g to happen.

The exact date of the dance is determined by the Snake Priest, and
announced from the housetops nine days before it takes place. The
underground "kivas" are filled with the various secret orders,
corresponding to our lodges, going through their mystic ceremonies. From
the top of the ladder that extends above the kiva opening, a bunch of
turkey feathers hung, notifying outsiders that lodge was in session and
that no visitors would be welcome.

What candles and a cross mean to good Catholics, feathers mean to a
Hopi. Flocks of turkeys are kept in the village for the purpose of
making "bahos," or prayer sticks. These little pleas to spirits are
found stuck all over the place. If a village is particularly blessed,
they have a captive eagle anchored to a roof. And this bird is
carefully fed and watered in order that its supply of feathers may not
fail.

Days before the dance, the young men are sent out to bring in the
snakes. Armed with a little sacred meal, feathers, a long forked stick,
and a stout sack, they go perhaps twenty miles from the village. When a
snake is located dozing in the sun, he is first sprinkled with the
sacred meal. If he coils and shows fight the ever trusty feather is
brought into play. He is stroked and soothed with it, and pretty soon he
relaxes and starts to crawl away. Quick as a flash he is caught directly
behind the head and tucked away in the sack with his other objecting
brethren. Every variety of snake encountered is brought in and placed in
the sacred kiva.

The legend on which they so firmly base their belief in snake magic is
this:

An adventurous Hopi went on a journey to find the dwelling-place of the
Rain God, so that he might personally present their plea for plenty of
showers. He floated down the Colorado until he was carried into the
Underworld. There he met with many powerful gods, and finally the Snake
God taught him the magic of making the rain fall on Hopi fields. They
became fast friends, and when the Hopi returned to his home the Snake
God presented him with his two daughters, one for a wife to the Hopi's
brother, who belonged to the Antelope Clan, and the other to become his
own bride. When the weddings took place all the snake brothers of the
brides attended, and a great dance was made in their honor. Since that
time a yearly dance and feast is held for the snakes, and they then
descend to their Snake God father and tell him the Hopis still need
rain.