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Keams Canon, Arizona
Feb 13, 1898

My own true loving little wife,

I received two letters from you today and glad to hear from you.

The Indians in southern California are no more civilized than these here.

Yes, it was Miss McDougal of Chicago who wrote the article for Art Amateur.

I have all my pictures locked in my trunk and as soon as they are dry I fix them so they do not touch and wrap them up in paper. Have got 26 of them wrapped up and 4 more drying. Have 30 now finished. Just finished an awfully cute picture of Quang, a young Moqui girl. (2) Tomorrow I start on the Chief of the antelope of the Snake Dance. It has been a month getting him, but I finally brought him around.

The Moqui have a great deal more ceremonies than any of the other Indians.

I have gotten an awfully nice clock now. It is larger then the little one, I paid $2.00 for it. I sent to Chicago for it. It strikes the even and half hour which makes it nice, as I give the Indians a rest every half hour.

You just ought to see the ceremony I saw day before yesterday, my dear. It lasted from 12:00 noon to sundown, there were 200 Katchinas or Gods and they represented the different Gods, such as God of Thunder, God of the (3) Upper World, etc. And each Indian fixed himself up to represent the certain God he is to represent, and acts the part out, and changes his voice. Every God has a different way of hollering. They all wore masks and the most devilish scary looking get ups you ever saw. At first, these Gods were scattered all over the Mesa and it was like a three ring circus. They were going to the different kevas and going through funny antics, about a dozen of them. And each God making his peculiar noise. These different Gods are always fixed up the same and, for instance, the God of Rain has been the same God, has had the same (4) kind of a voice for hundreds of years, and the Indian who impersonates him, when he dies, another Indian goes on with the same character. While the Gods were going to the kevas and houses, other Gods, who look like goats with big white horns, and a mask like a goat, holding in one hand a deer’s horn and in the other a lot of Horse’s hooves with which they made a peculiar noise by rattling, would go up and down here and there, running as fast as they could, hollering out something and then two others, all by themselves, dressed like dead people and each holding a painted thing in their hands, would go to certain (5) places and kneel down & sing a sort of prayer out loud and swing their bodies up and down, and also their hands. Then a lot of Gods would come along, two drummers dancing a funny slow step, etc.

It is hard to describe it, all of a sudden these Gods drove everybody who was not a God in the houses with sticks. They hit me with a stick and drove me into a dark hole and shut me in. No one was allowed to see, but I peeked out and could see a little. It seems the women had made (I saw them making it) some kind of bread out of corn meal and wood ashes, and put some in damp corn husks, and wrapped the corn husk all around it and tied it up, (6) and put it all in a hole, and covered the hole up with hot ashes and stones & dirt and let it cook for 24 hours.

How do you suppose they sweeten the kind of bread they make? They cook the corn meal a little and make a sort of dough of it. Then a lot of them all put some of this dough in their mouths and chew it, and the saliva mixes with the dough making sugar and sweetens it. Then they take it out of their mouths and mix it with the rest of dough to cook. I saw them do it.

Well these Gods had pushed their masks back so they could eat. They dug up this bread and commenced to eat it and they talked (7) so funny, just as they did when they were acting the part of Gods. They also were carrying queer things back & forth.

After awhile, I came out and not a God was to be seen. They had gone away preparing for the climax of the ceremony, which was to take place on the spot where the Snake Dance takes place. Pretty soon all the women & girls & men who do not take part in the ceremony came and got on top of the houses to see the ceremony, which was to be an offering to the Gods of the lower world. Pretty soon I heard them coming, the whole 200 of them altogether, five old men unmasked leading the procession. They were (8) sprinkling sacred meal on the ground as they walked. When they got to the snake rock they stopped. Three old men sprinkled, with sacred meal, a sort of picture on the ground.

Then all the Gods, each one acting his God’s part and making his certain noise (some of the noises, some of the Gods made, were terrible to hear) came slowly along, and in the center marched a different set of Gods Two of them were carrying great big things made out of corn and green beans. They had sprouted artificially in the kevas. There must have been a dozen of these corn and bean things, and at each one two girls, (9) with awfully queer costumes on, marched on each side of the corn & bean (looked like big bouquets). Well, you should have seen the excitement when they laid these corn & bean things down on the ground. The most excitement, and running, and dancing, and hollering, I ever heard. The old men rushed around sprinkling sacred meal, and others sprinkled the Gods, each of them, with sacred meal. Then during the excitement, something took place which I did not see, but a hole had been dug and corn and beans had been put in for the Gods of the lower world, and then sealed up.

At the Snake Dance, they stamp on this hole to remind the lower Gods of the snake ceremony. Pretty soon (10) they picked up the corn & bean bouquets and marched around in a circle, and more sacred meal was sprinkled on the ground, and the bouquets laid down again and the excitement began again. They did this several times.

Then those and a lot of the Gods rushed off, carrying a bouquet to each keva. There are several of them (the keva is a sort of a cellar or cave where the old men go, & young men also, to weave blankets and to work, to smoke & gossip. They also have the private ceremonies down there).

What Gods were left marched around in a circle singing, and pretty soon disappeared, which ended the ceremony. (11)

They don’t do all this for fun, it is their religion, and you ought to see how sincere they are in it. At the time they believe they are Gods, and it seems so funny.

The great amount of costumes they have, but they take the very best care of them. When a ceremony is through all the feathers, which are used on their bodies and masks, are all taken off and carefully put away so the moths won’t get at them. And the rest of their things are stored in little caves off from their kevas.

I think it would be a good idea for you to write about this ceremony for some paper, my dear. You could correct it. The ceremony I wrote you about in the last letter is the (12) beginning of this ceremony. There they are begging for food for the different Gods. Next month they have another big ceremony, which takes place down in their keva and lasts all night. For part of the ceremony they plant a miniature corn field and they have artificial snakes as big around as a man that they make crawl all around the keva, making hissing noises, and the snakes fight each other, and some of the Indians try to hold them and can’t. The snakes will wiggle out of their arms. I am going to see it for sure. Did you ever hear of such queer people and so ingenious?

You ought to hear Mr. (13) Keams tell of the ceremonies the Moqui have. They have a ceremony where they do tricks, like they do in India.

Well my dear I must close & go to bed. Good night darling. Your own true loving husband.

Lots of love, hugs & kisses,

Elbridge