88 THE SIA. 



The snake is then placed around the throat and head and over the 

 body of the novitiate. 



Though the suake can not speak, he hears all that is said, and when 

 he is placed to the body he listens attentively to the •woi-ds of the 

 ho'naaite, who asks him to look upon the boy and give the boy wisdom 

 like his own that the boy may grow to be wise and strong like himself, 

 for he is now to become a member of the third degree of the Snake 

 division of the society. The ho'naaite then prays to the snake that he 

 will exhort the cloud rulers to send their people to water the earth, 

 that she may bear to them the fruits of her being. 



The snake is not only implored to intercede with the cloud rulers to 

 water the earth that the Sia may have abundant food, but he is 

 invoked in conjunction with the sun-father in the autumn and winter 

 to provide them with blankets and all things necessary to keep them 

 warm. 



Propitiatory prayers are not offered to the snakes, as, according to the 

 Sia belief, the rattlesnake is a peaceful, and not an angry agent. They 

 know he is friendly, because it is what the old men say, and their 

 fathers' fathers told them, and they also told them that it was the 

 same with the snakes in Mexico. " In the summer the snake passes 

 about to admire the flowers, the trees and crops, and all things beau- 

 tiful." 



The snake is afterwards placed in the empty vase, and the vice 

 ho'naaite repeats the ceremony with a second snake, and this rite is 

 followed by each member of the Snake division of the society. The 

 ho'naaite then directs his vicar aTid another member of the society to 

 carry the vases to the grotto (the conical structure outside) and the 

 latter to remain in the gTotto with the snakes; he then with a novitiate 

 by his side passes from the house, and approaching the grotto stands 

 facing it while the vicar and other male members of the society form in 

 line from east to west facing the north, the vice and novitiate standing 

 at the west end of the line. 



Those of the Snake division wear fringed kilts of buckskin with the 

 rattlesnake painted upon them, the fringes being tipped with conical 

 bits of tin. The ho'naaite's kilt is more elaborate than the others, the 

 fringes having fawns' toes in addition to the tin. Their moccasins are 

 of fine buckskin painted with kaolin. The hair is flowing. The body of 

 the one to receive the third degree is colored black with a fungus found 

 on cornstalks, crushed and mixed with water. The face is jiainted red 

 before it is colored black, and a red streak is painted under each eye, sym- 

 bolic, they say, of the lines under the snakes' eyes. A fluffy eagle plume 

 is attached to the top of the head, and the face is encircled with down 

 from the hawk's breast. The hands and feet are painted red, and the 

 body zigzagged with kaolin, symbolic of lightning. The buckskin kilt 

 is painted white, with a snake upon it, and white moccasins are worn 

 (PI. X C). The other members of the society do not have their bodies 



