Suddenly the party of snake priests divides into bands of three persons.
These little bands approach the kisi, where the snakes have been placed.
One of the men kneels, and when he rises holds a snake in his hand. This
he places squirming in his mouth, holding it at about the middle of its
body. One of his companions throws an arm about the neck of the snake
carrier; in his other hand he holds a feather wand or brush, with which he
brushes at the snake as if to attract his attention. The third man of the
band follows the other two. In this way they go with the wriggling snake.
Four times these bands of three go around the plaza, when the snakes are
dropped. The followers catch them up at once. When all the snakes have
been danced with and are gathered into the arms of the followers, an old
priest advances into the center of the plaza and makes a ring of sacred
meal. Those holding the snakes run up and throw them into one squirming,
writhing mass within this ring. All the priests then rush in, seize what
snakes they can, and dart with them, down the trail, out into the open
country, where they release the snakes to go where they please. Meantime,
the antelope priests close the public ceremony by marching gravely four
times round the plaza.
This ceremony is a prayer for rain. It also celebrates in a dramatic form
the story of how the great snake and antelope societies began. The snakes
gathered in the fields hear the prayers of the people, and when they are
loosed carry them to the gods.
JESSE WALTER FEWKES.—Naturalist, ethnologist. Now with the Bureau
of Ethnology, Washington, D.C. Has written a number of papers
about the snake dance.
JOHN G. BOURKE.—Soldier, ethnologist. Was the first American
ethnologist to describe the _Snake Dance of the Moki_.