Copyright (c) 2009 University of Nebraska - Lincoln All rights reserved. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination Recent documents in HOPI NATION: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law en-us Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:39:23 PDT 3600 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/20 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/20 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:42:32 PDT Selected Basic Hopi Bibliography -- 51 works General Hopi Bibliography -- 71 works John R. Wunder http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/19 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/19 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:10:24 PDT Robert H. Ames (PIESTEWA) Edna Glenn Peter Iverson Michael Kabotie (LOMAWYWESA) Alice Schlegel Abbott Sekaquaptewa, Terrance Talaswaima (HONVANTEWA) Barton Wright John R. Wunder [The Editors] http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/18 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/18 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:08:08 PDT The somber face, the snow-misting hair and the eyes looking at me/you is me--Lomawywesa, Antelopes Walking in Harmony. Born to the Snow/Water Clan of Shungopavi, a migratory people who traveled to the Hopi mesas from the legendary Red City to the South, Paalotkwapi. It was at Paalotkwapi that our Father, the Serpent, emerged and gathered us, his children, and blessed us with Clouds. "Go northward my Children," he directed us. So northward we journeyed and among the barren mesas we emerged to reside with the Bear Clan and build our Cloud-Inspired Homes. And to these Cloud-Terraced homes our Cloud Fathers/Mothers will arrive to rest and bring Life-Giving Moisture And to these Cloud-Terraced homes our Katsina Fathers/Mothers will arrive to bless and purify our Lives then to return to Nuvatukwiovi, the Sacred Snow-Capped Peaks And Among these Cloud-Terraced homes our Bear Clan Fathers/Mothers will lead us daily over the blessed pollen pathway of the Hopi And among these Cloud-Terraced homes we/I experience our Lives; looking, listening, singing and dancing as we/I prepare for that final journey And to these Cloud-Terraced homes to return once again as a Rain-Carrier and scaring you with the boldest lightning and the loudest thunders. Lomawywesa (Michael Kabotie) http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/17 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/17 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:05:23 PDT A visual challenge results from experiences with original works of art reproduced on these pages. These are contemporary Hopi paintings and craft-works executed by young artists who call themselves the Artist Hopid. Coochsiwukioma (Delbridge Honanie), a painter of the Artist Hopid group, presents a view of "Hopi Life," the title of an extremely complicated work completed in 1974. Examining this painting is indeed valuable in the pursuit of defining the contemporary HOPI. "Hopi Life," according to its painter, symbolically evolves from the central theme of Hopi migrations. 6 Ideas of migration, fertility, and growth, structure the centuries-old concept of Hopi life. This painting, a compendious outlay of ideas and symbols, stretching to a painted expanse of some nine feet, is in itself a celebration and a ceremony. The contemporary challenge is a collective one, a summoning of all people, Hopi and non-Hopi, to share with intelligence and concern the problematic times, to share with joy and vision the times of ceremony and celebration. Edna Glenn http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/16 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/16 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:03:12 PDT The Hopi world is centered on and around three mesas in northeastern Arizona named First, Second, and Third. It is at first glance a harsh and rugged land, not always pleasing to the untrained eye. Prosperity here can only be realized with patience, determination, and a belief in tomorrow. For over 400 years, the Hopis have confronted the incursion of outside non-Indian societies. The history of white-Indian relations in this country suggests that men and women of good will may differ over the appropriate strategy, over the proper behavior, and over the definition of identity. The Hopis are not exceptions to the rule. During the past century, they have disagreed amongst themselves over how to proceed. And while it is useful to review such factionalism, it is still more important not to exaggerate its consequences. Hopi history is an ongoing record of the past, one that reveals victors as well as victims. As it informs us about prior achievements, it may also be preparing the way for future accomplishments. In the final analysis, Hopi history provides a portrait of a people who will not vanish. They will not disappear. They will remain. Peter Iverson http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/15 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/15 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:00:33 PDT "We believe we are 'at the center' and this gives us a very secure feeling about where we are, where we have been, and what we are going to do." To understand how Hopi courts are trying to utilize custom and tradition, it is necessary first to understand the court structure, jurisdiction, and procedures of the Hopi Nation's judicial system. The Hopi court system is composed of two courts--the Hopi Tribal Appellate Court and the Hopi Tribal Trial Court. My present appointment is Chief Judge of the Hopi Tribal Trial Court. The Hopi Trial Court is the highest trial court and exercises a full range of jurisdiction in all criminal and civil matters. It has original jurisdiction over all civil causes of action arising on