIC CEREMONY OF THE SNAKE DANCE.
A description of the public part of the Snake Dance, during which
the snakes were carried by the dancers in the presence of spectators,
has been repeatedly described,2 and naturally was the most striking
part of this weird nine days' ceremonial. This exhibition may be re-
garded as the culmination of the long series of observances, which have
thus far been performed in secret. To it the Hopi gladly welcomed
all visitors, and many persons, Indians and white men, from motives of
sentiment or curiosity, attended. The roofs of the houses around the
plaza, where it took place, were crowded with Navajos, natives of the
adjoining villages, Americans from the towns along the railroad, and
most of the people of Wal'-pi. There were, therefore, many witnesses
who could testify that the account here given is not overdrawn.
There is an unwritten law, governed by tradition, that the Snake
Dance must occur as the sun goes down, and it was therefore performed
late in the afternoon. As the plaza is situated on the south side of the
village, over which the shadows of the buildings fall at that time, it
was impossible to get a good photograph of the observance, and on
account of the excitement which prevailed it was difficult to observe
all the episodes of this weird celebration.
The greater part of the afternoon before the dance was passed by
both Snake and Antelope priests in their respective kivas painting their
paraphernalia and dressing for the coming event. The stifling heat and
impure air in these chambers rendered it next to impossible for white
observers to remain in them longer than a few moments at a time.
1 It is customary for the Snake priests soles of their moccasins, that it may moisten
to manufacture new moccasins and to re- before their return. All or nearly all the
paint their kilts on each biennial occur- dance paraphernalia are repainted or reno-
rence of the Snake Dance, and it is no vated before the dance,
uncommon sight to see the Snake priests, 2 See bibliography at the close of this
when they go out on the hunts, bury a article,
piece of leather, of which they make the
88
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Ki-si.1
Naturally the stench was not as bad in the kiva of the Antelopes as in
that of the Snake priests, but there is no good evidence that the foul-
ness of the latter was due to exhalations from the reptiles.
The Antelopes, led by Wi-ki,2 emerged from their kiva in full ap-
1 This cut represents the Jci-si used in
the Flute Ceremony at Ci-pari-lo-vi, which
has two cubical stones at the base. These
are absent in the ki-si of the Wal'-pi
Snake Dance, but as the ki-si(s) are simi-
lar, I have not made a new cut for my de-
scription of the Wal'-pi observance.
2 Wi-ki's body was stained with corn
smut, upon which were imprinted with a
corn-cob white zigzag lines on the same
parts of the body and limbs as has been
described in our account of the Snake boy.
On each shoulder, reaching to the nipple,
a long O^-mow-tih symbol was depicted,
and two parallel lines were drawn on
each breast reaching down to the girdle,
which was adorned with white paint the
width of three fingers. There were zigzag
white lines down the legs, and two garters
of new yarn upon the legs. Before he
CHIEF OF THE ANTELOPE PRIESTS.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
89
parel at about six o'clock, and formed a line in front of the Snake kiva,
facing it. As each Antelope took his place he first stepped to the
entrance of the Snake kiva and cast a pinch of meal into the hatch-
way and then took his place in line, after which they marched slowly
through the arcade to the dance place, around which they filed with
a slow, measured step.
The older priests, with Wi-ki at one end of the line, formed a pla-
toon on the west side of the ki-si, and the novices, accompanied by
Ta-wa, who carried the whizzer and the d-wa-ta-na-tci ^ on the east.
Wi-ki bore his ti-po-ni on one arm, and every Antelope carried his
rattle and a crook from the altar.
The order of seniority among the older men of this society was the
same as on the previous day, but the asperger accompanied the Snake
priests. They made the sinistral circuit of the plaza four times, pass-
ing . the M-si on their right hand, and as they did so dropped a pinch
of meal upon the si-pa-pu and stamped with all their might on the
board. After having finished these circuits, they arranged themselves
put on his necklaces he placed them before
the altar for good influence, and most of
the other Antelopes did the same, while
some sprinkled them with sacred meal.
Na-syun'-we-ve was decorated like the
other Antelopes, and, unlike Wi-ki, had
armlets of cottonwood bark, with the inner
surface turned outside. Between these and
the arm were placed cottonwood twigs.
The armlets were about an inch broad, and
were tied by a deerskin thong. He car-
ried a gne-lu'k-pi in his left hand, a rattle
in his right.
H^-ha-we was appareled like the other
Antelopes, but had bright colored paroquet
plumes in his hair. Above his knees his
legs were decorated with two parallel
bars of white, and his forearms and hands
were white. There were also parallel
stripes on his upper arm and an oval white
patch on each shoulder, with a splash of
white on each thigh. His feet were bare,
and he wore a white kilt, with a girdle of
the same color.
Kwa"-a was clothed like Hd-ha-we, and
had similar paroquet plumes, and was
barefoot, but Ka"-kap-ti wore black mocca-
sins. No red (cu-ta) breath feathers were
worn by the Antelopes in the final Snake
Dance. Ka"-tci took a most important part
throughout, and in 1891 personified a war-
rior and carried a whizzer, a bow and
quiver over his shoulder, and a buckskin.
He also carried the standard with the red
horsehair, or the d-wa-ta-na-tci. Each
breast, and likewise the thighs and calves
of his legs, were smeared with white
clay. T£-wa took this part in 1893. All
the Antelopes wore white kilts (kwatcf-
kya-M) like that figured on p. 66.
90 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
in a platoon, broken midway by the cottonwood bower, as the day
before. The entrance of the Snake priests was in marked contrast to
exhibition.
Wristlet of Antelopes.
the stately appearance of the Ante-
lopes. A low hum of admiration from
the assembled spectators, who crowded
every available foot of standing room
on the house-tops, greeted the appear-
ance of Ko-pe-li and his line of fol-
lowers, who then rushed through the
arcade. It was a sight never to be for-
gotten when these warriors, with faces
and bodies smeared with pigments and
heads covered with bright red feathers,
emerged from behind the rock, and four
times strode around the plaza. What-
ever wealth of ornament they possessed,
— shell necklaces, colored ribbons, rare
feathers, or shells, — they had hung
upon their bodies for this culminating
Red oxide of iron tinged all their paraphernalia, and their
Embroidered Cloth attached to the Belt of
the Antelopes.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 91
faces were given a hideous expression by the glistening specular iron
on the cheeks, and the kaolin on the chin. The Snake chief led, carry-
ing on his left arm the badge of his office, the sacred ti-po-ni of semi-
mythic origin, and in his left hand the brilliant d-wa-ta-na-tci. In his
right hand he held a meal bag and a snake-whip. The newly painted
kilt with the zigzag figure of the great plume-headed serpent across
The Snake Chief taking down the A-wa-ta-na-tci.
.4
it, and the dependent foxskin in the rear, decorated his loins, and he
wore his medicine cord and leg rattles. His feet were shod in red
moccasins, and the ankles girt by a fringed band of buckskin of the
same color. Arm bands and most barbaric necklaces made of mussel
and other shells completed his paraphernalia, which was duplicated for
the most part in that of all the other Snake priests.1 Les'-ma, how-
1 The Snake priests wore their characteristic kilts, and had white pigment on each
92 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
ever, was conspicuous among his associates because he wore the neck-
lace of bear and porcupine claws.
Without delay the warriors formed a platoon facing the Antelope
chorus, which then began a low humming song, and while they sang the
two platoons swayed their bodies laterally as already described. Each
Snake man interlocked fingers with his neighbor and advanced one step
forward, resting the weight of the body on the ball of the foot. He
then swung the other leg backward, and, poising himself on the toes
of the right foot, lifted the other from the ground, after which he
brought it back to its former position. At one time every Snake man
inclined his body, now to one side, then to the other, and, as he did
so, pointed his snake-whip toward the earth, and moved it tremulously
back and forth in unison with the song and rattles. Unlike the Ka-
tci-na dances, there was no thumping motion of one foot upon the
ground in the public exercises of the Snake- Antelope observance.
The strange, weird melody, accompanied by the sound of the rattles,
continued for some time. At the proper moment the asperger 1 with
stately tread walked between the lines to the ki-si entrance, and called in
a loud voice the archaic words, Tca-ma-hi-ye, a-wa-hi-ye, yo-ma-hi-ye,
tci-ma-hai-ye, sprinkling the charm liquid as he did so to the four
cardinal points. Six (?) successive times he repeated this episode,
each time returning to his place near Wi-ki. The songs of this cere-
monial closed with a low hum, prolonged by the sound of the rattles
cheek, two parallel marks on the breast, side. His hair fell down on his back, and
two on the back, and a daub on each arm a white feather was tied to his scalp-lock,
and leg. The tail-feathers of Cooper's A wreath of cottonwood leaves surrounded
hawk hung on the head of each Snake his head, and many strings of shell beads
man, besides the red stained breath fea- and turquoises hung about his neck. In-
ther on the crown of his head. stead of leather armlets his arms and
Na-hai-pu-ma's chin was painted black wrists were girt with bark annulets by
with black shale, and his body was rubbed which cottonwood twigs were confined,
with moistened clay of a bluish color. Anklets of the same material were worn,
He wore a white embroidered dance kilt, and his feet were bare. He carried the
held in place by a white girdle with long bowl, filled with liquid to the brim, in his
pendent knotted cords, which hung on one left hand, and in his right an aspergill.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 93
preparatory to the culmination of the sensational part of the observ-
ance.
