SUN WORSHIP FEWKES. 507 



the left arm of the man apparently hanging naturally at his side 

 is a false one, the man's real arm being extended into the body of 

 the serpent through a slit in its back ; his hand grasps a stick which 

 forms the backbone of the reptile. The signification of the proceed- 

 ing is evident. The pcrsonator is the Sky god with his servant the 

 lightning. 



In another act in the series performed at the vernal equinox in 

 Walpi we have the episode of the " Mudheads " struggling with a 

 serpent effigy protruded through an opening closed by a disk on 

 which is depicted the sun symbol. The performance is shown in 

 plate 4. 



If not too tiresome we may consider another act in this series of 

 weird dramatizations. It is recorded in legends that at one time the 

 Great Serpent rose in the middle of the court of an ancient village 

 until his head projected to the clouds. As this monster emerged 

 from the earth he drew after him an overflow of water that covered 

 the whole land, and drove the inhabitants to the mountains. When 

 a flood covered the earth, the chief of the village, speaking to the 

 serpent, whose head was in the zenith, said " Why do you thus de- 

 stroy my people?" The snake replied, "You have a bad man, or 

 wizard, in your number who bewitches you. I will not return to 

 earth until you sacrifice to me your son." Sorrowfully the chief fol- 

 lowed this demand for the relief of his people and threw his son into 

 the water, and the serpent sank into the earth, dragging after him 

 the flood that he had brought. Upon this legend is based the act of 

 the Hopi drama at the spring equinox, which is dramatized as fol- 

 lows : 



After the same preliminaries that precede other acts, while the 

 room is dark, a new set of actors descend the ladder and place on the 

 floor near the ceremonial opening two pottery vessels (pi. 5), on the 

 sides of which are painted pointed star emblems, symbolizing the 

 sky god. The openings of these jars are closed with semicircular flaps, 

 four in number, attached to the rims of the vessels. The chorus, 

 seated around these vessels, are the clowns who wear hideous masks 

 covered with clay balls ; they are supposed to represent archaic men 

 who peopled the earth before the advent of the present race. This 

 act, like the others, is accompanied throughout with song; and as 

 the singing rises in volume there emerges from each jar the head of 

 a serpent effigy, which mounts to the roof of the kiva, dragging its 

 body behind it until its whole length is visible. 



They do not leave the bowls, being attached to the rims. They be- 

 gin to twist their bodies together and appear to bite at each other 

 as if angry. They even bend down and sweep over a miniature field 

 of corn arranged on the floor, after which they slowly sink back into 



