In northeastern Arizona, in a region of unusual wildness, even for the
Southwest, lies the Moki Reservation. There are seven Moki pueblos built
on the crests of the mesas. All are built of stone. The two largest are
Walpi and Oraibe. Six of these towns speak a language related to that of
the Shoshones; the seventh, Hano, is a settlement of strangers from the
east, who speak the language of Taos on the Rio Grande. The Moki pueblos
are, in some ways, particularly old-fashioned. Here the women do their
hair up curiously: it is parted in the middle, and neatly smoothed out at
the sides; behind it is done up in two queer, rounded masses, like horns.
Formerly, perhaps, the women at some other pueblos wore their hair in this
same way. In these Moki towns they weave the dark blue or black woolen
_mantas_, or dresses, which are worn by women in all the other pueblos.
In most respects the life of the Moki is like that of other Pueblo
Indians. There is, however, among them a great religious ceremony, which
is famous, and is perhaps the wildest and weirdest of all Indian rituals.
This is the _Snake Dance_. It is held at any one town only once in two
years, but it occurs at some town or other every year. Thus it is held at
Walpi in the odd years—1899, 1901; it is held at Oraibe, the even
years—1900, 1902, etc. It is celebrated about the middle of August, and
always attracts a crowd of Indian and white visitors.
The whole ceremony, of which the snake dance is a part, requires nine days
or more, for its celebration. Most of the things are done in the _kiva_,
or _estufa_, secretly. Dr. Fewkes has given a full account of these, some
of which are very curious. During the earlier days runners are sent out to
place prayer sticks at the springs and sacred places. The first days they
are sent out the messengers go to the more distant shrines, but each day
take in places nearer and nearer home. During the fifth, sixth, seventh,
and eighth days snake hunts take place; the hunter priests go out to
capture living snakes. The first day they go to the north, the second to
the west, the third to the south, the fourth to the east. All kinds of
snakes are taken, though perhaps the rattlesnakes are most prized. Few
white men have ever seen the snake hunt. One who has seen it writes:
“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 was
found to be a large rattlesnake, 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
watching 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. 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 feathers 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
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.” All
these snakes are cared for, being put into jars or vessels in the kiva.
We can speak of few things in the kiva. The altars of colored sands, the
dances, the songs, the sacred vessels, and other objects used, the
dramatic representation of passages from their legends, are all curious.
We have not time to speak of them. On the eighth day, the priests of the
antelope society dance, sing the sixteen songs, and perform a drama, all
in the kiva. At last the ninth day arrives.
The plaza, or square, in the middle of the town has been prepared. In it
is the _kisi_, built of green boughs, intended as a shelter for the
snakes. In front of it is a board in which is a hole, called the _sipapu_.
This hole is supposed to lead down into the lower world, where people used
to live. Early in the morning there was a race between boys and girls.
They went first to the fields, and then raced in, each bringing a load of
melon vines, corn plants, or other vegetable life. These they placed in
the plaza.
At noon the snakes are washed in the kiva. A great bowl is brought in and
carefully set down. Into it liquid is poured from the north, west, south,
and east. The snakes, which have been kept in jars at the corners of the
room, are taken and handed to certain priests near the washbowl. All those
in the kiva begin to shake their rattles and to sing in a low, humming
voice. The priests holding the snakes begin to beat time with them up and
down above the liquid. The song increases, becoming “louder and wilder,
until it bursts 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 the sand mosaic.... As they fell on the sand picture,
three snake priests stood in readiness, and while the reptiles squirmed
about, or coiled for defense, these men, with their snake whips, brushed
them back and forth in the sand of the altar.... 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.... Every snake in the collection was thus
washed.”
Late in the afternoon, near sunset, the antelope priests in all their
finery and paint appear in a procession and circle four times around the
plaza, dancing as they go and thumping heavily upon the board in front of
the kisi as they pass over it. Then they draw up in line before the kisi.
Then the snake priests come out of their kiva, with bodies painted red and
their chins black, with white lines. They wear dark red kilts and
moccasins. They dance four times around the plaza, but with more energy
and wildness than the antelope priests had done. They then draw up in a
line opposite the antelope priests and go through with strange singing and
movements.
[Illustration.]