The Snake Dance is held for 16 days in August or the early part of September, every two years, and is a ceremony to worship ancestors and to help bring rain, very important for the peaceful and humble farmers which are the Hopi people. It seams that it was originally a water ceremony, because the snakes were considered the guardians of springs. The Hopi regard snakes as their "brothers" and rely on them to carry their prayers for rain to the underworld (where they believe the gods and spirits of their ancestors live).
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