Posted
on August 22, 2013
The
Hopi do not worship snakes. However, at this time of the year, they dance with them.
The Snake Dance is not some silly ritual that the Hopi love to do in
front of tourists with their cameras. It is an important, solemn
ritual.
The
ceremony takes place over 16 days in August and September. The first
four days, runners travel the four cardinal directions and collect
snakes (both the nonpoisonous kinds and also the poisonous kinds!).
Later, people enjoy footraces. On the last day of the ceremony, men
dance the Snake Dance.
The
dancers are paired off. In each pair, one dancer holds a snake in its
mouth (umm...non-poisonous for me, pretty please!), and the other
dancer distracts his partner's snake with an Eagle feather (um...my snake needs more
distraction, please!). At the end of the dance, all the snakes are
rushed back down the mesa to their desert homes. The snakes are said to be
carrying the Hopi prayers for rain to the spirits of the underworld.
I
read that most Hopi villages will not allow non-Hopi visitors to come
and watch their Snake Dance. This is because, in the past, some
visitors acted badly. That's a shame. I can imagine that you need
people to be quiet and respectful when you're holding a poisonous
snake in your mouth!
Learn
more about the Hopi:- Here is Mr. Donn's page.
- This website has tons of info but could use a picture or two or ten!
- I want to explore the Hopi Arts Trail...but it's in Arizona, and I'm in California, so for now I will just explore its website.
By
the way...
I
was looking for a video of the Hopi Snake Dance. There doesn't seem
to be a good video to watch, which is not all that surprising. (If
the Hopi generally don't allow non-Hopi to watch the dance, they're
probably even less likely to let people film the dance!) But I ran
into an old movie
depicting a variety of Native American people and practices—with a little
bit in the middle depicting the Hopi Snake Dance.
The thing about this 9-minute movie is that the narration /
soundtrack is simply horrible! The racism and sexism and all-around
bigotry! The horrible, smug condescension! Well—it's hard to
describe just how bad it is! If you have the stomach for it, watch
and learn about an attitude that is thankfully very much out-of-date.
Also
on this date:
Plan ahead:
Here
are my Pinterest pages on August
holidays, historical
anniversaries in August,
and August
birthdays.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on September
holidays, historical
anniversaries in September,
and September
birthdays.
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