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“HOPI
SNAKE PRIEST”
1907
The Hopi (or Hopitu, meaning peaceable people) inhabit a large arid
region in Northeastern Arizona. The snake dance is the best known
of all the Hopi ceremonies, and lasts 16 days. It is a dramatized
prayer for rain and is performed in late summer. Snake Priests are
traditionally servants of a snake chief. Among their various duties
the snake priests collected snakes for the ceremony and also danced
in the ceremony while holding rattlesnakes in their hands, around
their necks, or even between their lips. Curtis was the first white
person inducted into the snake priesthood, which was not only a great
honor but also a testament to the deep trust and acceptance accorded
him by many tribes. Curtis visited the Hopi numerous times over a
twenty-five year period. His photographs and text relating to the
Hopi Snake Dance are an anthropological tour de force.
Please note this is the first time this image
has been produced in Goldtone. While Cutis produced it in other mediums,
he was unable to in the more demanding and expensive Goldtone medium.
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