In the performance of so many uncanny rites, it is hard to say
which was the most remarkable, but that which followed was certainly
the most sensational. The Snake priests in their kiva had handled the
venomous reptiles with abandon, but now began a scene unparalleled
in any of the rites of these primitive people. The snakes, which up to
this time had been left in the ki-si, were now to be publicly brought out
and carried about the plaza. The Snake priests divided into groups of
three each, called respectively the carrier, hugger, and gatherer, accord-
ing to their different functions. These trios gathered in line near the
entrance to the M~si, and the carrier knelt down in front of it, extend-
ing his hand inside while the hugger lifted the carrier's foxskin and
stroked its back with his whip. As the carrier rose he held a venom-
ous snake. Without hesitation he dropped his pd-ho and placed the
writhing animal in his mouth, grasping its neck with his teeth or lips.
He closed his eyes, and the hugger placed his left arm about the car-
rier's neck. The reptile was so held that its head pointed towards the
right, and the hugger brushed his whip before the serpent's mouth to
shield the carrier's face. Both men then started to make the circuit of
the plaza in a sinistral direction, closely followed by the gatherer, who
picked up the snake if it were dropped. A second trio followed the
example of the first, and soon the plaza was filled with priests engaged
in this way. It was the intention of the participants to carry the
snakes around the whole circuit, but several fell by the way, and thus
arose a series of exciting episodes. Here a rattlesnake, dropped on the
rocky plaza, coiled to strike its carrier, but was quickly picked up by
a more experienced priest ; there a swift-moving house snake made its
way from its captors among a number of spectators standing on the
edge of the mesa.
As the trio passed the rock in their circuit with the snake, the car-
rier was sprinkled with sacred meal by a row of women who stood in
line at that place.1
1 Whatever meal remained in their about the plaza, was thrown on the writh-
trays, after the snakes had all been carried ing mass to be soon mentioned.
94 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Each Antelope was given a snake to hold as the number of the rep-
tiles taken out of the ki-si increased, and during the entire time they
kept up a song with the accompanying rattle.
,/,-— N n
\
/ \w
/ \
.
.... i ^
v y
H •* — «- ^. . . _^- — :
^
=>
Circuits made by Antelope and Snake Priests on leaving the Plaza.
After all the snakes had been carried, and while they were being held
by the priests, Ha-ha- we, followed by Wi-ki, traced a ring of prayer-
meal about twenty feet in diameter on the ground near the sacred rock,
and across it made the six radial lines corresponding to the cardinal
points. A signal was given, and each one threw the snakes he held
Snake Priests after Drinking the Emetic.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 95
into this circle. To the struggling mass Wi-ki said a prayer and the
women cast whatever meal was left in their trays upon it. At a second
signal all the Snake priests rushed to the reptiles, squirming in a heap
in the circle of meal, and grasped as many as they could carry in both
hands. They rushed through the arcade down the trails to the four
cardinal points, from which the snakes were gathered. There they
dropped their burdens and immediately returned, running up the mesa.
When the snakes had been carried down the mesa to the four car-
dinal points, the priests returned to their kiva, divested themselves of
their dance paraphernalia, and retired to the south side of Wal'-pi,
where women stood waiting for them with great bowls of an emetic.1
After drinking this the Snake priests knelt down, some with heads
over the side of the cliff, while the emetic took effect. They rubbed
their bodies with the liquid, and then retired to the kiva, where the
women brought a great abundance of food for the priests who had
fasted during the day, and the hungry men gorged themselves with
food until far into the evening. The Antelopes did not feast in their
kiva at the close of the public Snake Dance, but, after divesting them-
selves of their dance paraphernalia, they dismantled and destroyed
their sand mosaic, and returned to their homes.
DISMANTLING OF THE SAND MOSAIC IN THE MON'-KIVA.
The destruction of the sand altar of the Antelopes began at eight
p. M., after the public performance of the Snake Dance. Wi-ki and
all the Antelopes took pinches of sand from each of the different col-
ored clouds and from the four lightning symbols and carried them to
their fields, after which the remainder of the sand was heaped up in a
pile on the floor. The chief then took the cylinders from the heads
of the two male lightning figures, sprinkled them with pinches of
yellow and red sand, taken from the bodies of the snakes of the two
1 The plant ho-ho~ya-na, which is an which has the curious custom of elevating
important ingredient in the emetic, is its body as if standing on its head when
Physaria Newberryi. Ho-ho-ya-uh is the touched, which has given it the suggestive
praying (ho-moya) beetle, Asida rimata, name of tumblebug or praying beetle.
96 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
colors, and placed them by the side of his pd-ho in a basket by the
altar. He then sprinkled them with meal. The fate of the annulets
on the heads of the female lightning was not observed.
Wi-ki placed the bark and cottonwood brought by the Ko-ho-ni-no
Indians in the basket, to which he added breath feathers, and later
carried out the basket with its contents.
On the morning of the ninth day four black ^a-Ao(s), closely resem-
bling those which had been observed near the sand picture of the An-
telopes on the evening of the eighth day, were observed on the trail
from Wal'-pi to Ta-wa-pa.
The Antelopes, on leaving the plaza, were asperged by Na-hai-
pii-ma as they filed slowly back to their kiva, where they disrobed.
In the weird and exciting events which transpired during the public
celebration of the Snake ceremonial it was next to impossible to care-
fully observe all the minor incidents which occurred, but it is believed
that the preceding account includes the more important.1
DAYS SUBSEQUENT TO THE DANCE.
Although the main celebration of the Snake Dance closed on the
ninth day, there were one or two events intimately connected with
this observance which occurred on subsequent days. The most impor-
tant of these were undoubtedly the purification of the Snake priests
and the nii-i-ti-wa, and there were other less significant acts of which
I heard, but which I did not witness. The former occurred on the
following morning ; the latter for several days after.
1 The various articles which biennially ments to make their articles as sensational
appear in newspapers are often sensational, as possible. Moreover, too often a f er-
and in some instances most fallacious, ac- tile imagination has helped out their im-
counts of this part of the ceremony. If perfect observations, and nothing but a
those who are responsible for such reports garbled, untrustworthy, and positively un-
would confine themselves to facts, they just account could be the result. In some
would find enough that is weird to interest respects the ceremony was disgusting, but
their readers, but as a general thing they there is no reason why it should be made
have spent only a few hours at the mesa, more so by untrue statements such as have
and have relied upon irresponsible state- been too often disseminated.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 97
I was led to believe that there were certain prescribed usages regard-
ing sleeping or eating in the Mofi'-kiva for a few days after the cere-
mony, but I could not determine from personal observation what took
place, although repeated visits were made to the kiva to obtain infor-
mation on this point. No purification ceremonials were observed in
this kiva.
TENTH DAY (OV-EK'-NI-WA). PURIFICATION OF THE SNAKE PRIESTS.
The following purification ceremonies took place in the Wi-kwal'-i-
o-bi kiva on the morning of the day after the Snake Dance. On the
night of the dance all the Snake priests slept in this kiva, and early in
the morning Sii-pe-la brought a food basin containing the same liquid
as had been drank on the previous evening.
K6-pe-li filled his mouth with the mixture, went to the priests as
they squatted on the floor, and forcibly squirted the liquid from his
mouth upon their breasts, arms, and legs, where the decorations once
were. When each person had been treated in this way, he rubbed his
arms and breast with his hands and then put on his ordinary clothing.
Every one nibbled a root, which was passed around the kiva, and at
a signal seated himself for the final purification. Each priest took a
pinch of ashes in his hand, and Ko-pe-li laid a little of the same upon
the midrib of a buzzard wing-feather. The Snake chief then passed
around the room in sinistral circuit, waving the feather over the head
of every occupant, and threw the ashes out of the kiva through the
hatch. As soon as this had transpired, each priest moved his hand
with a circular motion above his head and cast what he held in the
same direction. This final act was regarded as most efficacious in puri-
fication ; but it is not peculiar to the Snake observance. When it
had been performed the priests went out to their ordinary occupations.
NU-I-TI-WA.
At intervals during the four days following the Snake Dance small
groups of persons were observed in the three villages on the East Mesa
playing a game which was no doubt connected with the ceremonies
described above.
98 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Young men appeared from time to time during these days in the
plaza, or on the housetops of these towns, holding aloft a jar, a piece
of calico, or any other object of value, as a challenge. They were
immediately set upon by women, who chased them from place to place,
endeavoring to seize the jar which they held. The holders of the
objects ran hither and thither through the villages pursued by girls and
women, but never by men, and when at last they were overtaken, they
were forced to give up the prize. Many of the Snake priests partici-
pated in this game, but it was not confined to them.1
MELODIES OF THE SNAKE DANCE.
