The Unwritten Literature of the Hopi

th and the Wu-wu

l reference to its own clan. All of them claim, however, a common origin in the interior of the earth, and although the place of emergenc

many years among the Hopi and collected these sacred tales from the priests and old

ths, in a region of darkness and moisture; their bodies w

r) and Baholinkonga (plumed serpent of enormous size, genius of water)

Another magic cane brought them to a higher plane, with more light and vegetation, and here was the creation of the animal kingdom. Singing was always the chief magic

war gods, others say by the mocking bird. At any rate, it is important to observe tha

gns on the kiva sand altars, and by the unconnected circle on pottery, basketry, and textiles. Doubtless the most direct representation of this opening to the underworld is the sipapu or ceremonial small round opening in the floor

rgence song, the very song sung by the mocking bird at the original emergence, according to Voth.[21] This ceremony is a prayer to the powers of the underworld for prosperity and for germination of new life, human, animal, and vegetable. Fewkes called this the New Fire Ceremony, and in the course of the eight-day ceremonial the kindling of new fi

ll important matters. "It was always that way." (2) While the magic song lasted the people came through the sipapu, but when the song ended no more could come through, and there was weeping and wailing. Singing is today the absolutely indispensable element in all magic rites. There may be variation in the details of some performances, but "unless

nderworld is based firmly upon an extension of this myth, as told to Voth,[22] for

s death, tossed up a ball of meal and declared that the unlucky person upon whose head it descended should be thus discovered to be the guilty party and thrown back down into the underworld. T

lptor, who lived among them only a few years ago and enjoyed a rare measure o

s. Mr. Koptu, who had done some studies of this fine Hopi head, was i

here. Since his life had been duly religious and acceptable to the gods, it was the belief of both Supela and his friends that he would make the journey in four days, which is record time for the trip, when one has no obstacles in the way of atonements or punishments to work off en-route. Supela promised this, and the people looked for its fulfillme

sit of a Hopi youth to the underworld and his return to the earth with an account of having passed on the way many suffering individuals engaged in painful pursuits and unable to go on until the gods decreed they had suffered enough. He had also seen a great smoke arising from a pit where the hope

igrati

ntirety included here. Every clan has its own, and even today keeps the story green in the minds of

gathered together and given each a separate speech or language by the mocking bird, "who can talk every way."

separate ways. And after many many generations they arrived at their present destination f

he Snake people were the firs

l version the writer has encountered is the one given to A.M. Stephen, fifty years ago, by

nd of a rainbow, which swung around until the end touched Navajo Mountain, where the bags dropped from it; and wherever their bags dropped, there

the star shone; when it disappeared they halted. But the star did not shine every night, for sometimes many years elapsed before it appeared again. When this occurred, our people built houses during their halt; they built both round and square houses, and all the ruins between here and Navajo Mountain mark the place

e are only a few closing lines relative to

be good Hopitah. So they built houses adjoining ours and that made a fine large village. Then other Hopitah came in from

only building and planting for a period sometimes short, sometimes a few generations, but not longer, they believe-why have they remained in their present approximate location for eight hundr

the commemoration of the arrival of this Lenbaki group, a branch of the Horn people, and the performance of their special magic for rain

emony and

the whole Hopi calendar. And because it is one which most clearly

nger clad in an embroidered kilt and anointed with honey, runs, with flowing hair, to deposit prayer-sticks at the shrines, encircling the fields in his runs and coming nearer the pueblo on each circuit. During the seventh and eighth days a visit is made to thre

n the heavens, the priests file into the plaza, where a cottonwood bower has been erected over the shrine called the entrance to the underworld. Here the priests sing, accompanied with flutes, t

e one of their number wades into the spring, dives under water, and plants a prayer-stick in the muddy bottom. Then taking a flute he again wades into the spring and sounds it in the water to the four cardinal points. Meanwhile sunflowers and cornstalks have been brought to the spring by messengers. Each priest places the sunflowers on hi

y at Michongnovi.-Court

, and the same performance is repeated till they stand again in the plaza on the

rnities, the Blue Flute and the Drab Flute. The Flute Ceremony at Mishongnovi is perhaps the most impressive example of this pageant as given by the double

fore Costuming.-Courte

he spring with meticulous care, in preparation for the doubl

ing-body painting, putting on of cere

had no father, her uncle did this for her. There were two Flute Maids and a Flute Boy (See Figure 6) who walked

