Page 162 - TheHopiIndians

154 MESA FOLK OF HOPILAND
bower, kiai, to notify the denizens of the underworld
that a ceremony in their honor is progressing. They
face the Antelope chorus, the rattles tremble with a
sound like the warning of the rattlesnake, and a deep,
low-toned chant begins like a distant storm. The
chant increases in volume, the lines sway, then undu
late backward and forward, and at last, in a culmi
nating burst of the chant, the Snake men form in
groups of three and dance around the plaza with a
strange step like a restrained leap. The snakes have
been placed in the kisi in care of the passer hidden
among the boughs. As the trios in succession arrive
before the kisi the carrier drops to his knees, secures
a snake which he grasps in his mouth, rises and dances
around in a circular path four times, when the snake
is dropped to the ground and is picked up with light
ning rapidity by the third member of the trio who re
tains the squirming reptile in his hands. Thus these
groups of demons circle until all the snakes have been
carried. The chant ceases: a priest draws a cloud
symbol in white meal on the rock floor of the mesa, and
with wild action the gatherers throw the snakes on
the meal ; a fierce scramble ensues, and in a moment
one sees the priests running down the trails to deposit
their brothers among the rocks a mile or so away.
After all, no ceremony goes on in Hopiland without
the aid of the gentler sex. While the dance has focussed
the attention of every eye a group of maids and ma
trons, neat and clean as to hair and costume, and hold