SNAKE-DANCE OF THE HOPIS—THEIR 
IMMUNITY TO THE BITE 
Much has been written of the fearlessness of the Hopi In¬ 
dians of Arizona in handling rattlesnakes, and of their freedom 
from fatalities when bitten during their snake-dances or at 
other times. It is rather generally conceded by intelligent 
readers that they are either immune to the venom or have 
developed an antidote both simple and 100 per cent effective. 
Writers occasionally overexert themselves in a vain endeavor 
to prove that what appears a great mystery is simple in the 
extreme, in that the priests, or medicine men of the tribe do, 
prior to the ceremonies, remove the fangs of the reptiles, thus 
rendering them harmless. Other writers, equally sincere and 
trustworthy, insist that they have witnessed these ceremonies 
at such close range that they actually saw ugly flesh wounds 
inflicted upon the bodies and ofttimes in the face of those par¬ 
ticipating in the ceremony, and without harmful effects. The 
writer entertains the suspicion that the modern scientific white 
man is entirely too loath to admit that the “Poor Indian” has 
at least one secret formula they are unable to duplicate in the 
laboratories of the entire scientific world. Case of an offended 
pride, no doubt. In this connection it is worth noting that Hopi 
Indians do not die of the bite, and this cannot be said for anti- 
venin, the much-heralded concoction of the modern scientific 
world. 
George E. Coleman, of the George Williams Hooper Foun¬ 
dation for Medical Research, University of California Medi¬ 
cal School, San Francisco, writing in the Bulletin of the Anti- 
venin Institute of America, Vol. I, No. 4, Ja., 1928, gave the 
following brief account of his visit to the ceremony of the 
Hopis, and of his limited knowledge acquired on the occasion, 
of the nature of antidote used: 
“I was present at two of the snake-dances last August and 
asked many questions of the educated and intelligent Indians. 
The following statements were made to me by them: 
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