Rare Books

The paper snake

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Description: The Paper Snake chronicles the remarkable interaction between publisher Dick Higgins (founder of Something Else Press) and artist Ray Johnson. Reprinted here is a selection of the correspondence Higgins received from the artist -- letters, notes, drawings, poems and other evidence of the mammoth "paper snake" that Johnson created.
Type: Rare Books(Opens in new tab)
Publication date: 1965.
Call number: 636931
Creator: Johnson, Ray (1927-1995)(Opens in new tab)
ISBN: 0871100185; 9780871100184
Dimensions: 22 x 28 cm
Associated people: Glenn, Constance W. (1933-); Higgins, Dick, (1938-1998.); Hansen, Al, (1927-1995,)

The snake charmer

Rare Books

A book with a pop-up illustration illustrating a poem. Poem, The snake charmer, is printed on p. [3] while the pop-up illustration is attached to p. [2] and part of p. [3]. It contains two free-standing paper panels as well as a background panel and depicts two children and their mother standing in front of a stage. A female snake charmer and numerous snakes are at the nearest part of the stage while an African warrior in feathers, brandishing shield and spear, is at the back.

664789

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Snake priests descending into the Snake kiva on the edge of the dance plaza after the Snake race in the early morning of the Snake Dance. Old Oraibi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona

Visual Materials

The photographs in this collection depict Hopi natives and their families; the Hopi villages of Oraibi and Mishongnovi; the Snake Dance; the Antelope Dance; the Blue Flute Ceremony; the race before the Snake Dance; initiation ceremonies into the Snake Society; kivas; the altar of the Blue Flute Society; preparations for the Blue Flute Ceremony; and crypts (in which smallpox victims were burned) being used as a storage area. There are also photographs of Earle R. Forrest traveling through Arizona and Louis Akin observing the Snake Dance ceremony. A photograph of an amphitheater in Wupatki National Monument and a photograph of a stone serpent head at a temple of Quetzalcoatl in San Juan Teotihuacán, Mexico are included. It appears from the photo captions that Forrest placed these photos in the collection to help explain the origins of the Hopi Snake Dance.

photCL 126

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Winner of the Snake Race at Mishongnovi in the early morning of the day of the Snake Dance … receiving his reward from the chief of the Snake Society … Mishongnovi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona

Visual Materials

photCL 126

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Five Snake priests and one Antelope priest (at the right) on the edge of the mesa during the Snake Race on the day of the public Snake Dance at Mishongnovi. Mishongnovi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona

Visual Materials

photCL 126

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The last old-time Snake Dance ever held at Oraibi. This shows the Snake priests after the chanting has ceased, gathering in groups of three, ready to receive the snakes from the snake keeper in the kisi. Old Oraibi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona

Visual Materials

photCL 126

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A snake racer coming up the trail to the top of the mesa during the Snake Race at Mishongnovi, during the early morning of the day of the Public Snake Dance. Mishongnovi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona

Visual Materials

photCL 126

The paper snake

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The snake charmer

Snake priests descending into the Snake kiva on the edge of the dance plaza after the Snake race in the early morning of the Snake Dance. Old Oraibi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona

Winner of the Snake Race at Mishongnovi in the early morning of the day of the Snake Dance … receiving his reward from the chief of the Snake Society … Mishongnovi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona

Five Snake priests and one Antelope priest (at the right) on the edge of the mesa during the Snake Race on the day of the public Snake Dance at Mishongnovi. Mishongnovi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona

The last old-time Snake Dance ever held at Oraibi. This shows the Snake priests after the chanting has ceased, gathering in groups of three, ready to receive the snakes from the snake keeper in the kisi. Old Oraibi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona

A snake racer coming up the trail to the top of the mesa during the Snake Race at Mishongnovi, during the early morning of the day of the Public Snake Dance. Mishongnovi, Hopi Indian Reservation, Arizona