a. all women married but
not all men
b. marriage & divorce
was easy & about 35% of marriages broke up
8. life cycle: death:
a. washed body & put
on wed garments--if didn't have them, men wrapped in blanket
b. put in seated
position, prayers made, feathers put on body--esp...... in the naval, where soul had
been--
c. bodies buried in
ground, facing west, prayer sticks, corn meal, water, food offerings left to
aid journey to underworld
d. those involved in
ritual purified themselves & all person's goods were destroyed
e. kids had separate cemetery
& infants who died didn't go to underworld but were re-born into the next
baby of the opposite sex born into the clan
III. HOPI RELIGION IS ORGANIZED INTO AN
ELABORATE CEREMONIAL SYSTEM:
1. tied to the
agricultural cycle,
or focused on curing, or
success in fertility, hunting or warfare
2. also believe in
supernatural beings called Kachinas who inhabit the earth near Hopi
a. they perform
ceremonies for the well being of the Hopi: are male & female
3. in Hopi myth, certain
rituals were given by Father Sun: who called them out of the 4th underworld
a. in gratitude
the Hopi perform sacrifices of prayer
sticks to the spirits: these are willow sticks carved w/ a face & painted & decorated w/
feathers
b. are planted in the ground in return for
blessings of life
c. men make the prayer sticks
1. both men & women sacrifice
them
4. Hopi religious ideas
a. all have a soul that
could go to afterlife in the underworld
1. the underworld is just like this one
2. or to the sky to become clouds
b. the sun goes to the
underworld at night
c. every time a ceremony
is performed here, one is performed in the underworld by the Kachinas
d. believe in sorcery
& witchcraft (w/c)
1. w/c often responsible for mishaps
2. anyone could be suspect but usually aggressive
people accused
3. w/c associated w/animal familiars--owl, coyote,
wolf, or small black ant--the most evil of all
4. thus witches = 2-hearts, b/c had heart of animal familiar
e. have healing
shaman--male & female--who cure illness brought on by witches
5. Hopi ceremonial
systems:
a.
the clan:
1.
clans organized into 9 larger groups called phratries
2.
clans own various ceremonies for the
harvest--mostly to ensure rain or fertility
3.
each lineage has a ceremonial room in
which religious paraphernalia are stored on an alter
a. the most important object is the lineage fetish: an ear of dried corn
wrapped in cloth & feathers
b. has the lineage
symbol on it
c.
the oldest women of the lineage guards
the room & watches over the objects
5.
the lineage holds rituals in the
room, including smoking ceremonial pipes and offering prayers
6. men & women participated in these
rituals
7. but the brother
of the eldest women stages & directs all of the ceremonies
b.
the kiva group: not restricted to men, associated with one of the several kivas
in the village
1.
kiva groups include the Kachina
societies whose members:
a. wear Kachina masks and dance the Kachina dances,
thus imitating the Kachinas
b. had dolls to teach Hopi children
c. over 240 different Kachinas represented in the
dolls
2.
all Kachina Societies under control of Badger & Kachina clans
3.
adults knew dancers were friends of Kachinas, kids thought they were actual Kachinas
c. the Secret
Societies--perform various rituals yr round to ensure the well being of the
group
1. both public &
private ceremonies performed
a. all ceremonies performed in kivas
b. men & women had separate societies but women
could enter kivas, unlike at Zuni
2. each Hopi ceremony controlled by an association
3. each assoc based on
clan affiliation but membership not restricted to one clan
a. mostly: priesthood performs rituals aimed at
weather control: esp. bringing rain
4. Ritual calendar began
in Dec at winter solstice--Soyal Ceremony
a. led by men who were full tribal
initiates, both
sexes could do it.
b. purpose--convince sun to return, ensure women &
land be fertile
5. all men & women
underwent Tribal Initiation ceremony--Rite of Passage; most complex of all ceremonies;
cornerstone of Hopi religion
a. done in the kivas in groups
b. women didn't have menstrual huts but were
initiated in the kivas like the men
c. at this time, adopted by ones' secret society
d. was a 5 day ceremony--w/ much emphasis on
fertility
6. Powamu Ceremony also
very important: centered on growth of beans in the kiva of the Pow society
a. performed in Feb at 1st new moon
b. 5 day ritual to present sprouted beans to Kachinas' children--i.e. the
Kachina cult members
7. Snake Dance--has
attracted much attention--men dance w/ live snakes in mouth--poisonous
a. purpose was fertility--snakes danced w/, sprinkled
w/ corn pollen by women of Snake clan,
b. then presented to 4 cardinal directions
c. & put back into cages
d. no deaths from snake bites reported--
1.
snake venom was milked out before the dance
2.
or the fangs were broken out
8. War Priesthood: warfare was defensive only
a. but war chief was village chief
b. did take scalps--Navajo scalps considered
worthless, Ute or Apache valued
c. purpose-get spiritual power for success in warfare
IV. HISTORY & CONTACT
1. SPANISH : Coronado met
w/ them about 1540
a. met w/ hostility at Oraibi--would be center of all resistance
b. attacked 1 of the
villages, but met peaceably w/ the other
c. 1598 agreed to be
subjects of king of Sp
d. but ignored until 1629
when Franciscans came & est. 3 missions
e. missions had little
success, although tried a brutal persecution of Hopi
f. 1680, joined in the
revolt by killing their missionaries
g. after reconquest, a
faction of Hopis requested missionaries but they were then killed for this
h. the Sp tried to
retaliate & send in other missions but the Hopi were too well fortified
& they had to w/draw
2. AMERICAN PERIOD:
1. Moqui Pueblo Agency
opened in 1870 & mission school about 1874
a.
official reservation est. 1882, was about 1,000 square miles
b. Navajos gradually came to surround them
c. BIA reduced their land to 1/4 of its original size--in 1937, its current size
d.
est. a govt. school in 1887--Oraibi resisted; 2nd school closer to Oraibi est.