An attempt was made to get phonographic cylinders of the songs
which were sung by both Antelopes and Snakes during the ceremoni-
als which have been described. An exhaustive report upon this part
of the subject has been prepared by Mr. B. I. Gilman, whose careful
work on Zuni music may justly be characterized as epoch-making. I
do not find it necessary for me here to defend the phonograph as a
method of collecting primitive music, and note with satisfaction that
several well-known ethnologists have adopted it for this purpose since
my experiments were made. While this instrument, in the hands of a
painstaking specialist like Mr. Gilman, is of greatest value in the study
of the character of music and the preservation of the same, it is not
claimed that the method is perfect. A discussion of ways of musical
notation and the introduction of notes unknown to the Indians, in order
to harmonize their music, naturally falls in another place, where Mr.
Gilman has presented arguments in reply to his critics which are well
worth careful consideration. It is well, however, to say something of
the material collected and of the methods followed in collecting it.
The most important of all the cylinders upon which this music is
recorded are those containing the sixteen songs sung by the Antelopes
1 Possibly this game was simply a con- women. The custom of struggling for
ventional diversion, and is in marked con- the food bowls and other objects is a
trast with the several days when the counterpart of what occurs in the January
Snake priests could not even speak to the moon.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 99
in the consecration of the prayer offerings. It is probably not far
from the truth to say that these songs give an interesting insight into
the character of Hopi melodies. The last eight of these, which are
called the " come-down-quick songs," vary somewhat from the others
and are more melodious. A single song is recorded on each of these
sixteen cylinders. They were sung to me by Ha-ha-we, who has, I
think, the best voice of any of the singers among the Antelopes.
When he gave me the songs, several days after the dance, in the
quiet of my own room, he took off his garments, let down his hair, and
rubbed his body, so that he was in the same condition as far as cloth-
ing went as when the ceremony was going on. He then sang the
songs one by one, and after each song had been recorded, he desired
to hear it. When he had listened to it he was overcome with surprise.
Ha-ha-we smoked after each song, and puffed whiffs of smoke upon
the cylinder. When all had been taken and wrapped in paper he spit
upon them, and said, " It is well." As nearly as I could judge, he
sang the songs exactly the same as during the ceremonial. In one or
two of the songs the cylinder was not long enough to record the whole
melody. He would not allow me to stop the machine, and fearing that
I might lose following songs, I threw up the latch and allowed him
to sing a few strains, which were lost. I have no reason to believe,
however, that what I missed introduced any new element in the song,
for it seemed to be simply a repetition.
The song sung in the plaza at the time the snakes were carried in
the mouths of the Snake priests were sung into the instrument by the
Antelope chief, Wi-ki, who is not so good a singer as Ha-ha-we, and
these records are therefore very poor.
The machine which was used was rented from the Pacific Phono-
graph Company, and every care was taken to preserve a uniform rate
of rotation of the cylinder.
It is to be noticed in passing, that the Hopi Indians sometimes sing
a strain in their songs which is undoubtedly European. The boys
who have attended school may have brought back a knowledge of
songs learned there, but as a general thing their music betrays no such
100 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
influence. One is immediately struck with the many resemblances be-
tween Hopi and Zuni music. This is what we had expected from the
close relationship of the religious ceremonials of the two peoples. As
far as I am aware, nothing has yet been published on characteristic
Hopi songs.
The sixteen songs naturally fell into two divisions of eight each,
separated by the smoking of the great O'-mow-uh pipe. Many of the
words were not Hopi, and were repeated over and over again, appar-
ently meaningless even to the singer. Both song and words, which
were reputed to be very ancient, were probably archaic or borrowed
from some other tribe.
As a general thing the second series of eight songs had a quicker
time than the first, which gave them the designation, " Come-down-
quick songs." The first series opened with one in which the predomi-
nating words were " ha-ho-hai" repeated many times. The syllables
aye-ya-wa were sufficiently prominent in the second song to give it a
name. The fifth song, readily recognized by the prominent monosyl-
lables a-o-hai-e-%, and the rapid falling tones on the last, was somewhat
different from the seventh, in which occurred the words, o-ho-ye-ye,
a-a-ha-ho, a-a-a-ha, hai-e-e-e. The seventh song was much quicker
than the last one, and contained an almost endless repetition of the
refrain, a-ye-he, a-ye-he, a-ye-he, etc. In this as in many others we
found constantly recurring the syllables, si-pa-pil-ne-e-e.
In the eighth song, which may be called the pollen song, the altar
was sprinkled with pollen by all the priests.
The first song of the second series was that in which the whizzer was
sounded by Ha-ha-we, and may be designated the whizzer song. It
was during this song that the tips of the crooks in the hands of the
singers were brought down until the attached corn husks touched the
altar. The predominating syllables were a-ha-ye-ye-he.
In the rapping song which followed there were two parts, in one of
which the taps by Ka-kap-ti on the floor were separated by short inter-
vals, and another where the rhythmic strokes were not as rapid. The
accompanying syllables were ha-ha-wa-na.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 101
The 0-wey-ho song which followed was full of animation, and con-
tained the recognizable syllables wa-wa-ha-ne-e, repeated again and
again.
Of the remaining songs the two last were very lively, and highly
melodious, especially that which may be designated the ma-si-le-we-e.
The series closed with the refrain a-ha-ye-e, in which there was a
marked explosive sound in the rendering of the antepenult syllable ha.
The end of the series was indicated by retardation in time, and at the
close Wi-ki waved his rattle above his head before he placed it on the
floor.
SNAKES USED IN THE CEREMONY.
Four different kinds of snakes, called, by the Hopi, tcii'-a (rattle-
snake), tu-wa-tcu-a (ground snake), lu-liik'-kon-a, and td-ho (arrow),
were used in the ceremonials. The Hopi say that they do not care for
water snakes, but any other variety may be used. The estimated num-
ber of all kinds employed in the 1891 dance is sixty, of which fully
forty were rattlesnakes. Although the majority of these were collected
on the four hunts, several were taken from time to time before and
after the same. When a snake was seen in the field by a farmer,
notice was given to one of the Snake priests, who brought it in if he
found it. The first snake was captured by the Snake chief Ko-pe-li,
two days before the organized snake hunt, and there were at least four
in the kiva before the day when the hunt to the north began. One of
these, for some unknown reason, was generally kept apart from the
rest. When the procession of Snake men came into the plaza in the
public dance, one of the priests carried in his mouth, with its head
projecting between his teeth like a cigar, a small snake which had not
been placed in the ki-si. As far as I observed, the reptiles were not
fed while they were kept in confinement, nor were their fangs ex-
tracted. They were treated with the utmost care and kindness, quick
movements were avoided, and no one spoke above a whisper while they
were in the kiva.
Mr. Owens contributed one snake, the capture of which was so pecul-
102 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
iar that it might easily have affected a superstitious mind. We were
watching Ka-kap-ti as he returned from his run, and just before he
entered the village coming by the south trail, he stopped near where
it passes between the two pinnacles of rock and the mesa sides, and
beckoned me to come down. I did so, and saw a large snake, which
he would not touch, crawling across the path in front of him. As I
had not had great experience in handling snakes, Mr. Owens came to
the rescue, and he carried the reptile to the Wi-kwal'-i-o-bi kiva. We
called Wi-ki from the Mon'-kiva, who simply sprinkled the snake with
pollen, and placed it with some difficulty in a bag to await the return
of the snake hunters, who were grateful for it. Possibly this timely
contribution to their collection increased the confidence of the priests
in our good wishes for the success of their celebration. It was cer-
tainly a remarkable coincidence that this snake should have crossed
Ka-kap-ti's trail on his return to the village, for although we had
climbed this trail many times, we never saw a snake of any kind
upon it.
The snakes were very docile when let loose in the kiva, and were care-
fully watched or herded most of the time at the west end of the room,
near the jars in which they were generally kept during the absence
of the priests on the hunts. The reptiles, as a rule, crowded closely
together in masses in the corners, rarely venturing along the floor, or
endeavoring to climb the sides of the room. Possibly it may have been
a result of my natural history studies, but I confess the sight was not
a loathsome one to me, nor was I affected as others have been by its
horrible nature. Moreover, although I was in the room with the rep-
tiles for hours at a time, I met with no hairbreadth escapes from their
fangs, nor passed through the sensational experiences which others on
more limited acquaintance have described.
There is no doubt that the rattlesnakes were venomous at the time
they were carried, but it seems probable, also, that the fact they were
well treated in the repeated handling and association with the priests
may have familiarized them with their captors. The discharge of
venom by a noxious reptile is a more or less exhaustive process, and
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 103
is a last resource, so to speak, for protection. Could not the law of
kindness enter their dull brains, or must they be supposed to be always
ready to strike those by whom they are never harmed ? Without pos-
ing as champions of the good character of the snake, can we not at
least do him justice ? I once heard a prominent specialist, who had
kept rattlesnakes in confinement, say that they became accustomed to
captivity and captors, and, in a measure, tamed so that they were not
as prone as in the wild state to strike at every living thing that came
near them.
It is a well-known fact that a rattlesnake must coil before it can
strike. In the few cases of a snake's coiling that came under my
observation, the most experienced priests were called upon to manage
them, which they did with the greatest gentleness and care, almost
amounting to reverence.
