THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



amples of rare and interesting specimens of basketry and 

 pottery. 



In the section devoted to the Hopi exhibit is an exhaus- 

 tive series of images * known as Bahos in the Marau cere- 

 mony and Tihus in the Kachina ceremonies. 



The Hopi, in the month of August of alternate years, 

 hold a Snake Dance, which is the most widely known of all 

 native Indian dances and is largely attended by visitors 

 from all parts of the world. In this dance live rattlesnakes 

 are used, the priests generally holding them in their 

 mouths. Strange to say, snake bites occurring during 

 these ceremonies have seldom proved fatal. 



Another case in this section contains a series of basketry 

 trays used in the women's ceremonies. The dancers ap- 

 pear in the plaza, holding the baskets in their hands and 

 waving them. At the conclusion of the ceremony they are 

 thrown to the spectators, who catch them and preserve 

 them as mementoes. The trays are generally made a short 

 time prior to the dance, and bear designs partly geometri- 

 cal and partly symbolical, representing beans and other 

 products and various divine persons known as Kachinas. 



* These images are not to be considered idols as that word is 

 generally applied, but they do represent supernatural beings, and 

 they are used in ceremonies. After they have been so used, 

 however, they are given to the children to play with as dolls. 

 The more sacred representations of the gods are guarded with 

 jealous care, and are seldom seen except by the initiated mem- 

 bers of the priesthood to whom they belong. In this series is a 

 stone image of a mountain lion, an example of such a sacred 

 object. 



40 



