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The Hopi, the westernmost branch of the Pueblo, are believed to be descendants of an ancient people who built a sophisticated civilization in the desert areas of the American Southwest. The Hopi and their ancestors have lived in the area of northern Arizona and neighboring states since the time of the birth of Christ. Their ancestors are referred to as the Anasazi by outsiders, although the Hopi call them Hisat-Sinom or Hisat-Senom. (Many Native words have pronunciations with non-English, or between-English sounds. These words frequently appear in different publications with various spellings. There is not necessarily a single, “correct” spelling for a word like this.) This group survived, thrived, and built impressive urban centers and settlements in the middle of a desert, over an extended period, through a number of climatic changes and crises. These people have generally practiced a quiet, settled agricultural lifestyle over a two-thousand year period, with a long history of farming and waging peace against neighbors and invaders, alike. The great, Golden Age of the Anasazi ended gradually in droughts, waves of disease, alien invasions, or other crises, leading to a great discontinuity and a loss of name and traditions for most of the peoples of the group.
Most of the urban tribal population around the Four Corners relocated and left their ceremonial centers during the years after 1100-1300. The civilization, its practices and cultural traditions were disrupted during a series of great stresses. Oral records and traditions were lost, and new sets of legends and traditions were begun. The Spanish Period was a second great time of tribulation. The inroads of the modern world have again stressed the continuity and constancy of the native community, creating a third great crisis. Although the Hopi have been traditionally “peaceful,” the elders of the group have generally not been open to change, or to the “progress” of the White Man.
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Contents, including illustrations, copyright © T. K. Reeves, 1997.
on 26 April, 1997.
