Weird Tales/Volume 2/Issue 3/Weird Snake Dance of Hopis May Be Tabooed

Weird Snake Dance of Hopis May Be Tabooed

THE annual snake dance of the Hopi Indians of Arizona is probably one of the most weird ceremonials, interwoven with traditions and superstitions of the past, that has survived to the present day.

It was observed by these aborigines of the southwest centuries before the advent of the paleface on this continent and has been continued by them in spite of hundreds of years of contact with civilization.

The Hopis were once a great and powerful nation. Today they number approximately a thousand souls, yet this pitifully small remnant of a one-time numerous people has never failed to stage the unique spectacle which annually attracts visitors from all parts of the world.

The dance is said to be a prayer for rain, intended for the great Manitou who supposedly controls the vast heavenly and subterranean reservoirs, beseeching him to release the waters so that springs may flow freely and streams may fill to irrigate the corn lands. Rattlesnakes and other venomous reptiles are carried, wriggling, squirming and hissing, suspended from the mouths of the half-naked dancers. Though many of the participants are bitten during each ceremonial, it is stated that no Hopi ever dies from the effects of the poison.

Authorities have intimated that if the Hopis do not discontinue the dance of their own accord the government may order it stopped, so it is possible that this year’s ceremony may be the last.