We have never seen the repeated washing and stroking of the rep-
tiles, unless the single ceremony of baptism at noon on the ninth day
may be so regarded.
The statements of Mr. Mindeleff in regard to the food and drink
of the Hopi snakes are strictly in accord with our observations. Mr.
Trumb nil's remarks about the gorging of the snakes, in his account
of the Central American snake charmers does not apply to the Hopi
priests. No food was given by them to the snakes after they had
been brought in from the fields, as far as observed. The reason that
the performers were not bitten seemed to me well summed up by
Mindeleff in the following quotation from his article : —
" I am of the opinion that the Mokis rely on the previous treatment
of the snakes, on their charms and incantations, rather than on any
after-treatment of themselves. As Dr. Yarrow remarked, a snake which
had been repeatedly handled, and had discovered that no injury was
intended, would become comparatively tame, and this would account
for the behavior of the snakes during the dance. In the hands of the
dancers they seemed numbed and lifeless. It was only when dropped
rudely on the ground from the mouths of the dancers that they showed
any disposition to fight."
104 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
The question of the venomous character of the reptiles employed has
been more carefully considered by Dr. Yarrow than any other observer.
" He has identified four species of snakes used in the ceremony, only
one of which, the spotted rattlesnake (Crotalus confluentus), was poi-
sonous. He descended into the snake kiva on the eve of the dance,
and there examined the snakes which were to be used on the morrow.
At his request a large rattlesnake, selected by himself, was held up for
his examination by one of the Indians, and upon prying its mouth open,
he found the fangs intact and of large size." Mindeleff continues : " I
may add that, at the conclusion of the 1883 Snake Dance, two rattle-
snakes were captured and sent to the National Museum. They were
examined soon after their arrival by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell of Phila-
delphia, who found them in perfect order, their fangs had not been
disturbed, and the poison-sacks were intact and full of venom."
Speaking of the " course of treatment " which the snakes underwent
while in confinement prior to their appearance in public, my observa-
tions differ somewhat from those of Mindeleff, although there is no
doubt that many of them were capable of inflicting dangerous if not
fatal wounds. He says : —
" The snakes used in the dance undergo a very complicated course
of treatment in the kiva where they are confined prior to their appear-
ance in public. They are washed repeatedly in various kinds of ' med-
icine water,' and are frequently handled or stroked with a downward
squeezing movement of the hand. Whether such treatment prolonged
over a period of five or six days is sufficient to render innocuous a
robust rattlesnake is an open question. Both Captain Bourke in his
book, and Dr. Yarrow in his remarks, mention seeing a large rattle-
snake brought in from the fields on the day of the dance. These, at
least, must have been capable of inflicting fatal wounds."
The various liquids used by the Snake priests both before and after
the dance are not regarded in themselves as antidotes. The incanta-
tions said over them, and the rites by which they are prepared, are to
their minds much more efficacious than the herbs of which they are
made. It is therefore very doubtful whether they have any antidote
for the snake bite which has any medicinal value.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 105
In the early part of the summer of 1892 In'-ti-wa was bitten by a
rattlesnake, and his arm swelled in an angry way from fingers to shoul-
der. Four days afterwards he came up to his home from the plain
and was visited by the resident physician from the school. He was
also given the nd-hii, or antidote, to which his recovery was ascribed.
I can hardly believe that at this advanced stage of inflammation any
medicine would physiologically have had much effect.
In a discussion of the questions why the Snake priests are not bitten,
or, if they are, why the wounds are not fatal, there are many facts
to be established before we can formulate satisfactory answers.
In the first place, the observers who have seen priests bitten by the
snakes must give authoritative statements that the wounds were in-
flicted by venomous rattlesnakes, and not by the harmless varieties.
I have never seen a priest bitten by the former. Secondly, it must
be remembered that the bite of the rattlesnake is due to a spring of
the reptile by muscular uncoiling, and careful observations ought to be
made to determine whether a rattlesnake can inject its venom unaided
by this movement. Can it, for instance, bite when carried by the
neck or other parts of the body where such muscular action is well-
nigh impossible ? The position of the fangs would seem to point to
the conclusion that it cannot. It is a significant fact that when the
reptile falls to the ground and coils for defense the greatest care is
used in its capture.
The treatment of the reptiles prior to the dance shows little to lead
to the belief that they are rendered harmless, and the medicine in
which they are bathed can hardly be said to have the nature of an
anaesthetic. If the latter means were relied upon, it would not be
administered on the last day only, and if the nd-hil were an antidote,
why is it not carried with them into the fields during the snake hunts,
or used throughout the washing of the snakes, when there is the
greatest danger ?
It is along the line of a study of the method of treating the snakes,
rather than that of the character of the herbs used in their so-called
medicines, that I think we may arrive at an explanation of the fearless
way in which these Indians handle venomous reptiles.
106 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
LEGEND OF TI-YO, THE SNAKE HERO.
When the priests were asked the meaning of the Snake Ceremo-
nial and the accompanying dramatization, they always referred to a
strange legend of the adventures of a youth in the under-world.
There are several variants of this story, the details of which differ
widely, but throughout them, notwithstanding many inconsistencies,
there is a remarkable similarity. It is not repeated at any set time in
the course of the ceremonies, and there is no one version which may
be perfectly exact. In view of these facts, we must also remember
that we are considering a legend which has no doub.t been more or
less modified from one generation to another, and may have suffered
somewhat in translation, but however mutilated, it explains many things
in the dramatization ceremony.
The different fraternities have their own traditional lore in the keep-
ing of their respective chiefs, and some portions of this story of Ti-yo l
are found more or less modified in nearly all of them.
This lore is the sole history which they have, and in many cases is
supported by ceremonial dramatizations ; but it would be unscientific to
build any theories of their religious beliefs on such a doubtful founda-
tion.2
Far down in the lowest depth of Pi-sis-bai-ya (the Colorado
Grande), at the place where we used to gather salt, is the si-pa-pu?
the orifice where we emerged from the under-world. The Zunis, the
Ko-ho-ni-nos, the Pah-Utes, the white men, all people came up from
1 There is good reason to suspect that Stephen, who received it from the Ante-
Ti-yo, the youth, is in reality a hero god, lope chief Wf-ki. On account of difficulty
Pu-u-kon-ho-ya, the little twin war-god, in communicating with him, owing to ex-
who figures prominently in many Hopi treme deafness, Wi-ki was assisted by Wi-
legends. ky-a"-ti-wa and Ma-si-um'-ti-wa.
2 Several variants of this legend, which 8 The place designated is a saline de-
differ in many respects from the one here posit in the Grand Canon, a short dis-
presented, have already been published, tance west from where the Colorado Chi-
This version was collected by Mr. A. M. quito debouches into its greater namesake.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 107
the below at that place. Some of our people traveled to the north,
but the cold drove them back, and after many days they returned.
The mothers, carrying their children on their backs, went out to
gather seeds for food, and they plucked the prickly pear and gave
it to the children to still their cries, and these have ever since been
called Uf-ce-nyu-muh, or the Prickly Pear People.
Morning dove flew overhead, spying out the springs and calling us
to come, and those wiio followed him, and built their houses at the
waters he found, are still called after him the Hu-wi-nya-muh, or Morn-
ing Dove People. All that region belonged to the Puma, Antelope,
Deer, and other horn people, and To-ho-a (puma) led my people, the
To-ho-nyu-muh, to To-ko-na-bi,1 and the Sand people and the Horn
people also dwelt in the same region.
We built many houses at To-ko-na-bi, and lived there many days, but
the springs were small, the clouds were thin, rain came seldom, and
our corn was weak. The Ki-mon'-wi (village chief) of the To-ho-nyu-
muh had two sons and two daughters, and his eldest son was known
by the name Ti-yo (the youth). He seemed to be always melancholy
and thoughtful, and was wont to haunt the edge of the cliffs. All
day he would sit there, gazing down in the deep gorge, and wondering
where the ever-flowing water went, and where it finally found rest.
He often discussed this question with his father, saying, " It must flow
down some great pit, into the under-world, for after all these years the
gorge below never fills up, and none of the water ever flows back
again." His father would say, " May be it goes so far away that many
old men's lives would be too short to mark its return." Ti-yo said,
" I am constrained to go and solve this mystery, and I can rest no more
till I make the venture." His family besought him with tears to
forego his project, but nothing could shake his determination, and he
won them to give their sorrowful consent.
The father said : " It is impossible for you to follow the river on
foot, hence you must look for a hollow cottonwood-tree, and I will
1 A syncopation of Tii'-kwi-kwum-bi, tain, situated at the junction of the San
black mountain, now called Navajo Moun- Juan and Colorado rivers.
108 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
help you make a wi-na-ci-buh (timber box), in which you may float
upon the water." Ti-yo found a dry cotton wood tree, which they
felled, and cut off as long as his body, and it was as large around as
they both could encompass with their outstretched arms. They gouged
and burned out all of the inside, leaving only a thin shell of dry wood
like a large drum ; small branches and twigs were fitted in the ends to
close them, and the interstices were pitched with pinon gum. All this
work was done with the stone axe and the live ember.
