Edward S. Curtis – “Snake Dancers Entering the Pl)

Updated August 7, 2026

Edward S. Curtis – “Snake Dancers Entering the Plaza” (Hopi), 1921 from The North American Indian, image size approximately 11¼ × 15¼ inches (standard large folio plate size). This is a classic ceremonial scene from the Hopi Snake Dance (a major late-summer rain-bringing ritual). A line of Snake Priests and participants in full body paint, fringed kilts/aprons, necklaces, and traditional regalia move or prepare in the plaza. Several figures bend forward while handling or accompanying a long object (related to the ritual). On the right, a participant wears multiple animal-skin tails (fox or similar). In the background, numerous spectators crowd the flat adobe rooftops of the pueblo (typical of Walpi or a nearby Hopi village), watching the proceedings. Horses and additional onlookers appear at left.Curtis photographed the Snake Dance during his Hopi fieldwork; this plate captures the dramatic public entrance/procession phase of the ceremony and is one of the better-known images from Volume/Portfolio XII.

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