Hopi Culture Research Paper

The history of Hopi pottery begins with the history of the Native American Hopi Indians and the many peoples that came into contact with their culture and traditions.

The Hopi Indians are Native Americans who lived on 1.5 million acres of reservation in Northeastern Arizona. In the beginning, the Hopi Indians were a hunting and gathering group divided into small groups that lived in pit houses. (A pit-house is a building that is partly dug into the ground and covered by a roof.) Around 700 A.D. the Hopi Indians became an agricultural tribe by growing blue ears of corn by using runoff from the mesas.(A mesa is an isolated flat-topped hill with steep sides.). In the late 1200’s a ginormous drought forced 36 of the 47 villages on the Hopi mesas to be abandoned. Following the massive drought, the 11 remaining villages increased in size where then three new villages were established in Northeastern Arizona.

The Hopi tribe were villagers and farmers. Their villages were located in the lofty plateaus of northern Arizona. The Hopi tribe have kept their culture intact due to living

Native American, or American Indians, have a rich culture comprised of struggle, strife and success. For this paper, i will discuss the Native American Culture and it's history.

Every country and nation has they own special festivals and music, and Native American is no exception. First, the native music related many aspects such as ritual, life and work. They like to combine music with dance, and the Native American music always created rich percussion instruments. For example, the hand drum, log drum, water drum and rattle, etc. Powwow is an important festival and ritual for the Native American, and it is a symbol for the tradition culture of Native Indians. Powwow, is a social gathering by the Native American tribes, and they singing and dancing. Powwow is not only a method that the Native American expresses the enthusiasm of the life and peace, but also enhances the sense of identity and cohesion. Hence,

Did you know that the Hopi Tribe in located in Northeastern Arizona? The reservation is almost 2.5 million acres in size and and located in Arizona near the four corners area. The Hopi's where expert farming people. They planted corn,beans,squash,as well as cotton and tobacco,and raised turkeys for their meat. Hopi men also hunted deer,antelope,and small game,while women gathered nuts,fruits,and herbs. Todaythe 7,360 Hopi's live in mesas.

The Navajo Native Americans experienced multiple struggles throughout their tribe’s history, mostly surrounding the problems to do with the United States military and the Spaniards pushing them from their territory. Although this was the fate of multiple tribes of Native Americans, the Navajo struggled intensely to leave their homeland. The Navajo were a beautiful tribe with multiple hardships. The Navajo tribe was formed sometime around the 1500s, and developed to become the largest Native American tribe. The word Navajo comes from “Tewa Navahu”, translating to mean “highly cultivated lands” loosely.

On Dec. 19, 1936 the Hopi Tribal Council was established by the Hopi people, with the adoption of the Hopi Constitution and By-Laws. According to the constitution, the Hopi Tribal Council has the power and authority to represent and speak for the Hopi Tribe in all matters for the welfare of the Tribe, and to negotiate with federal, state and local governments, and with the councils or governments of other tribes. The current council now consists of 14 representatives from each Hopi village Moenkopi, Bacavi, Kykotsmovi and Mishongnovi. The selection of representatives in the Council in some villges like the villages of Sipaulovi, Shungopavi, Oraibi, Hotevilla, Lower Moenkopi and First Mesa is done through community elections or by appointment

The Hopi Indians years ago used to have had a theocratic government, which means that the leader or kikmongwi of each village was also the town chief, until now each Hopi village still has its own kikmongwi, but he is primarily a religious leader. Now an elected tribal council led The Hopi nation. The Hopi have their own laws, government, police and service, because they live on a reservation, that means they have the control of their land just as a small country. However, the Hopis have the US citizens and they must follow American

These dolls were designed to be the physical representation of the various Gods. Many Katchina artists would create their pieces, according to their own preference of God and styles. They were made by men that would use specific lumber to carve one doll at a time. Dedicating a lot of time to details of the dolls. The Hopi Indians believed that their dolls had spirits that would protect and guide them. They believed that their ancestors would provide them with great fortune such as health, rain and ect. Their society believed in the reincarnation of their loved ones in inanimate objects. “It was commonly said that the Hopi are an extremely practical people who use every possible tool to survive in their inhospitable semiarid environment. Common also is the idea that the Hopi are extraordinarily spiritual since much of their time is devoted to ritual activities.” In other words, Loftin’s asserts that the Hopi Indians were highly practical and ceremonious. Which meant that these tribes devoted most of their day worshipping Gods and working on their crop. The Hopi tribes believed that each part of their life’s were interconnected with one another and the spirits. The Katchina dolls played a big role of being the visual representation of their spiritual ancestors. “When the Hopi’s carved wood, they were not simply performing a technical act. Certainly, they are doing that, carving a

There are many important issues facing the Hopi tribe. these issues have potential effects of long-term and devastating for the tribe. some people have organized a Cultural Center and to gather each Thursday at 5:00 p.m to discussion and dialogue about the issues that they see and going through in the hopi land. some of these issues are the APS Right-of-Way, Law & Order Code, Snow Bowl, Grand Canyon Escalade Project, Shingoitewa new effort to revise the Hopi Constitution,

Although the Hopi hardship had just begun by setting up their lives and villages, not until one of the historical periods has changed the Hopi Indians lives within their villages. In the year of 1540, when the Hopi first came in contact with the Europeans (Hough 207). A group of Spanish soldiers arrives into the Hopis villages searching for golds. Even though the Hopi did not produced golds, the Spanish still managed to bypass through the Hopis villages and search. Since the Spanish did not find any golds within the Hopi villages, the Spanish raided the Hopi village and left them nothing but a raided village. Following the year of 1629, with the return of the Spanish missionaries, they transformed their cultural belief. Not much with history

As European explorers came into the New World around the time of the 1500’s they brought a tremendous change to the Native culture. When the Native Americans made their first contact with the foreigners they also came into contact with many diseases the Europeans had carried over. These diseases instantly began killing the population of the East-Coast tribes. When the European travelers began to come over the sea’s in larger quantities they started to trade with the Natives. The Europeans brought horses, which would allow the Natives Americans to explore larger parts of America and also allow them to accomplish this faster. The Native American people would trade hides of animals for things like guns, and knives. They now killed animals just

Another important part of the Hopi culture, is the idea that time is circular and ongoing. Hopis emerged from the spirit world to take on their role in life as part of nature. They believe that their connection with the land, animals, and spirits is a part of their Hopivotskowani. Therefore, they respect the natural and cyclical tendency of life. Just as the seasons of the year bring life and death to many plants and animals, the Hopi people accept life and death as part of the human existence. While alive, a Hopi must do his/her part to learn about the culture and how to do things the “Hopi way”, in order to prepare one’s self for the spirit world. (Ferrero 1983) Then, as one enters the spiritual world, his/her spirit becomes a force of life-giving nature and serves as a guide for young Hopis. The circular motion of time allows the Hopis to accept occurrences as part of a larger plan than one can see for one’s self.

The Hopis hunted rabbits as well. This is significant because they trade for other goods that they need. The women ground the corn and cooked a variety of meals with it. On of the most common foods was piki, a paper-thin bread made of blue corn that was cooked on a special hot piki stone found in every Hopi household. Honestly, for me that sounded good because it reminded me of a purple