The father then announced that in four days Ti-yo should set forth,
and during that time the mother and her two daughters prepared
kwip '-do-si 1 for food, and the father made prayer emblems or tokens
called pd-ho(s). On the morning of the fifth day the father brought
the tokens to Ti-yo, and laid them on a white cotton mantle, but be-
fore he wrapped them up, he explained their significance. One was
called the wu-po (great) pa-ho, and was a slender willow wand, as long
as his left arm from elbow to outer joint of thumb. This he told
Ti-yo he must give to Ko-Jcyan-wilh-ti (Spider-woman).2 Four others
were called cd-kwa (blue) pd-ho(s), each made of two pieces of willow,
as thick as the finger, and measuring from the first line at the base of
the left palm to the tip of the middle finger. Of these blue ^a-Ao(s)
Ti-yo should give one to Hi-ca-na-vai-ya (the Ancient of the Six ; the
six cardinal points;) one to Hu-zru-in-wuq-ti (Woman of the Hard Sub-
stance) ; the genius of all hard ornaments or wealth, as turquoise, coral,
and shell) ; one to Td-wa (the Sun) ; and one to Mu-i-yin-ivuh (divin-
ity of the under-world who makes all the germs of life).3 He also laid
1 A quantity of white maize soaked in 2 In this instance they rather suggest
warm water for half a day, and when the nature of credentials. Formerly the
partly dry winnowed over so that all the use of such tokens with this significance
husks fall off. When dry, the kernels are was common with the Ho-pi-tuh when
ground, and the meal, which is called kai- sending an embassy to a friendly tribe at
nin-ftum-ni, is used in the Snake Dance a distance.
and other ceremonials. When husked corn 8 Minute particulars of these pd-ho(s\
has been boiled and dried and then ground, their feathers and other materials, were
the meal is called kwipf-dosi, which is then given by the narrator. They were
mixed with cold water and drank in the the same in detail as the preparation of
form of a thin gruel.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 109
beside these pd-ho(s) a small quantity of kwa-pii'-ha (down from an
eagle's thigh), which he said the Spider-woman would show Ti-yo how
to use, and all these things he wrapped in the mantle and gave to
Ti-yo, who crept into his box. His father then gave him a wand of
hoffi-wi} to be used in guiding the box, and his mother a tcd-kap-ta
(food basin), and she and each of his sisters added a po-o-ta,2 heaped
up with kwip'-dosi. His father then closed the end of the box,
and gave it a push with his foot, and it floated away, bobbing up and
down.
In one of its ends there was a small circular aperture, through which
he thrust his wand, and pushed away from the rocks which were en-
countered. The spray splashed through the opening, and this he
caught in his basin when he wished to drink or mix his kwip'-dosi,
and he was also provided with a plug to close the hole when he neared
the roaring waters. He floated over smooth waters and swift-rushing
torrents, plunged down cataracts, and for many days spun through
wild whirlpools, where black rocks protruded their heads like angry
bears.
When the box finally stopped, Ti-yo drew the plug, and looking out
saw on one side a muddy bank, and on the other nothing but water ;
so he pushed out the end, and taking his^a-Ao mantle in his hand
passed to the dry land. He had gone but a little way when he heard
the sound of " hist, hist," coming from the ground, and when this had
been repeated four times, he descried a small round hole near his feet,
and this was the house of Spider-woman. " Um-pi-tuh" said the voice
(You have arrived, the ordinary Hopi greeting), " my heart is glad ; I
have long been expecting you ; come down into my house." " How
can I," said Ti-yo, " when it will scarce admit the point of my toe ? "
She said, " Try," and when he laid his foot upon the hole, it widened
out larger than his body, and he passed down into a roomy kiva.
pd-ho(s) in the Snake and Antelope kivas * It is prescribed that the handle of the
during the ceremony, for which see the snake-whip must be made of this wood,
figures and descriptions. 2 A shallow circular tray of coiled
grass, wrapped with yucca shreds.
110 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
Ti-yo unrolled his mantle and gave her the wu-pa-pa-ho and the
eagle down. She thanked him, and said, " I can be seen, or I can be-
come invisible ; I go everywhere and know all things ; I know where
you come from and where you will go ; your heart is good, that is, you
are an upright man ; I have prepared food for you," and she set before
him two corn meal dumplings (pii-uhpi-ki), which he ate, and was filled
up to the chin. Here he remained four days, and Spider-woman told
him he should next go to the Snake House, and she would go with him.
Meanwhile she made the nd-hu,1 which pacifies all angry animals as
well as the snake.
On the fifth morning Spider-woman gave some of the nd-hu to Ti-yo,
telling him to be of brave heart, and when he came to the angry ones
who guarded the entrances of rooms, he should put a little of the
nd-hu on the tip of his tongue and spurt it upon them, and they would
be pacified. She then told him that she would now become invisible,
and immediately perched herself on the top of his right ear ; she said
she would be inaudible to all others, but would constantly whisper her
promptings, and would remain with him throughout his journeys.
She told him to take the cluster of eagle down in his hand and step
upon the si-pa-pu, which he did, and at once they descended to the
under-world.
There the eagle down fluttered out toward the northwest, and
thither he traveled till he came to a kiva near which was the great
snake called Ga-to-ya? on which, as prompted, he spurted the charm,
1 This term is derived from nwd-&-ta, secret close to my heart ; if I should reveal
a root, and is applied to any of their it I would die. No other person in the
remedial specifics, and to the medicine of village knows it but Cd-li-ko. When the
the whites, but charm is perhaps a better time comes that I think I am about to die,
rendering of the term than medicine. An- I will impart it to Hon'-yi, my eldest sis-
swering a query, the narrator said : " This ter's son, who will succeed me as Snake-
is the same charm which I make during Antelope chief."
the Snake ceremony. I make use of six 2 This mythic snake is also said to exist
plants, of the colors of the cardinal points, at the present time in far-off mountains,
but I cannot tell you their names, nor and is described as being not quite so
describe the charm nor any of the fluids long as a man's arm, but nearly as thick
drank at the ceremony. I must keep this as a man's body. It has large eyes and
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 111
and the snake turned its head and allowed him to pass to the hatch-
way, where two angry bears stood, one on each side of the ladder. On
these he also spurted, and they bowed their heads, and he descended
into the Tdl-a-kiva (Snake chamber), where many men were squatted
on the floor around a sand pon-ya, all clothed in snake skins, and the
walls, the roof, and the floor, were all decorated with snake skins.
None of these people spoke a word, nor was any sound heard in that
gloomy kiva, and when Ti-yo displayed a pd-ho, the chief merely
bowed his head in recognition and motioned him to the open si-pa-pu.
Stepping upon this he descended at once into the Tcu-tcub-kwa
(Snake- Antelope chamber), where everything was white and cheerful,
and many men were squatted around a beautiful sand ponr-ya ; their
garments and feather plumes were bright and gayly colored, and all
gave him a glad welcome. The first of his blue pd-ho(s) he delivered
to the chief of this kiva, Hi-ca-na-vai-ya, who looked at it closely,
and then laid it on the pon'-ya. He told Ti-yo he had been expecting
him, and thanked him for coming ; he also said, " I cause the rain-
clouds to come and go, and the ripening winds to blow, and I direct
the going and coming of all the mountain animals ; before you
return you will desire many things, ask freely of me and you will re-
ceive."
Spider- woman now advised him to resume the journey, and Ti-yo
passed upward to the hatchway, and the eagle down floated to the west,
and looking in that direction he saw a great water, and far away out
in its midst the long tips of a ladder projecting from the roof of a
kiva. Spider-woman said : " That is the house of Hu-zrii"in-wuq-ti,
and it is on dry land which floats on the surface of the great water ;
let us go." And when they came to the edge of the great water,
Ti-yo spurted upon a part of the eagle down and cast it upon the
water, which parted on either hand, and he traveled to the distant
great teeth, which can pierce the thickest the angry guardian of all snakes. The
buckskin ; its body is gray and its head Navajos have a very similar myth ; with
of all colors, and it can breathe death to them it is also called the Great Snake,
a man at a distance. It is spoken of as without any other distinctive name.
112 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
house with dry feet. When he approached the ladder two angry pu-
mas started up, but he spurted charm liquid on them, and they turned
their heads towards him and said, "We have never permitted any
stranger to live who came here, but now we know your breath is pure
and your heart is brave ; " and they lay down on each side of the lad-
der, and he stepped between them and descended it.
The ladder was covered with small glittering white shells, and the
inside of the kiva was resplendent with turquoise and coral, and in the
middle of the floor a very old woman was squatted quite alone. Her
eyes were dim, her hair was gray, her skin deeply wrinkled, and her
mantle looked old and dingy, but Spider-woman told Ti-yo, " This is
the kind mother ; her heart is tender and generous ; and every night
when she lays aside her mantle she becomes an enchanting maiden, arid
she is arrayed with splendor at dawn." Then Ti-yo gave her the sec-
ond pd-hoy which she looked at very carefully, and said, " This was
made by one who knows ; I thank you. Sit down and eat, and ask for
any of my possessions you desire." She prepared a food of corn pollen
in a large turquoise bowl, saying, " This will be ready for you and the
father, when he comes, that you may both eat and start again without
delay." While this was being said, Spider-woman whispered him to get
ready his pd-ho for Td-wa (the Sun) ; and like the noise of a mighty
lightning bolt, the Sun came rushing down through the air and alighted
on the kiva roof with a great crash.
