Page 163 - TheHopiIndians

MESA FOLK OP HOPILAND 155

ing trays of sacred meal, have sprinkled the dancers
and snakes as they passed by. The Antelopes take up
their line, march around the plaza the required num
ber of times, file away to their kiva, and the public
dance is over. Those who wish, however, go to the
mesa side to see the effects of the powerful emetic
taken by the Snake priests as a purification. At
Walpi, the old Snake Woman, Saalako, brews the medi
cine, and she knows how many black bettles must be
stewed in this concoction of herbs. Last, but not least,
comes the feast consumed with the appetite of youth
amid general rejoicing if the August rain cumuli
burst over the fields. For several days after the
Snake Dance the young and not too old play jolly
comes the feast consumed with the appetite of youth,
childlike simplicity.
A bite from a venomous snake so rarely occurs that
there is no eye witness, so far as is known, to such
happening. The fangs are not extracted, nor are the
snakes stupefied. Careful handling and the herding
of the reptiles with others of their kind before the
ceremony perhaps give the explanation.
The Snake Ceremony, whose wild scenes rack the
nerves of the onlooker, is a prayer for rain and is based
on a legend whose sentiment might be applauded if
the other passive actors were not subject to an in
stinctive enmity. Snakes are blood brothers of the
Hopi Snake clan.
The legend relates that a youth, having the curiosity