The story of “Thomas and the Chu’tiva Snake Dance” is about the Hopi culture and the adventures of a young Hopi Indian boy Thomas Polywetewa as he learns more about the ceremonies important to the Hopi people. The detail of activities of the summer Tusayan ceremony provides the basis for Thomas’s adventure. It describes Hopi life, including the snake dance or Chu’tiva, a complex and important ceremony of Thomas and the Hopis living on Second Mesa in Northern Arizona.

 

In the book, Thomas learns more about his culture from his grandfather, the most important elder in the Snake Clan. In doing so, Thomas is able to participate in a portion of the long Tusayan ceremony and watch the Chu’tiva or snake dance, the last and important day of the ceremony. Hoping to please the Hopi spirits, the ceremony is intended to assure the Hopi’s of plentiful summer rains that feed their mesa lands, it’s gardens, and fruit trees. “Thomas and the Chu’tiva Snake Dance” is a wonderful story that introduces readers to the fantastic culture of the Hopi indigenous people and the wonderful youngster Thomas Polywetewa.