Front:
©) BY C. W, WHARTON JAMES
Back:
11
35-HOPI SNAKE DANCE
That the Hopi Indians are the most primitive
i people and their almost inaccessible homes
the most primitive to be found in the United
States is conceded by all travelers. The snake
dance, which takes place in August, is a
pagan ceremony giving thanks for rain and
bounteous harvests. The venomous snakes,
even rattlers, are in no way treated to make
them harmless. The Indians have an antidote
for snake poison which no white man may
know. The dancers are often bitten by rattle-
snakes without fatal results.
OB-H1609
