It Appears Elsewhere,* And Forms The Burden Of The
Sixteen Dramatic Songs Sung In The Secrecy Of The Underground Ceremonial
Kivas Of The Snake And Antelope Clans, In The Nine Days Of Preliminary
Ceremonial, Which Culminate In The Open-Air Public Dance.
* See Indians of the Pointed Desert Region.
Antelope Race and Corn Scramble. There are two other ceremonies connected
with the Snake Dance that may be witnessed by all who like. These are the
antelope race and the corn scramble. The former takes place on the morning
of the eighth day before sunrise. Though apparently a mere test of athletic
ability, it is in reality a religious ceremonial. For centuries, the Hopi
lived surrounded by warlike people who preyed upon them. Being few in
number, living in a desert land, and beset by murderous marauders,
fleetness of foot and great "staying" powers while running over the long
trails of the sandy deserts became an essential condition of national
preservation. Hence the priests made the cultivation of the bodily powers a
matter of religion. Every youth was compelled to exercise to the utmost.
The result is a fine athletic development. Each year many great races are
run, and two of the chief of these are at the Snake Dance, there being a
race on both the eighth and ninth mornings.
At the end of that fierce race across the hot sands and up the steep mesa,
the winner exultantly stands before the chief priests. The lightning bearer
then throws the zigzag symbols over him, and rain clouds are pictured at
his feet. Then he is hurried on to the antelope kiva, where another priest
gives to him the sacred gourd full of water and a sack full of sacred
meal, with certain ceremonial prayer sticks, which, placed and used in his
cornfield, ensure to him an extra fine crop at the next harvest.
In the meantime, a number of young men and boys have followed the rest of
the racers, bearing in their hands cornstalks, melon vines and fruit. As
soon as they reach the level mesa top, the women and girls dart upon them,
and a most good-natured but exciting scuffle takes place. For five to ten
minutes this scramble lasts, and when every corn or vine carrier is rid of
his gifts, the play is at an end, and all retire to await the great event
of the whole ceremony, - the open-air dance, when the deadly reptiles are
carried in the mouths of the priests.
Preparation for Snake Dance. At noon a secret ceremony takes place in the
dark recesses of the kiva, viz.: the washing of the elder brothers (as the
snakes are called), which I have fully described in "The Indians of the
Painted Desert Region." When the afternoon shadows lengthen, every
available place in the dance plaza is speedily occupied by the villagers
and visitors, who wait the march of the antelope priests. The photographers
present must keep within a certain line.
Arrival of Snake Priests.
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