Dig It - 8/4/22
About this time of year, the Hopi preform the “Snake Dance” ceremony. Rattlesnakes and other species are gathered from the four directions and placed in a pit covered by a board and shaded in a bower. This keeps the snakes cool and torpid. Members of the Snake and the Antelope Societies then take the snakes out and dance with them in their mouths while repeating to them prayers, especially for rain. The snakes are then released to tell the Hopi’s prayers to the gods and spirits.
This ceremony was looked upon as bizarre and arcane by outsiders and became a tourist attraction promoted by the Fred Harvey Company until eventually the Hopi limited access to non-Hopi outsiders. This detailed carving of one of the Hopi ceremonial participants was carved in the early 20th century and was undoubtedly made for an outsider to show, this “strange”, exotic” and “dangerous” ceremony. This snake dancer is 19” tall.
See my Story, "They Shall Take Up Serpents” on the Lonesome Prospector blog…
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