Drab Flute fraternity another. Many songs were sung to the strange, plaintive accompaniment of the flute players. After a while an old priest waded into the pool and walked around it in ever-narrowing circles till he reache

en taken up and moved on to the next like symbol. The old priest led the procession, the three children behind him, then the flute players, followed by the priests bearing emblems, and the priest with the bull roarer at the end of the line. Each fraternity preserved its own formation. Having reached the village plaza they marched to the Kisa and depos

d sent a scout ahead to see if people were living there. He returned and reported that he had seen traces of other people. So the Flute people went forth to find them. When t

lenged the new-comers as to who they were, where they were going, and what they wanted. Then the Flute chief said, "We are of your blood

y. Then the Walpis erased the line of meal and the Flute people entered the pueblo, set up their altars and demonstrated their rain magic by singing the

Dr. Fewkes, who collected this legend, tells us that the Flute fraternity claims

y religious feeling that pervaded the whole scene. His words are descriptive of a dramatic moment at

in Butterfly Costu

h the strewn corn meal, and numbers of supplementary chants were sung until night closed down entirely and the moon appeared ... Then came something so e

nd broke the hush, apparently of breathless expectancy. The stillness was so unearthly that it became oppressive, and a few white friends who were with me began to urge in whispers that we leave the plaza as all was evidently at an end, and go

ken, and the long strain of the solemn ceremonial gave place to such a carn

e power of church or government combined could convince the Hopi that their god had not heard them ... that their

ances and ceremonials follow faithfully the old traditions, and are still believed to be efficacious and necessary to the

r Da

onials, some variation in the different villages, but no dev

y. Good-will tokens are exchanged, not unlike our idea of Christmas cards, at the end of the ceremony; they are prayer tokens which are planted with prayers for health and

, and the other big game animals. Its chief characters are the Hunter and the Buffalo Mot

ogging"-really a switching by kachinas. Dr. Dorsey considers this the most colorful of all Hopi ceremonies and says that nowhere else on earth can one see in nine days such a wealth of religious drama, such a pantheon of the gods represented by m

n in the kiva. This shows more of the dramatic ability and ingenuity of this people than any other of th

ge. Costumes are colorful and tall wooden headdresses or tablets are worn. Figure 7 shows a Hopi girl acquaintance photogr

fair, a sort of coming out party adopted from

yth and the

known and most spectacular of their ceremonies, an

in these things, but of course they know better now, and at any r

ovi, Second Mesa.

Snake Dance because they know many tourists are coming to buy them, otherwise they get no revenue from the occasion. No admission is charged, and the sna

lso observed that the resident family was sometimes crowded out of all "ring-side" seats. No wonder the small brown man of the house has in some

the forbidding wastelands that surround the Hopi. And we have every reason to believe that it has gone on for cen

ndful of outsiders present. She is personally convinced that the Snake Dance is no show for tourists but a deeply significant religious ceremony performed definitely for the faithful fulfillment of traditi

re are unbelievers in the best, of families, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Hopi, but

been forgotten, for some of our thirst for knowledge on these points goes unquenched, in spite of the courteous explanations the Hopi give when our queries are sufficiently courteous and respectful to des

treasures the long story told her by Dr. Fewkes, years ago, and published in the Journal of American Ethnology and Archaeology, Vol. IV., 1894

