Announcement of the date of one of the three Hopi Snake Dances, to be held this year north of Winslow, was brought here this week by Joe Secakuku (Chief Yellowfeet). The dance, in which Chief Yellowfeet will take part, is to be held at Shipaulavi, 75 miles north of Winslow by way of the Painted Desert and Oraibi, and will take place on August 25th. As 1926 ends in an even number there will be three dances held this year. On years ending in odd numbers only two dances are held. The other two dances of 1926 will be held during August at Toreva and Hotevilla villages, and dates will be announced later.
Both Chief Yellowfeet and Lorenzo Hubbell, Jr., Indian trader, of Winslow, have stated that the only practical route to the dances is from Winslow, as roads are better and the route some forty miles shorter from here than from other so-called “starting points” for the dances. In case rain is feared, the “high line” from Sunshine, west of Winslow on the National Old Trails highway may be taken, but the road past the Painted Desert, fourteen miles north, is in better condition.
The Snake Dances, which are the Hopis’ prayers for rain, are held every year during August, and draw interested people from all over the world. The priests gather rattlesnakes, prepare them by weird ceremonies, dance with the snakes writhing around their necks or held in their mouths, and then disperse the snakes to the four quarters of the earth. The Hopi belief is that these snakes carry prayers for rain to the great underworld gods, and thus make certain abundant rainfall.
Chief Yellowfeet is a member of the Hopi village of Shipaulavi, and is the nephew of the chief Snake Priest. His report to the “Mail” of the date of the dance is the first date that has been made public.
The final council of the priests takes place August 8th, and the same procedure will be gone into that has marked these sacred Indian affairs since time immemorial. After an all-night council, the chief Snake Priest takes the Bahos, the prayer feathers and sticks, to the spring which, supplies the village with water. That day, the ninth, is not counted, but beginning with the next, sixteen days are counted, and the last day, or August 25th, is the day on which the Snake Dance occurs.
The preceding day is taken up with the “Antelope Dance,” which is always given as a preliminary to the more important prayer dance for rain.
The Winslow Mail, Winslow, AZ, August 6, 1926
