Kopeli was as well trained as any civilized man whatsoever, taking
into consideration the demands of the different planes of culture.
Education is as general among these Indians as it is among the more
enlightened people. It would be too long to go into details, but
briefly the Hopi child's life is largely a kindergarten of
play-instruction by kind teachers of things useful in active life. He
is wrapped in the customs which have become religion, he is initiated
into manhood, and takes his place, perhaps inherited, in the
fraternities. With all these he is taught the lore, the practices, and
the songs--minutiæ which require a strong memory. He learns the plants
and the animals to which the Hopi had given descriptive names long
before Linnæus or Cuvier. The sun is his clock, and all nature is near
to him. He must work also in the fields if he would eat--no drones are
tolerated. In short, there is a surprising complexity in this life,
and its demands are weighty. Thus Kopeli at the head of the most
powerful and awe-inspiring society of his people has been put to many
tests and bore upon his shoulders the weight of immemorial custom.
While there was in Kopeli a dignity which commands respect from the
mirthful Hopi, he could on occasion be as entertaining as any of his
tribe, and usually was cheerful and friendly. The exception is when
the Snake rites are in progress. Then he seemed a different person,
and it was not proper for him to recognize his best friend.
The Walpi Snake Ceremony, of which the public dance is known to many
persons, is well worth braving the journey to see. The grand entry of
the Snake and Antelope priests on the dance plaza headed by Kopeli and
Wiki is one of the most impressive spectacles that can be witnessed on
this continent. There is so much energy put into the work; with
strides positively tragic, the file of strangely costumed priests
march to the _kisi_, where the snakes have been deposited. Then
commences the weird dance with live rattlesnakes held in the mouth to
the distant chant of Antelope priests. Kopeli was here at his best. He
was a notable figure; no other participant displayed such eagerness
and force. These were some of the salient elements of his character,
and by these he succeeded, whether as a farmer or as Snake Priest, and
took his high position among his people. There is an interesting
mingling of the old and new at Walpi. Kopeli became a typical example
of the union of past and present. Wiki, his Nestor, was in every fiber
imbued with the usages and traditions of the past. One instinctively
admires the old man's firm belief, and his respect for the ancient
ceremonies. The leaven of the new was in Kopeli, as may be seen from
the following. A wide-awake town in New Mexico wanted the Hopi Snake
Dance reproduced at the fair held there in the autumn, realizing that
it would be a feature to attract many visitors. Kopeli was approached
and offered what seemed to him a large sum of money for the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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