112 



NATURE 



[June 4, 1903 



The Snake priests begin shaking their snake whips, beat- 

 ing time to the set of traditional songs which they now 

 sing ; the chief priest now plunges his hands into the sack 

 and grabs as many snakes as possible, and thrusts them 

 into the medicine bowl in front of him, then violently casts 

 fhem upon the floor of the kxva immediately in front of the 

 priests, the floor having been covered with a two-inch layer 

 of sand. This continues until all the snakes have been 



I'lo. I.— Antt-lope Priests leaving 



washed, the priests herding the snakes with their whips, 

 hands and bare feet. 



The remainder of the afternoon is spent by the priests of 

 both fraternities in properly costuming themselves for the 

 final and public performance, which begins as the sun is 

 about to sink behind the San Francisco Mountains in the 

 west. 



In the meantime three or four naked 

 boys have been herding the snakes in 

 a corner of the kiva and playing with 

 them, tossing them, one to another, 

 with a reckless abandon which at first 

 is startling and finally commonplace. 



The hour having arrived for the 

 dance, the snakes are again gathered 

 up, thrust into a sack, and carried by 

 one of the priests to the hisi in the 

 plaza, within which he secretes himself. 

 The Antelope priests are first to leave 

 their kiva, and proceed in single file, 

 led by their chief priest, to the plaza, 

 which they circle four times and halt 

 in line in front of the hisi. They are 

 closely followed by the Snake priests, 

 who perform similar solutions, halting 

 also in front of the hisi, but facing the 

 Antelope priests. The appearance of the 

 men at this time, as they proceed to the 

 plaza, is very striking and beautiful, 

 forming a sight not to be forgotten. 

 In this attitude they sing several songs, 

 the time to which is kept by the snake 

 men with their snake whips and long 

 black bahos, and by the antelope men 

 with their peculiar Antelope rattles. As 

 the singing proceeds the positions of the 

 bodies of the men are changed from time 

 to time, in accordance, presumably, with the movement of 

 the drama. As the end of a certain song is reached the 

 man at the head of the line of the Snake priests leaves his 

 position, passes down to the centre of the line of the Ante- 

 lope priests and in front of the feist, where he stops, passes 

 his hand in between the Antelope priests, and receives from 

 the priest within the kisi a snake, which he grasps with his 



NO. 1753. VOL. 68] 



lips, at a position about four inches from the snake's head. 



He is called the " carrier." He is followed by a second 



Snake priest called the " hugger," who passes his arm 



over the first priest's shoulder and, with his snake whip, 



guards the " carrier's " face from the snake's head. The 



" hugger," in turn, is followed by the third Snake priest, 



known as the " gatherer," whose duty it is to pick up the 



snake should it wriggle from the " carrier's " mouthy and 



so the entire line of Snake priests files 



by the kisi, every third man receiving. a 



live snake, which he places in his mouth. 



Thus they proceed in an elongated 



^^ ( ircuit, each " carrier " dropping his 



snake as he. again approaches the kisi, 



where he receives a fresh snake. By 



the time all the snakes have been passed 



out, the hands of the " carriers " are 



well filled with the wriggling snakes. 



A circle of white meal is now spread 

 iijion the ground in front of the Ante- 

 ii pe priests, into which the " carriers " 

 1 ast the snakes in one heap. The Snake 

 priests now i:un. by the snakes, and each 

 man plunges both hands into the mass, 

 and, grasping as many as he can, starts 

 ' (f down the mesa-side, the first man to 

 I he north, the second to the west, and 

 -■) on, until all the snakes have been 

 I'lnoved, each priest depositing his 

 nakes together with a baho half-way 

 ' * ■• 'own the side of the mesa. 



The antelope priests, in the meantime, 

 ».- c^^,,:.L'.- have again circled the plaza four times, 



and have returned to the roof of the 

 Snake kiva, where they and the now 

 returning Snake priests drink freely 

 from the great bowls of emetic which produces violent 

 vomiting. The priests now repair to their respective kivas, 

 where they disrobe. In the Snake kiva there is an addi- 

 tional discharming ceremony, followed by a feast, this 

 being the first food the chief priests have taken for four 

 days, and the other priests since the preceding day. 



aviiig ilie Ki 



The four days following this public performance are de- 

 voted largely to sports and games of children, in which 

 struggles for prizes of corn, melons, &c., together with 

 rabbit hunts, play an important part. 



The performances just described in outline only dramatise 

 the legend of the Snake clan. The entire movement of the 

 ceremony has for its immediate and ultimate object the 



