June 4, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



509 



habitat. The antelope gens were the first to 

 arrive, and were guided to their present location 

 by the snake-woman. The snake order was insti- 

 tuted to commemorate this event. 



The costume of the antelopes was much more 

 brilliant than that of the snake-men. Each of the 

 former carried in his hand a small, round, T- 

 shaped rattle painted in white and green, the top 

 and edges being white. The fore-arm was covered 

 with white cloth. Around the waist was a sash 

 of cotton embroidered in red and green in geo- 

 metrical patterns ; and hanging down halfway to 

 the knee was a kilt, embroidered in the same 

 style, and, like the sash, woven of cotton. Each 

 performer, both the antelopes and snakes, wore 

 two or more strings of shell beads around his 

 neck, and, suspended from them, a brilliant halio- 

 tis shell. When the performer did not possess 

 such a shell, he wore in its place a small circular 

 mirror, such as is furnished by the traders. The 

 breasts and upper arms were decorated in pinkish- 

 white clay, with the conventional snake design, — 

 a zigzag line. Suspended from the back of the 

 sash hung a coyote-skin, the tail of which just 

 reached the ground. The legs, from the knee 

 down, were painted with the clay before men- 

 tioned. They wore anklets of red and green 

 worsted on the ankles ; and the feet, in some cases 

 were bare, and painted with clay, in others were 

 shod in ordinary moccasons. There seemed to be 

 no rule for the antelope-men. The faces of all the 

 performers were painted black, from the line of 

 the mouth down. Both parties wore a small 

 bunch of red feathers in the hair. 



The snake-men wore the same kind of beads 

 and shells as the others. The painting of the 

 body differed somewhat : instead of the zigzag- 

 line, they had triangular-shaped blotches of pink- 

 ish clay on each breast, and on the upper arms 

 near the shoulders. On the upper arm also, on 

 both sides, they wore bracelets of bark, painted 

 white. The fore-arm was painted with clay. The 

 kilt was of the same style as that worn by the 

 others, but of a red color. Running around it 

 horizontally was a conventionalized drawing of a 

 snake in black and white. At the knee they wore 

 the regular garter in use by all the Indians of this 

 , region ; and attached to the right leg, just below 

 the knee, was a rattle, formed of a tortoise-shell 

 with attached sheep or antelope hoofs, which 

 made a most dismal clanking sound whenever the 

 wearer moved his leg. The leg, from the knee 

 down, was painted with clay ; and the feet were 

 shod in moccasons of red buckskin, with an at- 

 tached fringe at the top, all looking very new and 

 bright. These performers also wore the wolf-skin. 



The leader of the dance, or high priest, carried 



a buzzing-stick, which failed to work properly, 

 however, and w r as soon discarded. 



The antelope-men, some ten in number, came 

 in first. They entered in single file, and marched 

 around four times in an irregular circle, approach- 

 ing the hut from the north. They then took up 

 their positions on either side of the hut, facing 

 out. The snake-men, about fifteen in number, 

 then entered the court, marching in the same di- 

 rection as the others had. As they passed the 

 hut, they scattered some sacred meal, and stamped 

 on a concealed board in front of the door. This 

 board is buried in the ground, immediately in 

 front of the door of the hut, and a hollow scooped 

 out under the middle of it. Each performer, as 

 he passes, scatters some sacred meal (which is a 

 form of prayer), and stamps on this board, pro- 

 ducing a loud, hollow sound. The object is to call 

 the attention of the gods to the zeal of the perform- 

 er, that he may be properly rewarded. By an- 

 other version, if a dancer succeeds in breaking this 

 board, which is nearly two inches thick, any wish 

 that he may make for two succeeding years will 

 be granted. As the same board is used continu- 

 ously until it wears out, it must be occasionally 

 broken. It is possible, however, that the man 

 who gave me this version invented it. 



After this stamping had been repeated- four 

 times, the snake-men formed a line, facing the 

 antelopes, and about six feet distant from them. 

 The antelopes then commenced a low chant, in 

 which the snake-men joined. Occasionally the 

 measure was changed for a few moments, and 

 they made a gesture with the feather wands which 

 each man carried in his right hand. The chant 

 was kept up without intermission during the en- 

 tire dance, and was accompanied by a peculiar 

 rhythmical swaying motion of the body. When 

 the feather-shaking had been repeated four times, 

 the snake-men broke their line, and grouped 

 themselves in front of the door of the hut. A 

 moment later the group parted, and one of the 

 performers appeared, holding in his mouth a 

 snake. A companion (also a snake-man) joined 

 him, passing his left arm over the first man's 

 shoulder ; and the pair passed around on the line 

 previously pursued, with the peculiar step w hich, 

 for want of a better name, is called a dance. 

 The companion carried in his right hand one of 

 the feather wands before referred to, consisting of 

 two large feathers (said to be those of the wild 

 turkey) mounted in a short wooden handle, with 

 a small red feather dangling from the end. This 

 wand was constantly and very skilfully used by 

 the companion to distract the attention of the 

 snake held in the mouth of the other, and to keep 

 its head forward. The man who carried the 



