A THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE AT WAEl'I 615 



the room was darkened, and in the obscure hght the actors ar- 

 ranged their stage properties. When the bhmkets were drojiped 

 the light revealed on the floor before us an imitation lie-Id of 

 corn, each hill of which was a clay pedestal with projecting 

 corn leaves, and behind it, as a background, a wooden frame- 

 work decorated with peripheral turkey ^ feathers and hung with 

 two disks painted with sun emblems. Pine boughs were so ar- 

 ranged in the framework that they filled all vacant spaces and 

 shielded performers in the rear of the room. Several naked 

 men, called ' mudheads,' wearing on their heads close-fitting 

 cloth bags, with attached knobs, stood before the framework, 

 which was supported by two of their number. The exercises 

 opened with ' roars ' from behind the disks, and vigorous danc- 

 ing by the ' mudheads ' before the screen. 



Soon the flaps of the sun disks swung open and from under 

 them emerged the hideous heads of two snake etiigies, larger 

 than those of the first performance, but similarly constructed. 

 These serpent heads were thrust forward until their serpentine 

 bodies, extended several feet, came into view. Their heads 

 darted back and forth, swaying first to one side, and then to the 

 other, biting viciously now at the audience and then at each other, 

 while deep roars imitating the voice of the serpent emerged 

 from the rear of the room. With one stroke of the head the 

 field of corn was swept over and the serpents twisted their 

 bodies about each other. 



One of the naked men, a ' mudhead ' wearing the knobbed 

 cloth bag, stepped forward and grasped one of the serpent effi- 

 gies by the neck. He pretended to wrestle with the snake, and 

 for a time was successful, but at last the man was overcome 

 and sent sprawling on the floor. Then another advanced to the 

 conflict, and he too was thrown down. A youthful ' mudhead 

 made a like attempt and mounted the effigy, riding on its neck 

 as if on horseback. The whole act was a realistic representation 

 of the struggle of man with the serpent. Ultimately the ser- 

 pents contracted their bodies, drew back their heads behind the 

 flaps, and the performance ended with a prolonged roar from 

 behind the screen. In the darkness which followed, made by 



^Sun shields commonly have eagle feathers iuserted about their borders. 



