Encyclopedia of North American Indians
Hopi
Ancestors of the Hopi people and the extended families or clans that constitute today's Hopi Nation have lived in the greater Southwest for millennia. The word Hopi is derived from Hopituh: people who live according to the Hopi way. Hopi lands in northeastern Arizona cover more than 1.5 million acres. Land elevation ranges from five thousand to seven thousand feet, with an annual precipitation of eight to twelve inches. Living off land that is largely high desert plateau has resulted in a repertoire of farming technologies, food-crop selection and domestication, and a unique lifeway.
Corn is the principal crop raised by Hopi farmers. It is eaten fresh from the gardens during the first harvest. It is also dried and preserved in granaries for processing on an as-needed basis. To Hopi people, corn is life. It has sustained the people throughout their history. It is the first solid food fed to infants at their clan naming ceremony. Piki, a wafer-thin bread made from finely ground blue-corn meal, is prepared for daily consumption and for special occasions like feasts and weddings. It is also prepared for the deceased, to sustain their essences as they journey into the spirit world.
Part of the Hopi origin story recalls the time of emergence from a previous world into the present world. Those who emerged were invited to choose from a number of ears of corn. Some ears were large and hearty, indicating a life of bountifulness and material prosperity on this earth. Some were short, indicating that lessons in life would be learned from hardships but that overcoming hardships would make the people strong and enduring. Hopis chose to live the life of the short ear of corn and migrated to the lands upon which they built their enduring villages and culture.
Today Hopis blend their small-scale farming economy with wage labor and small-business economies. Crafting kachina dolls, silver jewelry, pottery, and baskets for the commercial art market is both a cultural and an economic activity. Other small businesses include hospitality and food service, ranching, and mercantile and technology-related enterprises. Hopi professionals participate in a variety of occupations. At the University of Arizona, for example, there are Hopis who serve in the professorial and administrative ranks. Hopis living much of the year away from the homeland probably have as much to do with the Hopi economy as those who live year-round in the villages. All Hopis do what is necessary to contribute to the well-being of the Hopi homeland.
Throughout their history, Hopis have maintained political and social relationships with neighboring populations. Ancient trading ties between Hopis and Zunis, for example, continue to the present day. Military alliances with Hano- or Tewa-speaking populations along the Rio Grande have taken different shape today, but the ties are nevertheless very strong. Some political relations have formed the basis for lawsuits and countersuits over mineral and land resources (such as the modern land dispute with the Diné, or Navajos).
Contact with Europeans began in the sixteenth century. Spanish colonization was severely stunted by the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and its aftermath, but continued into the nineteenth century. The Hopis' participation in the revolt was a clear reassertion of their place on the landscape; there was little or no room for colonization and missionization. Their actions and voices were heard loud and clear by officials of the Spanish government. Jurisdiction over the area passed to the United States in 1848 with the signing of the U.S.-Mexican Treaty. In 1882 the Hopi Indian Reservation was established by executive order of U.S. president Chester A. Arthur. The Hopi Tribal Council and Government was organized in 1935, and its constitution was approved by the U.S. secretary of the interior in 1936. Today the tribe is federally recognized as "the Hopi Tribe."
Hopis educate their members in two ways: through formal education, and through traditional education within cultural institutions known as kivas. Hopi education is provided by five systems: local public schools, federally funded government schools, village contract schools, private schools, and kivas. For many years Hopi students had to leave home to attend high school at off-reservation U.S.-government-operated or private boarding schools. In 1985 the new Hopi junior and senior high school was opened to all students in the region. Having a year-round population of teenage Hopis on the reservation has had a very positive impact on tribal culture, because it allows young people to participate in the annual cycle of ritual and ceremonial life in their villages.
At about age eight, Hopi boys and girls begin a prescribed series of initiation rites that guide them from childhood through adolescence and into young adulthood. They are taught many principles and ethics of being a Hopi. They are also instructed according to the teachings of the kachina spirits, with whom they form lifelong friendships. They learn the value of family and kinship systems and the centrality of reciprocity in Hopi life. They also receive the tools and strategies for meeting and dealing with hardships. Prowess in athletics, especially long-distance running, is viewed as an essential part of this process. In the end they become adults and teachers to the next generation of youth. The Hopi language is also maintained by these processes, as well as in the home.
Arizona's state universities are developing a Hopi syllabary or writing system, and the University of Arizona is managing the implementation of the syllabary program at the Hopi high school. Currently the Hopi dictionary contains over thirty thousand terms. The dictionary project is part of a larger effort by Hopi officials and Hopi religious leaders to preserve many aspects of Hopi culture.
The Hopi Foundation, based at the village of Bacavi on Third Mesa, has led a nongovernmental approach to cultural preservation. Comprising Hopi professionals and laypersons, the Hopi Foundation seeks to contribute to and improve the quality of Hopi life. The Hopi Foundation has explored ways to employ solar energy to electrify homes, to restore traditional clan houses, to make college fellowships available to students, and to respond to individual and village proposals.
The Hopi Way has its basis in the origin story of the people, which calls on the people to fulfill the covenant between the deity Masawu and the first Hopis. The Hopi Way requires people to know the cultural and physical landscape of the homeland and to call upon aunts, uncles, clan mothers, and kiva and religious leaders for inspiration and guidance. The Hopi Way calls on community members to learn and practice self-discipline, cooperation, and reciprocity. The Hopi Way is clearly not for everyone, but it is the way of the Hopituh.
Harry C. James, Pages from Hopi History (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1974); Polingaysi Qoyawayma, No Turning Back as told to Vada Carlson (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1964); Alph H. Secakuku, Following the Sun and Moon: Hopi Kachina Tradition (Flagstaff, Ariz.: Northland Press, 1995).
Hartman H. Lomawaima
Hopi
Arizona State Museum
University of Arizona
http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_015600_hopi.htm
