The Grand Canyon of Arizona [66]
rings and bracelets are to be found. But this is on account of the great expense of the former. The waist belts generally consist of eight moulded plates, either circular or oval, with filleted border and scalloped edges, each plate weighing from two to four ounces. These are punctured in the center, or a small band is soldered to the back, to admit of their being threaded upon a long and narrow belt of leather, the ends of which are fastened with a buckle. Both men and women wear these, and they are highly prized as ornaments by both sexes. The necklaces are equally in vogue, the designs being principally hollow beads, crosses, and ornaments representing pomegranate blossoms. The silver bridle is also an object of great esteem. It is made of curiously designed, heavy clasps of silver, fastened upon leather, with numberless buttons shaped from coins. Many of these weigh not less than fifteen ounces, and some as high as forty, hence their value can be readily estimated.
CHAPTER XIX. The Hopis And Their Snake Dance
A Hopi Religious Rite. Interesting among Indians, because of their unique houses on the summits of high mesas, reached only by precipitous trails, the Hopi of northern Arizona always have possessed peculiar fascination on account of their thrilling religious rite, known as the Snake Dance, an account of which follows.*
* This Sacred Dance and the life of the Hopi Indians is more fully set out in the author's larger work "The Indians of the Painted Desert Region".
The Painted Desert. The region they live in, named the Province of Tusayan by the Spanish conquistadores, three hundred and fifty years ago, is a region of color. The rocks of which the mesas are built, the sand of the desert, the peculiarly carved buttes which abound on every hand, are all strikingly colored, with such a variety of hues and tints that one does not wonder at the name--the Painted Desert--which is applied to the country through which we must travel to reach Hopiland.
A Saddle Trip from El Tovar. The traveler who wishes to visit this fascinating and unique region can arrange for full equipment at El Tovar. The trip will be a saddle one and all outfits will have to be transported on pack burros.
The Old Hopi Trail. The road followed is practically the line of the old Hopi trail. On the way out, the interested traveler may visit Grand View Point and Hotel, Hance's Old Camp and Trail, the Red Canyon Trail, Moran's, and all the other salient points at the eastern end of the Grand Canyon. Especially should he stand on faraway Navaho Point, or Desert View. This is the last of the promontories before the rim of the Canyon turns sharply to the north. Below it, a vast amphitheatre is opened out with more precipitous walls than at any other part of the Canyon. The sweep of the river, the mouth of Marble Canyon, the superlative richness of coloring at this point, combined with the unequalled views of the Painted Desert, which lies to the right, or east, afford a place of varied delight, scarce found elsewhere on the whole Canyon rim.
Hopi Cornfields. Crossing the Little Colorado River at the Tanner Crossing, Moenkopi is visited, and then a day's ride of forty miles over the Painted Desert brings one to the cornfields of the Hopi, as properly they should be called. For years, they have been known as the Moki, a term of reproach applied in derision by the Navahos. These cornfields are a wonderful monument to the thrift of the Hopi. White men would have starved to death in the place, before they would have dreamed of planting corn in such an inhospitable-looking soil. No springs or streams sufficient to irrigate with, unversed in digging wells and pumping water to the surface, one would have thought an ignorant Indian would have looked elsewhere before planting his corn in such a place. But the Indian is not so ignorant. His life, from the cradle to the grave, is one of close observation. His very existence depends upon its exercise. He soon discovered, therefore, that there was a natural subsoil irrigation in certain parts of
CHAPTER XIX. The Hopis And Their Snake Dance
A Hopi Religious Rite. Interesting among Indians, because of their unique houses on the summits of high mesas, reached only by precipitous trails, the Hopi of northern Arizona always have possessed peculiar fascination on account of their thrilling religious rite, known as the Snake Dance, an account of which follows.*
* This Sacred Dance and the life of the Hopi Indians is more fully set out in the author's larger work "The Indians of the Painted Desert Region".
The Painted Desert. The region they live in, named the Province of Tusayan by the Spanish conquistadores, three hundred and fifty years ago, is a region of color. The rocks of which the mesas are built, the sand of the desert, the peculiarly carved buttes which abound on every hand, are all strikingly colored, with such a variety of hues and tints that one does not wonder at the name--the Painted Desert--which is applied to the country through which we must travel to reach Hopiland.
A Saddle Trip from El Tovar. The traveler who wishes to visit this fascinating and unique region can arrange for full equipment at El Tovar. The trip will be a saddle one and all outfits will have to be transported on pack burros.
The Old Hopi Trail. The road followed is practically the line of the old Hopi trail. On the way out, the interested traveler may visit Grand View Point and Hotel, Hance's Old Camp and Trail, the Red Canyon Trail, Moran's, and all the other salient points at the eastern end of the Grand Canyon. Especially should he stand on faraway Navaho Point, or Desert View. This is the last of the promontories before the rim of the Canyon turns sharply to the north. Below it, a vast amphitheatre is opened out with more precipitous walls than at any other part of the Canyon. The sweep of the river, the mouth of Marble Canyon, the superlative richness of coloring at this point, combined with the unequalled views of the Painted Desert, which lies to the right, or east, afford a place of varied delight, scarce found elsewhere on the whole Canyon rim.
Hopi Cornfields. Crossing the Little Colorado River at the Tanner Crossing, Moenkopi is visited, and then a day's ride of forty miles over the Painted Desert brings one to the cornfields of the Hopi, as properly they should be called. For years, they have been known as the Moki, a term of reproach applied in derision by the Navahos. These cornfields are a wonderful monument to the thrift of the Hopi. White men would have starved to death in the place, before they would have dreamed of planting corn in such an inhospitable-looking soil. No springs or streams sufficient to irrigate with, unversed in digging wells and pumping water to the surface, one would have thought an ignorant Indian would have looked elsewhere before planting his corn in such a place. But the Indian is not so ignorant. His life, from the cradle to the grave, is one of close observation. His very existence depends upon its exercise. He soon discovered, therefore, that there was a natural subsoil irrigation in certain parts of