The Hopi Indians, which means good, peaceful, or wise, come from a group of Southwestern people called Pueblo, but their language is different. They live in northeast Arizona at the southern end of the Black Mesa. A mesa is the name given to a small isolated flat-topped hill with three steep sides called the 1st Mesa, 2nd Mesa, and the 3rd Mesa. On the mesa tops are the Hopi villages called pueblos. The pueblo of Oraibi on the 3rd Mesa started in 1050, and is the oldest in North America that was lived in continuously. They live in pueblos that are made of stone and mud and stand several stories high.
The Kivas are an underground chamber in the pueblo home that they used to talk and have religious ceremonies in. They used the kivas for 100 years. The center of the floor had a fire pit. You had to climb down a ladder to get to the south end where a bench was placed for spectators. At the north end was a small hole in the floor as a reminder of sipapu.
The Hopi Indians grew food similar to the Navajo Indians. They raised corn or maize as the basic food. The Hopi Indians based religious ceremonies on the corn they grew. They grew 24 different kinds of corn, but the blue and white was the most common. They also grew beans, squash, melons, pumpkins, and fruit.
The women and men each have specific jobs or duties they perform. The women own the land and the house. They also cook and weave the baskets. The men plant and harvest, weave cloth, and perform the ceremonies.
When a child is born they get a special blanket and a perfect ear of corn. On the 20th day they take the child to the mesa cliff and hold it facing the rising sun. When the sun hits the baby is given a name.
The Kachinas are also used in the Hopi tribe. They are powerful ancestor spirits called to bring rain to help the crops grow. There are over 300 different Kachinas. They also made Kachina dolls to give to the girls in the tribe and to sell to tourists.
Today, the Hopi Indians are divided into to traditional -- which preserve ancient lands and customs, and new -- who work with outsiders. The Hopi Indians today love their traditions, arts, and land, but also love the modern American life. Their kids go to school and they use medical centers. The Hopi live and work outside of the reservations. Troubles with the Navajo whose reservations surround the Hopi still continue today.
A Hopi bride ground corn for three days at her future
husband’s house to show she had wife skills. The groom and his male
relatives wove her wedding clothes. After they were finished, the
bride to be would walk home in one wedding outfit, and carried the other
in a container. Women were also buried in their wedding outfit so
when they entered the spirit world they would be dressed appropriately.
The Hopi man would wear several bead necklaces on his wedding day.
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created on April 15, 1998
edited on April 22, 1998
by Pam Eck, IUPUI