1897
2. were pressured under
Dawes but never signed on
3. Mennonite Mission est.
by H. R. Voth about 1893; Baptist Mission est. 1894
4. Oraibi village led
resistance to all contact w/ whites since the very 1st contact
BUT
then Lololoma (Bear Clan) took over as head of village—the Kikmongwi
a. he went to D.C. to get help against raiders and
economic aid
b. there he signed a treaty of cooperation—became
leader of Progressives
c. he met w/ resistance when he returned home: 2
factions
d. conservatives--led by Lomahongyoma--said the
whites were not Bahana (elder brother) of origin myth--
1.
if were, could speak Hopi, would have sacred stone to match the one held at
Oraibi
2.
if accepted them as Bah, real Bah would destroy the earth in a cataclysm
3.
also rejected all Anglo ways for fear of bringing the end of the world
e. BUT
Progressives said whites were Bahanas & Hopi should cooperate w/ them
5. Lolo had turned Loma over to authorities in 1894--US soldiers took him to Alcatraz held for several years
6.
Loms followers then seized Lolo & held him in a kiva
a. he was then rescued by U.S. troops
b. b. and his captors arrested
7. the factionalism so
bad that secret societies were split & each faction was holding its own
ceremonies
a.
Lololoma dies about 1901
b. & his
bro, Tawaquwapti, was selected by clan as leader
8. Finally, about 1906, 2
factions agreed to a pushing match
a. Tawa drew a line in the sand
b. Loma would be pushed by one side & his
followers would try to hold him in place
c. he lost--left & founded Hotevilla, near Oraibi
9. BIA arrived on
scene--again arrested Loma & sent him to jail for a few yrs
a. Tawaquwapti sent to Riverside to learn the white
man's ways
b. returned in 1910, very bitter & quarrelsome
c. so obnoxious that he alienated most of his
followers--by 1933 only 109 folks left there
d. who left & founded new Oraibi
The modern Conflict-1935 IRA
1. for IRA to be accepted,
needed 30% of eligible voters
a. At Hopi got 45%
b. BUT: some Hopi
maintain they thought they were voting to retain their lands
c. Traditional Hopis did
not like representative govt.
1. preferred clan-based, village based
2. Kikmongwi = village leader & religious elder
was traditional chief
2. Council set up w/ reps
from all but Hotevilla & Old Oraibi
a. problems on council led to several
villages from 2nd Mesa w/drawing
b. and council didn't meet from 1943 to 1955
3. the council was revived by Hopis
concerned at being surrounded by growing Navajo population
a. and by younger, more acculturated men
b. who resented the power of the Kikmongwi
& wanted democracy
c. AND who wanted to promote development
d. council boycotted by Traditionals
4. the council sees eco development as
means to get better position w/ respect to the federal govt.
FACTORIES:
a.
in 1967 negotiated to open a BVD under-ware factory in Winslow AZ, about
50 miles from rez
b. tribe would put up BIA $ in return for
employment
c. but the factory only hired 70-80 Hopi
in a work force of over 200
d. all female work force in needle work
jobs
1. complained of low wages, boring work, many injuries
2. also needed nearby day care for women
e.
in response to complaints, in 1971, BVD closed the plant
MULTINATIONALS:
a. 1961 signed 3 million $ worth of oil
leases
b.
65, 000 acres under lease to Peabody Coal for strip mining on 3rd
mesa
c. this sparked the Traditional Resistance
Movement
E. 1971
the Traditional chiefs filed suit against Sec of Interior & Peabody
(had help from Sierra Club & Friends of the Earth, & Nat'l Wildlife
Federation)
1. used lawyer from Native American Rights
Fund
a. suit based on
grounds that the lease is not legal because all Hopis not represented on
council
b. i.e. the Traditional villages were not represented
c. and that the council is puppet of US govt. in league w/ only 1 faction
of Hopi
d. the council is also a foreign institution imposed on the Hopi, w/o any
recognition of the Hopi way of governing
e. the suit also claims religious grounds
f. if the land is
abused, Hopi sacredness will disappear
2. 1st judge ruled against them
3. appeals judge
dismissed the case saying he had no jurisdiction
4. and the Supreme
Court refused to hear it
F. Some Hopi Traditional leaders have
taken to direct actions of sabotage
against signs of modernity--
1. tearing down phone & electricity
lines
2.
but most have silently accepted it and live in isolation in villages--
3. where signs state
village is closed to whites