TH E
CHEMAW A
A M E R IC A N
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west, n o rth , and south, and twice diagonally. T h e chant was renew ed;
it grew slow er; the rattles were rattled m ore slowly; then the singing
stopped and all was over.
A t the end of the cerem ony I th an k ed my hosts and asked if there
was an y th in g I could do to show my appreciation of the courtesy they
had shown me. T h ey asked if I could send them some cow rie shells,
w hich they use as decorations for the dance. I told th?m I w ould send
them a sackful. T hey shook hands cordially w ith all of us, and we left.
I have never seen a w ilder or, in its way, m ore im pressive spectacle than
th a t of these ch an tin g , sw aying, red-skinned m edicine-m en, their lithe
bodies naked, unconcernedly h an d lin g the death th a t glides and strikes
w hile they held their m ystic w orship in the gray tw ilig h t of the kiva.
T h e ritu al and the soul-needs is m et, and th e symbolism and the dark
savagery, were all relics of an ages-vanished past, survivals of an elder
w orld.
T h e snake dance itself took place in the afternoon at five o ’clock.
T here were m any h u n d red s of onlookers, alm ost as m any w hites as I n
dians, and m ost of th e Indian spectators were in w hite m a n ’s dress, in
stro n g contrast to the dancers. T he antelope priests entered first and
ranged them selves bv a tree-like bundle of cottonw ood branches against
the wall of buildings to one side of the open place where the dance
takes place; th e other side is the cliff edge. T he snakes, in a bag, were
stowed by the bundle of cottonw ood branches. Y oung girls stood near
th e big pillar of stone w ith sacred meal to scatter at the foot of the pil
lar after the snakes had been throw n dow n there an 1 taken away.
T hen the snake priests entered in th eir fringed leather kilts and eagle
plum e head-dress, fox skins h u n g at th e backs of th eir girdles, th eir
bodies were splashed and streaked w ith w hite, and on each of them the
upper part of th e face was painted black and the lower part w hite.
C hanting , stepping in rhythm to the chant, and on one p articu lar stone
slab stam ping h ard as a signal to the underw orld, they circled the
em pty space, and for some m inutes danced opposite the line of antelope
priests. T hen, in couples, one of each couple seizing and carry in g in
his m outh a snake, they began to circle th e space again. T h e leading
couple consisted of one man who had his arm across the shoulder of
another, w hile this second man held in his teeth, by the upper m iddle
of its body, a rattlesnake four feet long, the flat, ace-of-c'.ubs-shaped
head and curving neck of the snake being alm ost against th e m a n ’s
face. R attlesnakes, ribbon-snake, all were carried in the su n ? w iy .
One man carried at the same tim e two small side w inder rattlesnakes in
his m outh. A fter a w hile each snake was throw n on the rock and soon
again picked up and held in his hand, w hile a new snake was held in
th e m outh. F inally, each man carried a bundle of snakes in his hand,