ourse across the sky, he was introduced into the kiva of the Snake people, men dressed in the skins of snakes. The Snake Chief said to Tiyo, 'Here we have an abundance of rain and corn; in your land there is but little; fasten these prayers in your breast; and these are the songs that you will sing and these are the prayer-sticks that you will make; and when you display the white and black on your body the rain will come.' He gave Tiyo part of everything in the kiva as well as two maidens clothed in fleecy clouds, one for his wif

and these became the ancestors of the Snake Clan who, in their migrations, finally

here to account for what Dr. Fewkes considers the most f

en for food, and on leaving were not seen again. Each of four evenings brought a new group of Snake people, and on the following morning they were found in the valleys metamorphosed into reptiles of all

s washed or baptized in preparation, exactly as must every Hopi who takes part in any ceremony. The meal sprinkled on the snakes during the dance and at its close is symbolic of the Hopi's prayers to the underworld spirits of seed germi

f rain-making, as bestowed by their common ancestress, and perpetuates the old ritual so long ago taught by the Snake Chief of the underworld to Tiyo, the Hop

rs, which, on the fifth day is replaced by a bow decorated with eagle feathers. This first day is occupied with the making of prayer-sticks and in the preparation of ceremonial parap

nake whips, and digging sticks in hand, marching single file from their kiva, thr

orn meal on his snakeship and uttering a charm and prayer, the priest siezes the snake easily a few inches back of the head and deposits him in the

he kiva, where four jars (not at all different from their water jars) stand read

e Kiva, is held the symbolic marriage of Tiyo and the Snake

pageant in the plaza, known as the Antelope or Corn Dance. It is a replica of the

to the mesa top. The whole village turns out to watch from the rim of the mesa, and great merriment attends the arrival of the rac

teresting sunrise race than the writer has ever

h the racers were waiting, for away across the plain below and to the right was heard an answering call, and from the left and far away, another answer. Eagerly the

into a line of six men running toward the mesa. As they came within h

position of the aged priest at the mesa edge, he received from that dignitary a s

the early sunlight, across the level lowland, then up the steep trail, to be met at the mesa edge by a picturesque individual carrying a cow bell and wearing a beautiful garland of fresh

ell. When the last racer had arrived, they were led in a sort of serpentine parade toward the plaza. But before they reached that point they encountered a waiting group of laughing women and girls in bright-colored shawls,

back along their sunrise trail and out across the desert for more tha

the public gaze. If one knows no better than to try to pry into

emony, among them, Dr. Fewkes; an extract from his

nd after a short interval, two rattlesnakes were handed him, after which venomous snakes were passed to the others, and each of the six priests who sat around the bowl held two rattlesnakes by the necks with their heads elevated above the bowl. A low noise from the rattl

s they lashed on, the sand mosaic, made it next to impossible to sit calmly down and quietly note the events which followed one another in quick succession. The sight haunted me for weeks afterward, and I can never forget this wildest of all the aboriginal rites of this strange people, which showed no element of our present civilization. It was a performance which might have been expected in the heart of Africa rather than in the American Union, and certainly one could not realize that he was in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. The low, weird song continued while other rattlesnakes were taken in the hands of the priests, and as the song rose again to the wild war cry, these snakes were also plunged into the liquid and thrown upon the writhing mass which now occupied the place of the altar. Again and again this was repeated until all the snakes had been treated in the

hey are herded on the floor of the kiva by a delegated pair of snake priests assisted by s

ghs, just large enough to conceal the man who during the dance will hand out the snakes to the dancers. Close in front of th

st with Tiponi.-Courtes

ack with white lines through the mouth from ear to ear, white breath feathers tied in the top of their hair, and arm and ankle ornaments of beads, shells, silver, and turquoise. (See Figure 9.) Led by their chief, bearing the insignia of the Antelope fraternity and the whizzer, followed by the asperger, with his medicine bowl and aspergill and wearing a chaplet of green cottonwood leaves on his long, gl

