Hopi Sna­ke Dance, 1906

ori­gi­nal

Edward S. Cur­tis and The North Ame­ri­can Indi­an, Spring-Sum­mer 2018: Sna­ke Dancer

The Sna­ke dance, best known of Hopi cere­mo­nies and one of the most spec­ta­cu­lar of all pri­mi­ti­ve per­for­man­ces, is a bien­ni­al, six­teen-day rite con­duc­ted by the Sna­ke and Ante­lo­pe fra­ter­ni­ties as a dra­ma­ti­zed pray­er for rain. It occurs in the odd-num­be­red years at Wal­pi and Mishong­no­vi, and in even-num­be­red years at Ship­au­lo­vi, Shon­go­pa­vi, and Orai­bi…
…Pre­pa­ra­ti­ons for the Sna­ke dance begin in the win­ter, not long after the cerem­o­ny of the War­ri­or socie­ty, when the lea­ders of the Sna­kes and Ante­lo­pes make pahos, which are then plan­ted in the four direc­tions as offe­rings to the chiefs of the­se world-regions.

sna­ke dancer