Page:The Moki snake dance.djvu/23

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bodies might be thoroughly dried. Every snake in the collection was thus washed, the harmless varieties being oathed after the venomous. In the destruction of the altar by the reptiles the snake ti-po-ni stood upright until all had been washed, and then one of the priests turned it on its side, as a sign that the observance had ended. The low, weird song of the Snake men continued, and gradually died away until there was no sound but the warning rattle of the snakes, mingled with that of the rattles in the hands of the chiefs, and finally the motion of the snake whips ceased, and all was silent."[1]

Vroman, photo.

CHANTING BEFORE KISI, WOLPI.

The Mokis have an antidote for snake bite made from the root of a plant called by botanists Gaura parviflora. They do not know the white man's fiery antidote and panacea, but expert opinion declares that one remedy is as good as the other. Snakes are scarce in Tusayan, although they seem plentiful at the Snake dances. Still,

  1. The Snake Ceremony at Wolpi, Jour. Am. Eth. & Arch., Vol. IV, pp. 84, 85.

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