“Sko’koik Ki” means House of Rattlesnakes and it is the two buttes located just west of the Arts and Crafts building in District 5. In the early and late ‘40s my friends and I would to go there to find out if the story told by my daddy and O’g Ke’kel (uncles) was true.
On top of the hill of the east butte was a large crack that seemed to have no bottom. We would throw rocks or cans down into the hole and listen but it would not make any noise or hit the bottom. Then we would climb down to the cave on the north side and peek in to see if anything was there. We never saw anything the times we were there. We were told that at certain times of the year, around June, the rattlesnakes gathered in the cave to mate.
It was around June of 1945 and I was 7 years old when my older brother Philabert, some of his cronies and I were riding horses around the area trying to rope rabbits. We chased them to get them tired so we can catch one or two easily to take home for supper. We stopped to rest the horses and began talking about the rattlesnakes while looking up at the cave.
Then they all turned and looked at me and I knew they were up to something. All of them threatened to beat me up if I didn’t go up the hill to see if anything was going on in the cave. Crying, sobbing and scared, I slowly made my way up towards the cave. As I got to the entrance, I looked inside and saw hundreds of rattlesnakes of all sizes tangled in a large mess. I ran down the hill, scared to death, crying and screaming. I ran by them, by my horse and ran towards home.
When I got to the house I told my Momma what happened and she said she would take care of it. I kind of enjoyed watching those boys getting scolded and threatened with whippings if they did something like that again.
That night I had nightmares about what I saw and I guess I was making sobbing sounds and screaming when my daddy came and woke me up. I remember I was shaking like a leaf. He then went out and saddled a horse, wrapped me in a blanket and took me to a Ma:kai who lived a few miles away in Bapchule and he treated me. I was sick with the K’oi Ka’chim Mumkidag, (rattlesnake sickness)
Today our children do not venture out to explore our world nor do they ride horses any more. They miss a lot by becoming couch potatoes, playing videos, staring at the television or doing something else that conflicts with our traditions and culture.
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