STEVENSON.] THE SNAKE ORDER. 87 



be met by auy member of the society be would be made to assist iu the 

 gathering of the snakes. 



An emetic is t ken these four days for purification from conjugal rela- 

 tions, and contiiiency is observed during this period. The emetic is 

 composed of the stalks and roots of two plants, which are crushed on 

 a stone slab by the ho'naaite and mixed with water when he designates 

 the member to ijlace it over the fire. It is drunk slightly warm. 



The decoction so constantly drank by the Tusayan Indians previous 

 to their snake ceremonial is an emetic, and is taken for the same purpose, 

 and not, as some suppose, to prevent the poisonous efl'ect of snake bites. 

 Medicine for the snake bite is employed only after one has been bitten; 

 for this iHU'pose the Sia use the plant Aplopapus spinulosus (Indian name 

 ha'-ti-ni) in conjunction with ka' wai-aite, a mixture of thepollon of edi- 

 ble and medicinal plants. An ounce of the plant medicine is put into 

 a quart of water and boiled; about a gill is drunk warm, three times 

 daily, during the four days and the afflicted part is bathed in the tea, 

 and wrapped with a cloth wet with it. An hour after each draught of 

 the tea a pinch of the ka'waiaite is drunk in a gill of water. The pa- 

 tient is secluded four days ; should one suffering from a snake bite look 

 upon a woman furnishing nourishment for an infant, death would be 

 the i-esult. The Zuiii have the same superstition. 



The fifth day a conical structure of cornstalks bearing ripe fruit is 

 erected some 70 feet east of the log liouse, iu a ravine parallel with the 

 side of the house, and a sand painting is made by the ho'naaite on the 

 floor of the house ; and when the painting is completed he takes his 

 seat in the west end of the room (the entrance being in the east end), 

 the male members of the society sitting on his right and left, and the 

 women forming right angles at either end of the line. The novitiates 

 are seated southwest of the sand painting, and all are necessarily close 

 together, as the room is very small. 



The ritual begins with the rattle and song, and after the song the 

 ho'naaite passing before the line of women on the north side takes a 

 snake from a vase, and, holding it a hand's span from the head, ad- 

 vances to the east of the sand painting (which is similar in PL xiv, 

 with the addition of two slightly diverging lines, one of corn poUen, 

 the other of black pigment, extending from the painting to the 

 entrance of the house), and lays it between the lines, with its head 

 to the east. 



There are two vases in niches in the north wall near the west end (PI. 

 xxxy) ; one holds the snakes, and the other receives them after they 

 have been passed through the ceremony. At the close of the prayer 

 now offered, he says, "Go to your home; go far; and remain there con- 

 tentedly. " He then sprinkles corn pollen upon the snake's head, which 

 rite is repeated by each member; the snake, according to the vice-ho'- 

 naaite's statement, extending its tongue and eating the pollen, " the 

 snake having no hands, puts his food into his mouth with his tongue." 



