I Married a Ranger

visit to Supai, Ran

Snake Dance?

ke Dance, and

nd the crazy redskins hop around with rat

Joe about it," I replied, indignant that Charl

f of the Hopi Indians. He made his home with the Spencer

he Chief and Ranger Fisk

the rain gods telling them of the need for rain in Hopi land. He did

e told me that the Government at Washington was opposed to their Snake Dance. He told me to bear in mind that water is the very breath of life to the de

the meager water supply in the Reservation. We dropped down to Flagstaff, and there on every street corner and in e

vajo men on their tough little ponies, but they were sullen and refused to answer my waves to them. While we repaired a puncture, a tiny Navajo girl in her full calico skirt and small velvet basque drove her flock of sheep near and shyly watched us. I of

would turn into embryo Colorados. I found myself hoping that the Snake Danc

he Southern mountains. The water was caught in a scooped-out place under the cliff, crudely walled in with stones to keep animals away. Some stray cattle, however, had passed the barrier and perished there, for their bones protruded from the soft earth surrounding the pool. It was not an appetizing sight. Rude steps were c

time in the night I roused sufficiently to be glad that all stray rattlers, bull snakes, and their ilk were securely housed in the kivas being prayed over by the pri

they are going out to co

s! Haven't they been gar

east." He glanced at me. "Provided, of course, that they don't show up here of their own accord. I have heard that

ar tomorrow night and the nex

l you slee

themselves. Not that I'm afraid of snakes," I hastened to add; "but I'd hate to delay any

y by renting a room in

iving as they do in the very heart of a barren, arid waste, they control very little land worth taking from them and have therefore been unmolested longer than they otherwise would have been. They invite li

naccessible and undesirable region they could find in which to make a determined and successful stand against the Spanish and the hated friars, they have positively subjugated the desert. Its every resource is known and utilized for their benefit. Is there an underground irrigation that moistens the soil, they have searched it out and thrust their seed corn into its fertile depths. The rocks are used to build their houses; the co

tribe who had visited at the Grand Canyon, so we found a wa

a cheery wave of the hand. This is not the way the sullen Navajos greet strangers. We saw many of that n

make the rain come?" I asked a young H

. They b

their Reservation." That was a new thought to the Hopi and we left him staring over the de

this was-where the men do the weaving and the wives build the houses. For the women do build those houses. They are made from stone brought up from the desert far below, and then they are thickly plastered with a mixture of adobe and water. Many families live in the same pueblo, but there are no openings

me up there. Many family groups were eating meals, all sitting in a circle around the food placed in dishes on the floor. It was difficult to see what they were serving, on account of the swarms of flies that settled on everything around. I saw corn on the ear, and in many places a sort of bean stew. Where there was a baby to be cared for, the oldest woman in the family sat apart and hel

age. One pretty maiden with marvelous masses of gleaming black hair volunteered to help us interview her uncle, an old Snake Priest, about his religion. We found "Uncle" lounging in the sunshine, mending his disreputable moccasi

information from a reluctant Indian I have never come across it

vas" are filled with the various secret orders, corresponding to our lodges, going through their mystic ceremonies. From the top of the ladder that

king "bahos," or prayer sticks. These little pleas to spirits are found stuck all over the place. If a village is particularly blessed, t

is located dozing in the sun, he is first sprinkled with the sacred meal. If he coils and shows fight the ever trusty feather is brought into play. He is stroked and soothed with it, and pretty soon he relaxes and st

so firmly base their beli

God taught him the magic of making the rain fall on Hopi fields. They became fast friends, and when the Hopi returned to his home the Snake God presented him with his two daughters, one for a wife to the Hopi's brother, who belonged to the Antelope Clan, and the other to become hi

t on their pottery, and basket makers add the last row of weaving to the baskets. These wares are displayed in every doorway and window, where they

this piki, and it is piled high on flat baskets. It is made of cornmeal and water, and is baked on hot flat stones. The stone is first greased with hot mutton tallow, then

s them going to the spring, where they sit and gossip a while before starting back with their burdens. It takes about the last of the hoarded water to

the young braves to that effect. In Hopi land the girl chooses her own husband, proposes, and then takes him to live in her house. If she tires of him she throws his belongings o

e fields are planted, brush shelters are built and the infirm members of the tribe stay there to protect the fields from rabbits and burros. Who could blame a hungry little burro for making away with a luscious

er up to the village, could better be spent cultivating the crops. Therefore, many attempts have been made to move the H

s and corn fields. The blazing sun beats down appallingly. A purple haze quivers over the world. But evening comes, and as the sun drops out of sight a pink glow spreads over the eastern sky, giving a soft radiance to the landscape below. Soon this desert glow fades, and shadows cr

fathers' and their fathers' home before them. They are contented and happy. Why leave the

grilling race to reach the village. The first to arrive would secure the sacred token bestowed by the Head Priest. This would insure fruitful crops from his planting next year and, perhaps more important, the most popular girl in the village would probably choose hi

hief gleefully and displayed a small flask he had hidden under his coat. I wondered if he had fortified himself with liquor in case of snakebite. He surely had! And how? He had heard for years of the secret antidote that is prepared by the Snake Priest and his wife, to be used all during the nine days the snakes are being handled. He traveled there from Chicago to secure a sample of that mixture. He found the ready ear of a H

ther ollas of water. This is a matter of politeness. Since the

would begin just before sundown and last perhaps half an hour. Owners of houses were charging a do

ous ceremony and that to the Indians it was as sacred as could be any High C

ng shells draped over his chest, appeared, carrying the olla of snakes. The

tune all the time. Then they gathered in front of the kiva, where the snakes could be heard keeping up a constant dull rattling, and chanted this same tune seven times, stamping on the boards that covered the opening to the Underworld, in order that the gods down

ncer's shoulders and his other hand occupied with a bunch of feathers with which he kept the snake's head from coming too close to the dancer's face. Entirely around the ring they went until the starting-place had been reached, when, with a quick, sha

f the snakes were active, angry rattlers. The first dancer was an old man, gray-headed, and rather stooped. He had a poor hugger, for at least three times during the dance the hugger let a rattler strike the old priest. Once the priest flinche

om that bite?"

cred meal. Into this all the snakes were dumped, and more meal was sprinkled on them. Then each carrier, of which there were four, gathered all the snakes he could grasp by thrusting his arms into the squirming mass, and one carrier departed in each direction. We watched one running swiftly down the cliff until he reached the l

heir paint and prepared to join in the feast

d pressed him for an explanation of why the snake

old. For nine days they fast, partaking of no food, and only of herb drinks prepared by our wise ones. They have many sweat baths and get the harmful fluids out of their blood. They have absolutely no fear of the snakes, and convey

ribe know of this s

I die my squaw tell the secret to my so

ue in Arizona, it is seldom that twenty-four hours elapse after the dance