ethod is a perfect
system of kindergarten teaching, which the Moquis invented and used
centuries before the idea occurred to Froebel.

When the girl is ten years old her education properly begins and she is
systematically inducted into the mysteries of housekeeping. At fifteen
she has completed her curriculum and can cook, bake, sew, dye, spin and
weave and is, indeed, graduated in all the accomplishments of the
finished Moqui maiden. She now does up her hair in two large coils or
whorls, one on each side of the head, which is meant to resemble a
full-blown squash blossom and signifies that the wearer is of
marriageable age and in the matrimonial market. It gives her a
striking yet not unbecoming appearance, and, if her style of coiffure
were adopted by modern fashion it would be something unusually
attractive. As represented by Donaldson in the eleventh census report
the handsome face of Pootitcie, a maiden of the pueblo of Sichomovi,
makes a pretty picture that even her white sisters must admire. After
marriage the hair is let down and done up in two hard twists that fall
over the shoulders. This form represents a ripe, dried squash blossom
and means fruitfulness.

Her dress is not Spanish nor yet altogether Indian, but is simple,
comfortable and becoming, which is more than can be said of some
civilized costumes. She chooses her own husband, inherits her mother's
name and property and owns the house in which she lives. Instead of
the man owning and bossing everything, as he so dearly loves to do in
our own civilization, the property and labor of the Moqui husband and
wife are equally divided, the former owning and tending the fields and
flocks and the latter possessing and governing the house.

The Moquis are famous for their games, dances and festivals, which have
been fully described by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes in various reports to the
Smithsonian Institution. They have many secret orders, worship the
supernatural, and believe in witchcraft. Their great fete day is the
Snake Dance, which is held in alternate years at Walpi and Oraibi, at
the former place in the odd year and at the latter place in the even
year, some time during the month of August. It is purely a religious
ceremony, an elaborate supplication for rain, and is designed to
propitiate the water god or snake deity.

Preliminary ceremonies are conducted in the secret Kiva several days
preceding the public dance. The Kiva is an underground ch