the Antelope fraternity by the vibration of their mighty tread alone, even if you did not see them. Their bodies are fully painted, a reddish brown decorated with zigzag lightning symbols and other markin

t in the back. Their faces are painted black across the whole mid section and the chins are covered with white kaolin-a really startling effect. Necks, arms, and ankles are loaded with native jewelry and charms

or thunder-maker, leads, followed by the asperger, and we hear the sound of thunder, as the whizzer (sometimes called the bull-roarer) is whirled

e aware of the presence of the Snake Brotherhood engaged in the traditional ritual. Incidentally, this Snake Dance is carried on in the underworld on a known d

in Front of Kisa.-Court

e the rattle of snakes. All is perfectly rhythmic and the Snake priests, with locked fingers, sway back and forth to the music, bodies as well as feet keeping time

priests form into groups of three, a

enough near the middle, so that its head may sometimes move across the man's face or eyes and hair, a really harrowing sight. The attendant, sometimes called the hugger, places his left arm across the shoulder of the first dancer and walks beside and a step behind him, using

the ceremony at Hotavilla last summer (1932); the spectators had crowded rather close to the circle, and several front rows sat on the ground, in order that the dozens of rows back of them might see over their heads. As for the writer, she sat on a neighboring housetop, well out of the way of rattlers, red racers, rabbit snakes, and even the harmless but fearsome-looking bull snake from 3 to 5 feet long. Often the snake starts swiftly for the side lines, but always without seeming has

Priests with Snak

bull snake, and the priest couldn't reach it; it's a shame for visitors to crowd up and get in the way unless they are prepared to sit perfectly still, whatever happens." Really one feels ashamed of the squealing and frightened laughter of careless white visitors who stand or sit nearer than they should and then

hen a second signal and the Snake priests grab up the whole writhing mass in their hands and run in the four directions off the steep mesa, to deposit their Elder Brothers again in the lowlands with the symbolic sacred meal on their backs, that they may bear away to the underground the prayers of their Younger Brothers, the Snake Clan. The Antelope priests now circle the plaza four times, stamping on the sipapu in passing, and then return to their own kiva, and the dance is over. The Sn

ess now pervades the village

for this is often the first rain of the season. The writer has herself stood soaked to the skin by a thunder shower that had been slowly gathering through the sul

is any motoring distance these days) have long ago learned that they would better start for home immediately following th

our hours, for the ordinarily dry wash to become fordable. One will at least be impressed with the idea that the Snake Dance (a mov

year. This year (1932) the eleven year old brother of a Hopi girl in the writer's employ went into his first snake dance, as a gatherer, and his sister (a school girl since six) was as solicitous as the writer whenever it was a rattler that Henry had to gather up. But we both felt that we must keep perfectly still, so our expressions of anxiety were confined to very low whisp

kes are not removed, nor are the snakes doped, nor "treated" in any way that could possibly render their poi

Or are they wise in their handling of the snakes, so tha

e altar, or descriptions of various kinds of prayer-sticks and their specific uses. Authorities differ greatly on these points and each village uses somewhat different paraphernalia and methods of pr

us as those already described at some length; others of a secular or social order,

articipants believe it best to keep up these time-honored rituals. Their migration tales, partly mythical, partly historical, relate many unhappy instances of famine, pestilence, and civil strife, which have

xplain at least partially, the c

nd Turkey

o a Hopi friend, particularly an old man, or an old woman, save up a collection of especially nice

idea, as collected by Stephen and reported by Mi

ater serpent deity) got angry at this and turned the world upside down, and water spouted up through the kivas and through the fireplaces in the houses. The earth was rent in great chasms, and water covered everything except one narrow ridge of mud; and across this the serpent deity told all the people to travel. As they journeyed across, the feet of the bad slipped and they fell into the dark water, but the good, after many days, reached dry land. While the water, rising around the village, came higher, the old people got on the tops of the houses, for they thought they could not str

aused by the foam and slime of an ancient deluge, the feathers are prescribed for all pahos