Henry Shelton
Snake Dancer
12" total
height
"This is the snake dancer
who is one of the social dancers who used to appear in mid-August
at several of the villages. During the dance performance the
Snake priests, accompanied by the Antelope priests, dance with
live rattlesnakes and/or bull snakes in their mouths.
The live snakes are referred
to by the priests as their 'elder brothers.' These are obviously
not dancers with 'faces' and therefore are not 'Kachinas.' Information
in much greater detail can be found in the books Hopi Snake
Ceremonies by Jesse Walter Fewkes, and Moki Snake Dance
by Walter Hough, both from Avanyu Publishing.
In recent years the Snake
Dance has only been performed at the Second Mesa villages of
Mishongnovi and Shungopavi. There is no difference in the costumes
between the First Mesa variety and any of the other mesas. This
dance has been closed to non-Indians since 1986."
- Ricks, J. Brent, et al., Kachinas:
Spirit Beings of the Hopi (114)
Henry Shelton, whos
Hopi name is Ho-yaoma, translated to Arrow Carrying, is
from the village of Oraibi on Third Mesa on the Hopi Reservation.
His father was Peter Shelton, Sr. and his brother is Peter Shelton,
Jr. both of whom were carvers of katsina dolls.
Henry attended the Santa Fe
Indian School from 1944 to 1949. His awards and exhibitions are
too numerous to mention here. He devoted much of his life to
creating katsina dolls, paintings, and sculptures.
He is in collections of the
Smithsonian, Museum of Northern Arizona, Kansas State Historical
Society, Denver Art Museum and Heard Museum and many private
collections. His work is eagerly sought.