The Unwritten Literature of the Hopi — John Locke — John Shaqi
The Unwritten Literature of the Hopi
John Locke · en
Are there any unbelievers? Yes, to be sure; but not so many as you might
think. There are unbelievers in the best, of families, Methodist,
Presbyterian, and Hopi, but the surprising thing is that there are so
many believers, at least among the Hopi.
The Snake Dance, so-called, is the culmination of an eight-days'
ceremonial, an elaborate prayer for rain and for crops. Possibly
something of the significance of parts of its complicated ritual may
have been forgotten, for some of our thirst for knowledge on these
points goes unquenched, in spite of the courteous explanations the Hopi
give when our queries are sufficiently courteous and respectful to
deserve answers. And possibly some of the things we ask about are "not
for the public" and may refer to the secret rituals that take place in
the kivas, as in connection with many of their major ceremonials.
We do know that the dramatization of their Snake Myth constitutes part
of the program. This myth has many variations. The writer, personally,
treasures the long story told her by Dr. Fewkes, years ago, and
published in the Journal of American Ethnology and Archaeology, Vol.
IV., 1894, pages 106-110. But here shall be given the much shorter and
very adequate account of Dr. Colton,[28] as abbreviated from that of
A.M. Stephen:
"To-ko-na-bi was a place of little rain, and the corn was weak. Tiyo, a
youth of inquiring mind, set out to find where the rain water went to.
This search led him into the Grand Canyon. Constructing a box out of a
hollow cottonwood log, he gave himself to the waters of the Great
Colorado. After a voyage of some days, the box stopped on the muddy
shore of a great sea. Here he found the friendly Spider Woman who,
perched behind his ear, directed him on his search. After a series of
adventures, among which he joined the sun in his course across the sky,
he was introduced into the kiva of the Snake people, men dressed in the
skins of snakes. The Snake Chief said to Tiyo, 'Here we have an
abundance of rain and corn; in your land there is but little; fasten
these prayers in your breast; and these are the songs that you will sing
and these are the prayer-sticks that you will make; and when you display
the white and black on your body the rain will come.' He gave Tiyo part
of everything in the kiva as well as two maidens clothed in fleecy
clouds, one for his wife, and one as a wife for his brother. With this
paraphernalia and the maidens, Tiyo ascended from the kiva. Parting from
the Spider Woman, he gained the heights of To-ko-na-bi. He now
instructed his people in the details of the Snake ceremony so that
henceforth his people would be blessed with rain. The Snake Maidens,
however, gave birth to Snakes which bit the children of To-ko-na-bi, who
swelled up and died. Because of this, Tiyo and his family were forced to
emigrate and on their travels taught the Snake rites to other clans."
[Footnote 28: Colton, H.S., Op. cit., p. 18.]