the Hopi Reservation if the defendants are Indians, and it has original jurisdiction over all criminal offenses committed by Indians in violation of Hopi tribal ordinances on the Hopi Reservation.9 A new Hopi Children's Code has expanded the Hopi Trial Court's jurisdiction to include any adult, Indian or non- Indian, on or off the reservation, that might "facilitate the handling of children's cases." All appeals, except for small criminal case punishments, go to the Hopi Tribal Appellate Court, which has only this appellate jurisdiction. The Hopi judiciary is working very hard to make the courts something that the Hopi people can understand and use when it becomes necessary. It is hoped that the people will continue to practice their customs and traditions as they did in the past in resolving disputes. It has been said that the Hopi word describing the Hopi people means "peaceful people." In some sense, that is correct; but in everyday life, Hopis have arguments, disputes, and fights as all people do. As a small community, the bickerings become more pronounced, and everyone is aware of what each dispute is about. One way that Hopis dealt with conduct which was out of character with the community was the use of the Mudheads. During a ceremony in the plaza, the Mudheads would act out or describe inappropriate conduct through sarcastic pantomime and ridicule. Of course, everyone in the village, including those who were the object of such ridicule, know who was being mimicked. With the community pressure demonstrated by the Mudheads the conduct which was considered inappropriate for that community at that particular time was altered. The Hopi judges attempt to utilize the same sort of pressure, or punishment, in the rendering of decisions and judgments. Piestewa (Robert H. Ames) http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/14 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/14 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:57:12 PDT "Life is the highest good; in an environment where survival requires constant effort, . . . the richest blessing is abundance of food and children." Kachina dolls, those representations of the dancers who impersonate the supernatural kachinas, have captured the fancy of many art lovers for their colorfulness, the skill with which they are frequently made, and the variety of kachina forms they represent. To the collector, they are art objects, to be appreciated in terms of color, design and quality of craftsmanship. To the historian or museum curator, they are representative of the kachinas; as such, they are classified and their history and distribution are traced. The dolls have become the object of study in this regard by such authorities as Colton (1959), Erickson (1977), Fewkes (1894), and Wright (1977). But rarely has the doll been analyzed as a symbolic object in a gift exchange between two types of kin, going from father to daughter. This analysis is not concerned with the doll as an art form or as a representation of particular kinds of kachinas; rather, it will observe the doll as an artifact and attempt to answer two questions: Why is it the duty of a father to give the doll to his daughter? And why is the gift a representation of a kachina rather than something else? Let us first look at the circumstances of the gift. Dolls are usually given indirectly by fathers to daughters. The father arranges for a kachina dancer to present his daughter with a doll. The relationship between giver and recipient can be any of the father-daughter relationships that exist in the Hopi social world: the "real" father of the female, any man of his clan whom the female addresses as father in the clan sense, or any man who is addressed as father because he is the brother of a ceremonial mother, a woman who has sponsored the female through an initiation into a ceremonial society. The term female has been selected because it is not just a girl who receives dolls; she is given her first doll shortly after birth and can go on receiving them throughout her entire life. The dolls are kachina representations, and they are most frequently given at the two great kachina ceremonies: Powamu, or Bean Dance, and Niman, or Home Dance, the last dance of the kachinas before they go "home" to the San Francisco Peaks and to their dance cycle in the underworld. Both of these ceremonies have agricultural connotations: The Bean Dance anticipates the planting season, with the forced sprouting of beans a foretaste of the good crops to come; while the Home Dance anticipates the harvest as the kachina dancers bring melons and other foods into the plaza to distribute among the onlookers. With these two facts in mind, the relationship of giver and recipient and the nature of the gift, an exploration of the father-daughter relationship and the special meaning of kachinas for females becomes more significant. In addition, the gift itself--its derivation and content must be analyzed. Alice Schlegel http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/13 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/13 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:53:59 PDT "The central theme of the Kachina Cult is the presence of life in all objects that fill the universe." -- Barton Wright "The concept of fertility is central in Hopi thinking. It applies not only to good crops but to the general multiplication of good and desired objects and beings . . . Thus, as women give birth to the people and cause them to multiply, so do the kachinas cause food and other blessings to multiply." -- Alice Schlegel Eight examples are presented in this section; others are included on previous pages Sculptural forms: Figures 68-70 68. EOTOTO AND AHOLI, Kachina Chief and Kachina Chief's Lieutenant Sculpture 69. WUYAK-KUITA (BROAD-FACED KACHINA) -- Mikandit (Hei Lilly), carver, Second Mesa, Arizona 70. CHUSONA (HOPI SNAKE DANCERS) Painted images: Figures 71-75 71. COMING OF CHAVEYO -- Nell David, Sr., painting, acrylic. 