He entered, and hung up his beautiful shining shield, and it cried
" ching-a-ling " as it dangled against the wall. He wore a white buck-
skin garment, and the arms and legs of it were decorated with fringes
of jingling white shells ; it was thick and heavy, because it is very
cold in the sky region, and it had many pockets in which the Sun put
all the pd-ho(s) he found set out for him during his day's travel. He
took out great numbers of these and laid them before the old woman,
who scrutinized and sorted them ; she put aside a part of them with
her right hand : " These are from the people of good hearts," she said,
" and I will send them what they ask." " But these," she said, as she
cast away a great many with her left hand, " are from liars and deceit-
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 113
ful people ; they hurt my eyes to look at them." Then the Sun took
from his right wrist the scalps of all who had been slain in battle
through the day on the right side of his path, and from his left wrist
those of the slain who had fallen on the left side of his path. And
the old woman wept and mourned : " I grieve when you come here ; it
pains me as I touch you ; my heart is sad, and I tremble as I look at
you ; I long for all my people to live in peace ; will they never cease
from quarreling ? " and she hung up the scalps along the walls of her
house.
Ti-yo then placed his third pd-ho in the Sun's hand, and as the oth-
ers had done, he scanned it narrowly, and said : " It is well, my friend,
my relative, my son ; let us smoke." He filled a huge turquoise pipe
with pi-ha (native tobacco), and after they had smoked, they ate the
food prepared for them, and the Sun told Ti-yo to come with him on
his journey through the under- world, and across to his place of rising.
He told Ti-yo to grasp his girdle, and they went down through the
si-pa-pu like a flash of lightning, to the lowest under-world, the house
of Mli-i-yin'-wuh.
In this place a host of eager men passed back and forth, up and
down, all working with anxious haste, and the Sun led Ti-yo to the
middle of this industrious throng, where Ti-yo gave his remaining
pd-ho to Mu-i-yin'-wuh. After inspecting the pd-ho, he said he would
always listen to the wishes of Ti-yo9 s people, and then he explained
that at his command the germs of all living things were made ; the
seeds of all vegetation that grows upon the surface of the upper-world,
and of all animals and men who walk upon it ; and the multitude he
saw were ceaselessly occupied at this task. He noticed that the largest
and handsomest of these men were those who were most earnest and
industrious, and the stunted, scraggy creatures were the careless, lazy
ones. After further assurance that the maker of the germs would
always hear his petitions, Ti-yo again grasped the Sun's girdle, and was
carried by him upward and eastward to Ta-wa-yum-tya-ld (where the
sun rises).
When they stopped they were in Ta-wd-ki (Sun-house), which is a
114 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
beautiful kiva like that in the west, but red in color, and they ate food
from a pink stone bowl. There is no woman here ; the Sun and his
brother Tai-o-wa alternately occupy it. Four days Td-wa carries the
shield across the heavens, returning each night through the under-
world, reaching the east just a short time before he resumes his jour-
ney through the sky ; then he rests in this Sun-house, while Tai-o-wa
performs his allotted four days' labor carrying the shield. Td-wa im-
pressed on Ti-yo the importance of remembering all the things he had
seen, and all that he would yet be shown, and he taught him to make
the $\mpd-ho. Then his eyes would be opened, and thenceforth he would
know all people, would look in their hearts and know their thoughts ;
and as a token he then heard his family mourning for him and calling
upon him to return. And the Sun said, " I counsel you that all of the
gifts you shall receive, the blessing you shall most prize is the rain-
cloud you will get from the chief of the Snake- Antelope kiva." Td-wa
then taught him to make the great sun pd-ho, which was as long as
from his heart to his finger tips, and he gave him the skin of le-tai-yo
(gray fox), which Ti-yo hung upon it and placed it upon the hatch-
way. After a little he gave him the skin of si-ky-tai-d-yo (yellow fox),
which Ti-yo hung over the gray. Then the Sun was ready to leave
his house, and he took Ti-yo on his shoulder and carried him across
the sky, and showed him all the world, and at sunset they came again
to the house in the west.
The old woman said, " Now you will leave me ; take these gifts," and
she gave him of all her house contained, and he thanked her and placed
them in his mantle, and went up the ladder. At the prompting of
Spider-woman he spurted nd-hu upon the remainder of the eagle down
and cast it upon the water, and as before it parted to the right and left,
and he passed over to dry land.
There was still the yellow light of evening as he approached the
Snake kiva, and he saw the red-fringed bow hanging across the ladder,
and Spider-woman told him this was the fifth day since their previous
visit. Unchallenged he went down and into the Snake- Antelope kiva,
and sat beside the pon'-ya four days, listening to the teachings of the
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI. 115
chief, who said, " Here we have abundance of rain and corn ; in your
land there is but little ; so thus shall you use the nd-hu ; fasten these
prayers in your breast ; and these are the songs you shall sing and
these the pd-ho(s) you shall make ; l and when you display the white
and the black on your bodies the clouds will coine." He then gave
Ti-yo a part of everything from both kivas, and from the Snake-Ante-
lope pon'-ya he gave him portions of the different colored sands, and
these, he said, were the colors of the corn Ti-yo' s prayers would bring.
He also said, " Here are two maidens who know the charm which pre-
vents death from the bite of the rattlesnake ; take them with you ; and
one you shall give to your younger brother ; " and they were enveloped
with white, fleecy clouds, like a mantle. Then from the pon'-ya he gave
Ti-yo a ti-po-ni, and charged him always to preserve it with jealous
care, saying, " Truly this is your mother ; " and from the Snake pon'-ya
he gave him a ti-po-ni for his younger brother. When Ti-yo had
wrapped up all these things in his mantle, the chief said, " Remember
all you have heard, and all that I have done, do you the same, and
take back with you my heart, my bowels, all my thoughts, and you
shall be called by my name, Hi-ca-na-vai-ya" Then Ti-yo ascended
to the hatchway, and the two maidens followed him.
Spider-woman then led them back to her house, where they remained
four days, and Ti-yo hunted rabbits for her. She then told him to
keep secret all he had heard and seen, and to reveal it only to those
whose hearts he should try. While Ti-yo was hunting, Spider-woman
made a beautiful ho-a-puh? around which she fastened a cotton cord,
and on the fifth morning she placed Ti-yo in it, with a maiden on each
side. She then ascended through the hatch and disappeared, but soon
a filament descended and attached itself to the cord, and the basket was
drawn up to the white clouds, which sailed away to To-ko-na-bi, and
there Spider-woman again spun out her filament and lowered the basket
1 Here again was narrated the rites of 2 A deep narrow pannier, with rounded
the kiva as still practiced, but nothing ends, of coarse interlaced wicker, carried
further concerning the nd-hfi could be on the back,
elicited.
116 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
to the ground. Ti-yo took the maidens to his mother's house, and no
stranger saw them for four days, and the two brothers prepared the
bridal presents.1
On the fifth morning the maidens' heads were washed by Ti-y6*s
mother, and from the house-top he proclaimed that, as a strange people
had now come among them, in sixteen days their feast would be cele-
brated ; and to this day, the narrator said, we announce this Snake
feast sixteen days ahead. Ti-yo and one maiden went into a kiva,
which he called the Snake- Antelope kiva, and the younger brother and
the other maiden went into another, which was called the Snake kiva.
[Here the narrator gave a recital of initiations made by Ti-yo, and
instruction concerning the ceremony, the making of pd-ho(s)y and the
other countless details, all of which were but a rehearsal of those still
practiced, excepting that, on this occasion, they did not go out to gather
snakes on four successive days as they do now.]
On the fifth evening of the ceremony, and for three succeeding even-
ings, low clouds trailed over To-ko-na-bi, and Snake people from the
under-world came from them, and went into the kiva(s), and ate only
corn pollen for food, and on leaving were not seen again. Each of
four evenings brought a new group of Snake people, and on the fol-
lowing morning they were found in the valleys, metamorphosed into
reptiles of all kinds.
On the ninth morning the Tcii-a-md-na (Snake maidens) said :
" We understand this ; let the younger brothers (the Snake society) go
out and bring them all in and wash their heads, and let them dance
with you." And this was done, and at sunset a Snake house of meal
was made by Tiryo, and the snakes were laid within it, and all the
people cast their prayer-meal upon them, and then the younger bro-
thers carried them out to the valleys, and they returned to the Snake
kiva of the under-world, bearing the petitions of all the people.
