290 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. III. 



hohoyaonga and nakwdkwosis, the chief priest, in addition to all this, 

 taking in a blanket some lunch, tobacco and pipes, and all then start 

 off again for another day's snake hunt, this time to the west of the 

 village. In 1896 I went with the hunters this day, and my notes on. 

 that trip read as follows: On the second day I accompanied the party. 

 At the foot of the mesa is situated one of the principal springs, LAnva 

 (Flute Spring). Here the men stopped and all sprinkled a pinch of 

 meal into the spring, two of them also depositing a nakwakwosi. Here 

 the men separated in twos and twos. I joined the two consisting of 

 the chief priest and old Nuvakwahu. Unfortunately the first is 

 entirely blind on one eye, the other one being very poor; Nuvakwahu 

 is also old and feeble, and also nearly blind. So the prospect of see- 

 ing snakes captured was not very encouraging from the start. But 

 the other men were strong and vigorous, and it would have been 

 impossible for me to follow them over the many miles they traveled 

 on that hot day. The party that I followed found no snakes, although 

 they searched very diligently. This was undoubtedly partly due to 

 the fact that a late rain had formed a crust on the surface of the 

 ground, which made it exceedingly difficult to find any snake tracks. 

 I heard many complaints about this, not only from my two compan- 

 ions, but also from the others, and not only on this, but also on the 

 other days. 



At about four o'clock the hunters met at a place agreed upon in 

 the morning. This was a partly finished house near an old spring at 

 which the two Flute Societies have ceremonies on the last day of their 

 celebration. This is situated about two miles and a half northwest of 

 the village. Having placed the snake bags, only one of which con- 

 tained one or two snakes, on the ground, the men grouped around 

 them, and then smoked a while, after which they ate their lunch^ 

 which was followed by another smoke and a short period of rest, 

 whereupon they returned to the village. Having arrived at the kiva, 

 they placed the bags, the empty ones as well as the one containing the 

 snakes, in front of the fetishes, and then sat down near the fireplace, 

 again smoking. During this smoke, I have repeatedly noticed, all 

 are unusually solemn. After the smoking, each man utters a prayer. 

 As soon as the last prayer is spoken the seriousness seems to be 

 broken and a freer intercourse prevails in the kiva, which is still more 

 enlivened by the supper, now arriving, and which is usually thoroughly 

 enjoyed by the tired men. The chief priest goes over to the Antelope 

 kiva again for the usual smoke with the Antelope priest, as he does 

 every evening and morning. The evening is spent in gossip, smok- 

 ing, and resting. 



