Nov., 1903. Oraibi Summer Snake Ceremony — Voth. 291 



In the Antelope kiva the same condition of things exists on this 

 day as on the preceding day. Only two or three men generally put in 

 their appearance and these are in the fields the greater part of the day. 

 They only eat, smoke, and sleep in the kiva. The chief priest some- 

 times cards and spins cotton for the manufacture of bdhos later on, 

 sometimes he also goes to his field, and not infrequently he may be 

 seen, wrapped in a thin blanket, silently sitting, sometimes dozing, in 

 the north-west corner of the kiva. 



THIRD CEREMONIAL DAY. 



(LOSH TALA; TWICE LIGHT OR DAY.) 



This day is spent in essentially the same manner as the two previ- 

 ous ones. On one occasion I noticed that several men brought some 

 rabbits with them from the snake hunt. Q6tcvoyaoma had three. 

 Some of the Antelope men were also hunting rabbits. In 1896 in the 

 morning, the snakes that had thus far been captured were put under 

 an inverted jar, which had been brought in early in the morning (or 

 perhaps late on the previous evening). These jars are kept under a 

 rock south of and only a few hundred yards from the village. The 

 jar was placed to the east side of the altar. It had a small opening 

 in the rim and another half-way up on the side of the jar. Both open- 

 ings, as. well as the small open space between the floor and the rim of 

 the jar, were hermetically sealed with mortar. If it is borne in mind 

 that the snakes are piled up on top of each other in this small inclos- 

 ure it seems almost incomprehensible that they do not suffocate. 



In the ceremony of 1898 Macangontiwa's sister ' overhauled the 

 entire kiva, closing up every crack and hole through which a snake 

 might possibly escape. In 1900 this was done by Chief Priest 

 Puhfinomtiwa on th6 second day. The snake jars, of which one was 

 put in on this day in 1896, were put in a day or two later in the other 

 two years, so that it will be seen that the small details of these cere- 

 monies are subject to considerable variation, a fact that I have 

 noticed quite frequently. The vessels, in and under which the snakes 

 are kept also vary very much in size, shape, and kind in the different 

 years and different ceremonies. 



In the morning, at the usual time, the Chief Snake priest again 

 proceeded to the Antelope kiva for the mutual smoke with the Ante- 

 lope priest that has already been described. 



The fact of my having accompanied the snake hunters on the 



' She is also sometimes called Tcu Mana (Rattlesnake Maid). 



