970 TUSAYAN FLUTE AND SNAKE CEREMONIES [ETH. ANN. 19 
SNAKE-HUNTING IMPLEMENTS 
It is customary for the Snake priests on the four snake hunts to dig 
out the reptiles from their holes with sticks and hoes. These imple- 
ments are left on the kiva roof overnight, or while the priests are in 
the pueblos, and must not be carried to the homes of the owners until 
the close of the dance. There were noted at Mishongnovi many Hopi 
planting sticks, a number of American hoes, several old Mexican mat- 
tocks, and flat iron knives, also of Mexican manufacture, tied to 
sticks. At Walpi, Mexican implements have almost wholly passed out 
of use, but in the Middle mesa villages and at Oraibi they are still 
employed. The Snake chief would not part with one of these hoes 
during the ceremony, but had no objection to selling one or more of 
them after the festival. 
WasHING THE REPTILES 
One of the weirdest of the many features of the Snake ceremony 
in the Hopi pueblos is the washing of the reptiles used by the priests. 
This occurs inall the villages just after noon of the ninth day, and is pre- 
paratory to bringing the snakes to the public plaza, from which they 
are later taken and carried by members of the Snake society in the 
presence of spectators. The details of this rite, as performed at 
Waipi, have been described, but no one has yet recorded the variants 
of snake washing in the other four Hopi villages where it is celebrated. 
In order to gather information in regard to snake washing in the 
other pueblos, the author attended the performance of this rite at 
Mishongnovi on August 17, 1897. The snake washing at Oraibi and 
on the Middle mesa pueblos is greatly modified by the absence of a sand 
altar such as existsat Walpi. In considering the reason for the absence 
of the Snake altars in these villages, a corresponding absence of a Snake 
tiponi or badge of chieftaincy is to be noted. Walpi, on the East 
mesa, is the only Hopi village that has a Snake tiponi. 
Considerable time was spent before the snake washing began in get- 
ting the reptiles out of the four canteens in which they were kept 
when not moving about freely in the kiva. These canteens are of 
baked clay similar to those in which the women carry water on their 
backs to the pueblos from the springs at the base of the mesa. A 
hole is punched in the middle of the convex side, and both this and 
the opening at the neck are closed with corncobs. The reptiles were 
transferred with difficulty from these vessels to cloth bags, and were laid 
on the floor near the fireplace. A considerable quantity of sand was 
brought into the room and spread on the floor on one side of the 
kiva. A board was placed on a stone seat along the edge of this 
sand, down the middle of the kiva, and upon this board the Snake 
priests seated themselves, facing the sanded floor. They were closely 
