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Various Sizes - Matted Prints
The men of the Snake Clan emerge from the kiva, the round adobe building used for sacred religious ceremonies. Silently, the men walk to the plaza. There, they will pray by performing a centuries-old ritual, the most important religious ceremony of the year: the Hopi Snake Dance.
When two-term President Theodore Roosevelt toured the Southwest in 1913, he made certain that seeing the Snake Dance was on his itinerary. But since the 1950s the ceremony has been closed to non-Indian spectators.
More than just a rain dance, the Snake Dance is instead a means of giving thanks for a harmonious year and asking the spirits to grant future good fortune to all people, everywhere. That good fortune, of course, includes rain when needed.
Click on Photo to view Full Image
Various Sizes - Matted Prints
The men of the Snake Clan emerge from the kiva, the round adobe building used for sacred religious ceremonies. Silently, the men walk to the plaza. There, they will pray by performing a centuries-old ritual, the most important religious ceremony of the year: the Hopi Snake Dance.
When two-term President Theodore Roosevelt toured the Southwest in 1913, he made certain that seeing the Snake Dance was on his itinerary. But since the 1950s the ceremony has been closed to non-Indian spectators.
More than just a rain dance, the Snake Dance is instead a means of giving thanks for a harmonious year and asking the spirits to grant future good fortune to all people, everywhere. That good fortune, of course, includes rain when needed.
Click on Photo to view Full Image