1 A Hopi bride remains within doors ders, a long girdle, and makes a pair of
four days after marriage. The bridegroom woman's boots, which constitute the bridal
weaves a blue cotton tunic gown, a white present,
cotton mantle, with scarlet and black bor-
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 117
After this both of the Snake maidens gave birth to numerous small
snakes ; their heads were washed, and they were dried in sand heaps
on the floor, and their mothers sat beside them. Children coming into
play with the little snakes were bitten, and they swelled up and died,
and their mothers clamored against the Tcii-a-nid-na and their brood,
and compelled the men to consent to migrate ; and we abandoned our
villages, and both of the Tcu-a^nd-na were left at To-ko-na-bi. The
Puma, the Sand, and the Horn people started together to travel south-
ward, but after a time the Horn people separated, and we did not meet
again till after we came to these valleys where we now dwell. Ti-yo's
younger brother went with the Horn people, and taught these mysteries
to the chief of the Blue Flute family of the Horn people. This is the
reason why I go in front one year, and the chief of the Flute sits back,
and the next year he goes before and I sit behind ; but our songs and
prayers have both the same intent.
While we were living at Wti-ko-ki,1 one of the Tca-md-hia2 dwelt
with us, and then he left us and traveled far to the southeast, looking for
other people that he knew were coming from the under-world. When
he reached So-tcap'-tu-kwi (a place near Santa Fe), he met Pu-ii-kon-
Jio-yaf to whom he told his object. Pii'-u-kon-ho-ya said he could
find those people, and fitting in his bow and arrow, fletched with the
wings of the bluebird, he shot it in the sky, and it came down far in
the northeast, at a si-pa-pu, up which people were still climbing. They
looked at the arrow, and said, " There must be other people here
already ; " and the arrow spoke to them and told its message ; then
they said, "We will travel to the southwest, and may Tca-md-hia come
and meet us." On this the arrow flew back to its sender, and told of
1 Great -house, a ruin appropriately the under-world, where they occupied a
named, on a small stream about fifty miles similar position in the Snake- Antelope kiva
west from Wal'-pi. A considerable por- there. They seem to be regarded as the
tion of the walls is still intact. relics of a people still earlier than those of
2 This mystic name is also applied to the under-world visited by Ti-yo.
the fine old celts displayed on the present 8 One of the mythic twins, grandsons
Snake-Antelope pott -y a. They are said to of Spider-woman. They carry a magical
be the very objects brought by Ti-yo from bow and arrow.
118 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
these people, and Tcd-ma~hia traveled westward to meet them. When
he got to the great rock where Acoma now is, he climbed up and
found the great ladle-shaped cavities on its summit filled with rain-
water, and he named it the place of the ladle, A'-ko-ky-abi. Here he
rested, and the people he was looking for joined him there, and at that
place they have ever since remained.
After my people left Wu-ko-ki, they halted near a little spring on
the middle mesa, and looking across to where we now live, they could
see there were no people in the land. But at night they saw a fire
moving back and forth along the base of this mesa, from the gap to
the point, and they marveled greatly for a while, and then they sent
Dove forth to discover, and he found that it was Md-sau-wuh.1 Dove
saw the tracks of his large, bare feet, and he followed them around a
great circle, encompassing Nu-vat'-ikyau-obi (place of snow peaks, San
Francisco Mountains) on the west ; Pa-ld-bai-ya (Red River, Colorado
Chiquito) on the south; Wu-ko-bai-ya (Great river, Rio Grande) on
the east, and Hop-ko-yi-la-bai-ya (from ho-po-ko, the northeast, the
San Juan River) on the north.
For a long time they saw nothing but his tracks, and they crossed
over here and built their village on the foothills at the point of this
mesa where you can yet see where the houses stood, and they called it
Wal'-pi, the place near the gap, and after a time the younger men with
their families built another village out in the valley, and you can yet
see traces of it also. One day the Wal'-pi chief called all his bravest
men to go with him and try to find Md-sau-wuh, and they met him
about half way to the middle mesa. He was hideous and terrible, with
shreds of flesh and clots of blood upon his head, but our chief was
brave, and went and embraced him tightly in his arms. Then said the
deity, " I see you are strong of heart ; I designed to kill you all if
your hearts had been weak ; now I am satisfied." They all sat down,
and Md-sau-wuh took off his mask and sat upon it, and as he produced
his large pipe, they all saw that he had become a handsome youth, and
the pipe was passed around till all had smoked. Then he said : " I
also am large of heart ; all this land is mine, and all that lies within the
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 119
limits of my footprints is yours, for you have won it because you
met me and were not afraid. My house is there (pointing to a rocky
spot close to the west side of the mesa), and there you must place the
pd-ho" . . . " The uncle of my uncles spoke with one tongue/' con-
tinued the narrator, " and this is the story he told."
INTERPRETATION OF THE MYTH.
One naturally looks to the legend of the Antelope priest for an in-
terpretation of the different events which are performed in the ceremo-
nies ; for among Indians, as among all primitive peoples, there is an
intimate connection between the two. Our studies of the legend of
Ti-yo which we have given do not afford us the greatest satisfaction
in the interpretation, although they shed light on the dramatization
and certain other episodes. We see, as it were, only the crudest out-
lines, and only partial explanations of the ritual, and it is probably im-
possible for us to arrive at the true explanation from a study of the
story alone. There are many evidences of later invention, of incorpo-
ration, and of individual explanations. I am not sanguine that the
true explanation of the Snake Dance can be obtained from the Indians
themselves, and if my want of faith is well grounded, this fact is with-
out doubt of greatest importance. It seems probable that the Snake
Dance is a ceremony for rain, and since its beginning to its close,
wherever we turn, there appear elements which point to this conclusion.
When we come to a broader comparison with other rain-making cere-
monials, we cannot remain in doubt that the Snake Dance is primarily
of the same nature.
There are many important considerations which we must bear in
mind in the consideration of this subject. Throughout all the Hopi
ceremonies there appears evidence of a unity in certain characters. If,
for instance, we compare the Snake Dance with the Flute ceremony,
we find the number of days of the celebration to be the same, we find
the Snake boy and Snake girl introduced, and the ceremonies about
the spring in the two are almost identical. The encircling runs made
by the courier are the same, and the pd-ho(s) are similar.
120 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
It was once thought that we had in these ceremonials a modified form
of some primitive earlier celebration simpler than either, and that the
same idea had been developed on different lines of evolution, due to
migrations or other causes. We cannot regard one as the modification
of the other, but both as a development of some aboriginal primitive
ceremony, which has left its mark on the common features which show
survivals of that simpler observance. It is but natural to suppose that
in the separation of clans or peoples, and isolation for a considerable
time, modifications should grow in such a way as to obscure origi-
nal meanings, and change ceremonials once identical. When a legend
was preserved, the modifications of the story would suffer the same
change.
Let us consider what might take place in two peoples living apart,
but preserving the germ of a rain ceremony. In a most interesting
book, called " The Golden Bow," Mr. Frazer has shown how widely
different are the modifications of the midsummer rites throughout Eu-
rope. Portions of these observances are preserved among one people,
and portions among others. The modifications which the original has
gone through are almost radical in their nature.
In one place, for instance, we have the May tree introduced as a
symbol of the wood-god ; in another, an image of the god ; and in
still a third we have a man personifying the wood-god. Here the
tree is burned at the close of the festival ; there we have images of
the tree-god thrown into the flames, and so we might go on mention-
ing a large number of modifications, but in all cases they appear to
be variants of one primitive idea. The germ of the whole is tree wor-
ship, or the embodiment of the return of life in the springtime.
Two theories have arisen as to the origin of those similarities. Either
that there was a connection in some remote time between the people
who practiced them, or that they arose independently among differ-
ent peoples. Whichever theory we accept we are not prevented from
finding in this midsummer ceremonial a parallel with others celebrated
at the same time.
Passing, then, to these village tribes and using the same methods as
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 121
those adopted by Frazer, we can reconstruct the primitive ceremony
which has become modified. It is not necessary to show the details of
ceremonials identical in order to show that they are the same. If the
main facts correspond, we are justified in using them for what they
are worth. In the olden times, when the different peoples who now
speak the Tusayan language lived together, they probably celebrated
a midsummer ceremony of much simpler form than what is now prac-
ticed. A people leaving the ancestral home would take with them
their version of the myth connected with the ceremony. If it were
the Flute assemblage, necessarily the Flute would figure most promi-
nently. Accretions from generation to generation would creep in, and
there is reason to believe that these modifications would be regarded
as most important. Another people in its separation from the primi-
tive home might be the Snake or Antelope assembly. With them the
snake would be all-important, and the line of evolution which their
story followed would be very different from that of the Flute.
As a consequence, one would hardly expect that the ceremonies per-
formed would be identical, but the germ would remain the same, or
that we should have as a result the same ceremony under different mod-
ifications. Precisely this is what has happened. Then, too, it must
be borne in mind that the present Tusayan villages are formed by the
aggregation of several groups or clans of people. It is historically
known that such is the fact. In this bringing together of different
peoples, each with its modifications of the original story and ceremonial
rite, complication would be very much increased, and the difficulties of
comparisons with those of other villages, formed by a like consolidation,
magnified manifold.
