158 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184 
the Indians would not admit that it was a case of snake bite; they 
insisted that it was a spider.”’ My informants, also, stoutly main- 
tained that ‘‘no one at Sia has ever died of snake bite.” 
TREATING SNAKE BITE 
If a person is bitten by a snake he should not return to the pueblo» 
but should remain where he is and send someone to Sia to notify a 
member of the Snake society of the incident. The Snake shaman 
will go out and administer first aid to the person who has been bitten; 
that is, he will put ‘‘some snake medicine” upon the bite. Then the 
Snake medicineman will take the bitten person back to the pueblo 
and put him in the ceremonial house of the Snake society where he 
will be kept for 4 days. The Snake society will hold its curing cere- 
monial during this time. No live snakes are used in this ceremony. 
When the 4 days are up the patient is allowed to go home. The 
patient may decide to join the Snake society during the curing cere- 
mony, but he is not obliged to become a member. If he wishes to 
join he will be inducted during the 4-day curing ceremonial. 
INITIATION 
Having been bitten by a snake is not a prerequisite to membership 
in the Snake society. A person may join because he has been dream- 
ing of snakes, for example, as was the case with a man cited by 
Stevenson (1894, p. 86). The person makes known his desire by 
presenting a packet of prayer meal to the head of the society, who 
distributes it, with the petition, among his society members. 
The initiation ceremony will occupy 4 or 5 consecutive days. 
Our information is not wholly consistent as to chronology. Two 
informants stated that snakes were hunted for 4 days and the con- 
cluding ceremony was held on the fifth; another informant posi- 
tively stated that snakes were hunted on 3 days only, and that the 
final rituals were held on the fourth. Stevenson (ibid., p. 86), too, 
stated that snakes were hunted on 3 days only because there were 
only three members of the society at that time and, as a consequence, 
one of the four directions was omitted. I shall proceed on the basis 
of a 5-day ceremony. 
The Snake society retires to its ceremonial house where they fast 
for 4 days. On the first day they call the candidate into their cere- 
monial chamber and tie a turkey cpaiyak (short, fluffy feather) on 
his head. The candidate must remain in his own house all of the 
time during the first 2 (or 3) days, except when he is obliged to go 
out to answer the call of nature. On these occasions he must be 
accompanied by a close relative. ‘He is in a delicate condition 
during this time,” the informant explained. ‘Someone might bump 