72. PUEBLO WARRIOR DANCE -- Neil David, Sr., painting, acrylic. 73. MUDHEAD DANCE -- COOCHSIWUKIOMA (Delbridge Honanie), painting, acrylic. 74. ZUNI SHALAKO WITH MUDHEAD -- Neil David, Sr., painting, acrylic. 75. KACHINA OF ONE HORN -- DAWAKEMA (Milland Lomakema), painting, acrylic. Edna Glenn http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/12 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/12 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:43:45 PDT "Everything has an essence or life force, and humans must interact with these or fail to survive." It is not known where the Kachina Cult originated, but some evidence points to a Meso-American origin, brought possibly with the clans which migrated from north to south and north again. There are a few archaeological hints which indicate that there was a viable Kachina Cult by the time the Hopi settled at the center of their world in 1100. The Kachina Cult is shared with all the other Pueblo peoples who live to the east, from Zuni to Taos and formerly Pecos on the eastern border. Each of these groups have their own substantive perceptions and practices of the Kachina Cult. The central theme of the Kachina Cult is the presence of life in all objects that fill the universe. Everything has an essence or a life force, and humans must interact with these or fail to survive. It is much easier to interact with impersonal forces if they are given life forms and if patterns of reciprocity and mutual obligations are established. It is these visualizations, these personifications that are the kachinas. To understand the relationships that exist between humans and kachinas, a tentative model of their cosmos can be constructed. It consists of either two states of being occupying the same space or as two halves of a sphere. In the spherical model, half of the universe is an underworld or the world of the supernatural, and the other half is the normal, real world. The sun circles endlessly beyond the immediate control of either hemisphere yet interacts with both. The contents of one hemisphere are the mirror image of the other, but where one half is composed of objects and beings of solidity and mass, the other is an ethereal, imponderable world of cloud-like beings. Evidence for this world lies in the clouds that rise above mountain peaks, the smoke from burning objects, the fog that arises from water on a cold morning, steam from food, the breath of living beings that leaves them when they die and passes into the other world. This is the world of kachinas, a place where the bodies of the dead go to continue interacting with their universe, but in a new form--alter egos of their former life. Kachinas are the life forces of the cosmos that surround the Hopis on either plane, living or dead. Each of these forces, regardless of their physical appearance in the normal world, is a pseudo-morphic human in the supernatural world. These beings possess attributes that humans do not have, for kachinas can make it rain, cause the crops to grow well, or bring a multitude of other benefits if they are properly treated. They are not the ancestors of the Hopi but beings with whom all Hopi have interacted for mutual benefit through the centuries. The appearance of each kachina is dictated by its role as visually interpreted by Hopis and distilled through time to a traditional form. The more powerful the potential of the kachina, the more abstract are its features and symbols. This second form of the kachinas may be seen when the men who impersonate these spirits appear in ceremonies or dances in the village plazas or kivas from late December to late July as called for by the complex Hopi ceremonial calendar. It is believed that by donning mask, costume, and paint, the impersonator becomes imbued with the kachina spirit, that for the time of the dance kachina and man are one. Barton Wright http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/11 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hopination/11 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:30:20 PDT A typical Hopi ceremonial day offers a visual reality. At Walpi, a village on First Mesa, it is summer and Niman time, and a thanksgiving ritual is beginning. The Kuwan Heheya Kachinas set the first foot movements. Their body actions of their dance begin while their "uncle," Tu-uqti,1 vigorously performs his solo act in front of their dance lines. A cluster of Koshari clowns,2 starkly visible in their body-paint stripes, collect their parade paraphernalia for antics later in the day. The plaza is crowded, action is anticipated. It is a Hopi celebration day. The all-encompassing character of the scene itself intrigues; the complexities overwhelm. The Kuwan Heheya Kachinas move into Walpi plaza at the left, an environment pre-energized by the presence of tribal leaders, dancers, musicians, onlookers, and meandering Hopi. With mighty but disciplined movements, seemingly measured and transfixed by centuries of rehearsal, they begin their strenuous ritual routines. Present off on the right is a second dance line composed of female Alo Manas.6 The two distinct line-dance groups are chosen for this special occasion on First Mesa. It is only one ceremonial event, the major public event, in an ongoing Niman observance which consumes sixteen days. This day proclaims harmony within the universe, dramatizes the unity of dualistic vital forces, confirms the structured course of an evolutionary past within the sanctioned present; and for the individual journeying on the Hopi "Road of Life," it marks one more-step in an experience through space and time. No living thing is denied the blessings--the land, the waters, the plants and animals, and humans, wherever they may be. Edna Glenn