hoffman] THE SNAKE-BAG TRICK 97 



During a short interval of smoking-, in which most of the medicine 

 men participated, one man retired to arrange for the exhibition of his 

 trick. In a few moments lie returned to the western entrance of the 

 iuclosure, and stood there for an instant until a confederate could 

 approach him to assist. The performer held before him a red flannel 

 bag which measured about 20 inches in width by 30 in depth. Aloug 

 the top of the opening of the bag were attached fluffy white feathers. 

 The upper corners were held by the hands so as to spread out the bag- 

 like a single piece of goods. Then taking the bag between his hands, 

 he rolled it into a "ball to show the beholders that there was nothing 

 within. Again takiug one of the upper corners in each hand, the per- 

 former held the bag once more before the face like a banner, and as 

 he began to dance slowly forward along the southern side of the inclo- 

 sure, his confederate preceded him, dancing backward, chanting with 

 the performer, and making various gestures before the bag. Presently 

 two snake heads began to emerge from the top of the bag, and gradually 

 became more and more exposed to view, until their bodies protruded 

 perhaps 6 iuches (see plate vu). 

 Slowly the heads retreated into the f) 



bag, until the performers had turned 

 at the eastern eud of the iuclosure 

 and were approaching the group of lKS^p^k f 

 chief medicine men, when the singing 

 increased in tone and time, and the 

 snakes again emerged, only to disap- 

 pear in thebagbythetime the perform- 

 ers arrived at the point of starting. |S§|| 

 The principal performer then doubled „, .. T - , , t . , , , 



1 1 L Fig. 14— Inside cynstriiction of snake-bag. 



up the bag, put it in the breast of his 



coat and left the wiko'mik, while the assistant returned to his seat. 



That the trick had made a profound impression on the audience was 

 apparent, and silence reigned everywhere. Although seemingly complex, 

 the whole construction of the interior of the bag became apparent as 

 the performer reached a position between myself and the sunlight. The 

 bag was not fully stretched out, and between the corners held by the 

 thumb and forefinger of each hand was visible a strip of cloth or tape, 

 to the middle of which were attached the ends of the stuffed snakes. 

 These ends were only about 8 inches long, and as the tension upon the 

 tape was lessened, the weight of the snakes' bodies forced them down 

 into the bag. The heads and necks emerged through loops, made of 

 pieces of calico, just large enough for those members to slide through 

 easily (figure 14). 



Another medicine man then came forward to exhibit his skill in 



jugglery. His trick consisted in making some small wooden figures of 



human beings to dance. Sitting flat on the ground in the middle of 



the iuclosure, he stretched out his legs, when an assistant threw across 



14 eth 7 



