Hopi

The Hopi people, with a population of 10,000 to 12,000, though not a large tribal group, have lived in the area they now occupy for more than 1,000 years. One of their villages, Oraibi, is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, continuously occupied communities in the United States. The Hopi people are considered the westernmost branch of the Pueblos. The Hopi's separation from the other Pueblos as well as their being completely surrounded for centuries by the Navajos has led the Hopi to often be considered apart from the other Pueblos while recognizing their cultural ties. One significant exception to similarities in lifestyle is that the Hopi are the only Pueblo people to speak a language in the Uto-Aztecan language family. This entry will include an overview of Hopi history and the contemporary life focusing on the Hopi reservation.

The ancestors of the Hopi, the name said to mean virtuous or peaceful people, are referred to as the Anasazi (although Hopi prefer to call them Hisat-Sinom). The Hopi have been and continue to be dry-farming agricultural people, since early 500 AD in their current area in northeast Arizona. Living in conditions challenging to most agricultural practices, the Hopi, like the Anasazi people before them, became proficient in the farming of corn and other vegetables.

Basketry emerged as another staple of Hopi culture and has progressed to be a source of revenue as the artistry of this craft has become recognized. In the early 1900s, collectors also became interest in titu (pl. tithu), the dolls with Hopi spiritual representations given to their girls. This craft evolved into the carving of cottonwood root katsinas (or kachinas) that came to be sold in roadside stands along what was then Highway 66 as a means of economic support during the Great Depression. Contemporary katsinas take many forms and often depart radically from the titu[Page 653]tradition. Silversmithing with the pattern of overlaying, distinctive from the Navajo and Zuni styles, with inlaid stones, began in earnest in 1949, when returning veterans used the G.I. Bill to become trained in this craft.

The settlement of the last thousand years is viewed by the Hopi as actually the fourth creation of life, which began deep below the surface of today's earth, with the first three preceding lives or worlds ending in destruction. These earlier times are regarded as times when the people denied the plan of the Creator and thus are not truly part of the Hopi Way. The faithful during these earlier times were protected underground with the Ant People. According to Hopi legend, the Ant People resided underground and deprived themselves of food, which explains why today's ants are so small around the waist. The kivas of today, square-walled private rooms used for religious rituals by all Pueblo people, are considered representations of these anthills.

The Hopi's first contact with Europeans came with Spaniards dispatched by Francisco Coronado in 1540. Some villages had violent encounters whereas others had more peaceful relationships. Compared with other Pueblos, the Hopi have had by far the least Spanish influence, which again contributes to the Hopi's somewhat distinctive character. Franciscan missionaries began settling in 1629 and erecting churches. These encounters were particularly brutal, with attacks on both sides. Despite violent periods, the relative isolation of the homeland compared with other Southwest Indians allowed the Hopi to largely preserve their culture and traditions.

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