She Now Does Up Her Hair In Two Large Coils Or Whorls,
One On Each Side Of The Head, Which Is Meant To Resemble A
Full-Blown Squash Blossom And Signifies That The Wearer Is Of
Marriageable Age And In The Matrimonial Market.
It gives her a
striking yet not unbecoming appearance, and, if her style of
coiffure were adopted by modern fashion it would be something
unusually attractive.
As represented by Donaldson in the
eleventh census report the handsome face of Pootitcie, a maiden
of the pueblo of Sichomovi, makes a pretty picture that even her
white sisters must admire. After marriage the hair is let down
and done up in two hard twists that fall over the shoulders.
This form represents a ripe, dried squash blossom and means
fruitfulness.
Her dress is not Spanish nor yet altogether Indian, but is
simple, comfortable and becoming, which is more than can be said
of some civilized costumes. She chooses her own husband,
inherits her mother's name and property and owns the house in
which she lives. Instead of the man owning and bossing
everything, as he so dearly loves to do in our own civilization,
the property and labor of the Moqui husband and wife are equally
divided, the former owning and tending the fields and flocks and
the latter possessing and governing the house.
The Moquis are famous for their games, dances and festivals,
which have been fully described by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes in
various reports to the Smithsonian Institution. They have many
secret orders, worship the supernatural, and believe in
witchcraft. Their great fete day is the Snake Dance, which is
held in alternate years at Walpi and Oraibi, at the former place
in the odd year and at the latter place in the even year, some
time during the month of August. It is purely a religious
ceremony, an elaborate supplication for rain, and is designed to
propitiate the water god or snake deity.
Preliminary ceremonies are conducted in the secret Kiva several
days preceding the public dance. The Kiva is an underground
chamber that is cut out of the solid rock, and is entered by a
ladder. It has but a single opening on top on a level with the
street, which serves as door, window and chimney. The room is
only used by the men, and is, in fact, a lodge room, where the
members of the several secret orders meet and engage in their
solemn ceremonials. It is a sacred place, a holy of holies,
which none but members of a lodge may enter, and is carefully
guarded.
The snakes used in the dance are all wild, and captured out on
the open plain. Four days prior to the dance the snake men,
dressed in scanty attire and equipped with their snake-capturing
paraphernalia, march out in squads and scour the surrounding
country in search of snakes. One day each is spent in searching
the ground towards the four points of the compass, in the order
of north, west, south and east, returning at the close of each
day with their catch to the Kiva, where the snakes are kept and
prepared for the dance.
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