In order to determine how far the ceremonial rites connected with
the same observance may vary in different places, I have studied one
of them in three of the Tusayan villages, separated by only seven
miles. In the Farewell Ka-tci-na? we find that the altars, although
presenting a uniformity in the main idea, are in the details very dif-
ferent. The public dances of the same vary very considerably, yet
1 See vol. ii., No. 1, of this Journal.
122 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPI.
the priests strongly insist that the celebration is identical. If such
changes as these result in villages where there is more or less intermar-
riage and a close religious sympathy, what would be the result in iso-
lated pueblos, more or less hostile to each other, through a long series
of years ? It is a mistaken idea to suppose that conservatism is the
only fundamental principle of Indian ceremonials.
We may reasonably conclude that from time to time new events in
the performance of rites are introduced, and this increase from year
to year would at last make a great variation in the character of the
ceremonials. Comparing, therefore, the Snake Dance with the Flute
ceremonial, we may suppose that originally the priests of both had the
same primitive celebration, and those traces of identity which are ap-
parent can really be best interpreted by referring them to the original
from which they started. Probably the best addition which could be
made to our knowledge of the identity of two such dissimilar ceremo-
nies as the Snake and Flute, could be obtained by a study of the tradi-
tions of the chiefs of each fraternity.
The story of the Snake hero is comparatively well known, and Mrs.
Stevenson has lately published the legend of the Flute fraternity. As
this fraternity exists in several of the pueblos, there is a possibility of
obtaining variants of the Flute myth. An interesting point of like-
ness in the two celebrations is the existence in both of the Snake girl.
The Snake girl is clothed exactly alike in both ceremonials, so that in
fact this person in the Snake ceremony could be substituted for one of
the two girls in the Flute observance without making any change in
her decoration, the style of her blankets, or other paraphernalia.
The Snake boy is also painted the same in both ceremonies.
In the course of the ceremony of the Flute, as will be seen by con-
sulting my article on the Flute observance, these two girls and boy
cast offerings upon symbolic figures of the clouds. These offerings
were identical with those which were placed by the Antelope chief upon
the head of the male and female lightning figures of the sand picture
during the Snake Dance.
In the race which took place on the morning of the Flute celebra-
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 123
tion, the person who stood at the goal was not only painted and
adorned as a Snake priest, but wore the Snake kilt, upon which is de-
picted the figure of the great plumed serpent. Possibly this was a
coincidence, but certainly a most interesting one when taken into con-
sideration with other resemblances. The ceremonies at the spring
Ta-wa-pa in the Snake Dance are not as elaborate as those performed
on the final day of the Flute observance at the same place, although
a vein of similarity runs through them both.
In the celebration of the Flute at Ci-pau-lo-vi, two houses take part,
the Blue Flute and the Variegated Flute. At Wal'-pi, however, one of
these houses is extinct, so that at present the Flute celebration is con-
fined to the remaining house. The Snake Dance is also celebrated by
two fraternities, the Antelopes and the Snakes. One of the Flute
houses at Ci-paii-lo-vi is subordinate to the other, just as in the Snake
Dance the Snake priests are inferior to the Antelopes. The nd-tci(s)
used by the Flute fraternity have many likenesses with those belonging
to the Snake-Antelopes.
Without following the story of Wi-ki too closely, it may be conjec-
tured that the younger brother, who married one of the Tcii-a-ma-na,
was the chief of the Flute assembly of the Horn people when they
separated from the Snake fraternity at To-ko-na-bi. The reunion of
these two peoples at Wal'-pi is dramatized in the Flute ceremony, a fact
which lends new interest to the comparison we have drawn between the
Snake and the Flute observances.
The descriptions of the many and complicated rites which fill this
volume would be incomplete if some attempt were not made to inter-
pret the meaning of the Snake Dance.
No component element has done more to obscure the original mean-
ing than the weird ceremonies connected with the handling of the rep-
tiles, which naturally have a strong fascination for the primitive as
well as the civilized mind. The dramatization of a half-mythic, half-
historic legend regarding the origin and migration of the fraternities
that celebrate it also tends to turn the mind to other explanations.
The prominence given to the reptiles during this presentation has
121 THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL
led some other observers to regard it as an example of snake worship,
but from what could be learned from the priests as well as comparative
studies, a somewhat different conclusion seems probable.
The Snake Dance is an elaborate prayer for rain, in which the rep-
tiles are gathered from the fields, intrusted with the prayers of the
people, and then given their liberty to bear these petitions to the
divinities who can bring the blessing of copious rains to the parched
and arid farms of the Hopi.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.1
ALLEN, W. F. The Dial. Chicago, vol. v., No. 57, January, 1885. Captain Bourke's
Narrative of the Moqui Indians. (Book review.)
BANDELIER, A. F. Final Report of Investigations among the Indians of the South-
western United States. Amer. Ser. of Archaeological Institute, Part I., p. 149.
Part II., p. 277 (Pictograph at Aho, possibly record of the Snake Dance in former
times. (Reference to Espejo's mention of Acoma Snake Dance.)
BOURKE, JOHN G. The Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona. New York, Charles
Scribner's Sons. London, S. Low. 1884. (Account of last two days of ceremony
with plates (colored) and cuts ; valuable.)
DONALDSON, THOMAS. Extra Census Bulletin. Moqui Indians of Arizona and Pueblo
Indians of New Mexico. Washington, 1893. (Untrustworthy in regard to the
Hopi Snake Dance, and full of inaccuracies about the Pueblos.)
EDWARDY, W. M. Snake Dance of the Moki Indians. Harper's "Weekly, Novem-
ber 2, 1889. (Full page illustration of the dance.)
ESPEJO, ANTONIO DE. Relacion y Expediente, p. 180. (Dance at Acoma in 1582,
" con vivoras vivas")
FEWKES, J. WALTER. Report of a Lecture on the Snake Dance. Salem News. 1892.
A Suggestion as to the Meaning of the Moki Snake Dance. Journal of American
Folk-Lore, vol. iv., No. 13. See also Journal of American Ethnology and Archae-
ology, vol. ii. (Relation of Snake Dance to Flute Ceremony.)
A Central American ceremony which suggests the Snake Dance of the Tusayan vil-
lagers. (Comparison with Sahagun's Atamalqualiztli.) Amer. Anthro. vol. vi., No. 3.
KEAM, T. V. An Indian Snake Dance. Chambers's Journal, pp. 14-16. 1883.
LUMMIS, CHARLES F. St. Nicholas, April, 1892. Some Strange Corners of our Coun-
try. Century Co., 1892. (With figures of dance.)
1 I am indebted to Mr. F. W. Hodge, directed to obtain the bibliography of the
of the Bureau of Ethnology, for several Snake Ceremonials in 1891 and 1893, the
references. Especial attention has been two presentations considered in this article.
THE SNAKE CEREMONIALS AT WALPL 125
MATTHEWS, W., for STEPHEN, A. M. Legend of the Snake Order of the Moquis as
told by Outsiders. Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. i. pp. 109-114. 1888.
MINDELEFF, COSMOS. An Indian Dance. Science, vol. vii., No. 174. (Important
account of the Snake Dance at Mi-con'-in-o-vi.)
An Indian Snake Dance. Science, vol. viii., No. 178. (Important discussion of
antidote used.)
MORAN. See Donaldson and Bourke.
POWELL, J. W. Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1891. (Con-
tains on pp. xxv.-xxix. account of the field studies of Messrs. Mindeleffs and Dr. H.
C. Yarrow.)
SCOTT, JULIAN. Eeport on the Snake Dance of August 21, 1891. Moqui Pueblo
Indians of Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. Extra Census Bulletin,
pp. 71-74. 1893.
Danced with Living Snakes. The New York Mail and Express, September 2, 1893.
Praying for a Rain Storm. New York Mail and Express, August 19, 1893.
SHUFELDT, R. W. Snake Dance of the Mokis. The Great Divide. October, 1891.
(Whittick's valuable photographs reproduced.)
STEPHEN, A. M., and MESSENGER, H. J. The Snake Dance. The New York World,
September 8, 1889. (This and the following account valuable.)
The Mokis' Snake Dance. New York World, August 27, 1889.
STEVENSON, M. C. (Legend of Snake and Flute.) Proc. Amer. Association, 1892.
TYLOR, E. B. Snake Dances, Moqui and Greek. " Athens, like a Moqui village, was
accustomed to the spectacle of dancers waving snakes in the midday streets." Sat-
urday Review. October 18, 1884. (Review of Bourke's Snake Dance.)
ANONYMOUS.
Snake Charmers of Central America. Harper's Weekly, March 15, 1882. (Written
from a full-page figure by Ferenzy ; refers to Moki Snake Dance in comparative
way.)
The Snake Dance. San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 1891.
Chicago Sunday Herald, September 13, 1891.
Chicago Evening News, September 22, 1891.
The Literary World, Boston, Mass., vol. xvi., April 18, 1885. The Snake Dance of
the Mokis of Arizona. (A review of Bourke's Snake Dance of the Moquis of Ari-
zona.)
The Five Moki Chiefs. Washington Post, June 28, 1890.
To appease the Indian God. Peculiar practices seen at the Moki Snake Dance. San
Francisco Examiner, August 28, 1891. (Three cuts, one of the dance.)
The Moqui Snake Dance. Chicago News, September 22, 1891. (Three cuts, one of
the dance.)
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SCALE OF MILES.
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SITION OF TUSAYAN.
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THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
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