Hopi history
Looking towards Second Mesa. Photo by Ross Humphries
The Hopi Reservation, established in 1882, was once much larger but over time Navajos began to move in and settle on Hopi land and the problem was ignored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for generations, creating a problem for which no harm-free solution could be found. The history of what did - and did not- happen and the role of Peabody Coal in the dispute is long and complex (including the BIA approving the same law firm to defend the Hopi as for the Navajo and as for the mining company itself !)…too long for a discussion here, but suffice it to say, the Hopi Reservation shrunk from its 1882 size and, as is the case for almost all Native tribes, is far smaller than their traditional land use.
Masaaw, carved by Ramson Lomatewama.
Pronounced mah sah’u, he is the powerful and important personage associated with the underworld, or more accurately, the spirit world where one’s spirit returns after death and he is thought to guide the spirits of the dead back to that world.
Another great source for news: https://www.nhonews.com/
SUGGESTED READING:
Brugge, David. The Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute, An American Tragedy. Albuquerque, NM University of New Mexico Press. 1999.
Kuwanwisima, Leigh, Ferguson, TJ, Colwell, Chip (ed) Footprints of Hopi History -Hopihiniwtiput Kukveni'at. Tucson, AZ. University of Arizona Press. 2019.
Nequatewa, Edmund. Truth of a Hopi: Stories Relating to the Origin, Myths and Clan Histories of the Hopi. Flagstaff, AZ Northand Press. 1967.
Page, Jake & Susanne. Hopi. NYC, NY. Abrams Press, 1982.
The Hopi people numbering just over 10,000, spread among 13 villages. They have a reservation of 1,561,213 acres in northeastern Arizona. (Many have found it necessary to move off-reservation for access to better jobs or higher education.) Much of that land is extremely marginal, even for grazing but over time the Hopi learned in which areas dry farming would (generally) be successful in this land where the annual rainfall is about 9 inches. According to Hopi tradition, when they emerged into this, the Fourth World, it was a katsina or spirit being named Masaaw who showed them where they would live and how they would survive there, providing them with the seeds of he crops that would survive in this arid land
Songóopavi Village, 1949. Photo by Tom Bahti.
Traditionally each village was an independent, sovereign entity governed by a kikmongwi or religious leader, but in 1951 the federal government imposed a tribal council form of government. The council is made up of 15 members but several are appointed by the kikmongwi of their village.
For those intersted in the functioning of the Hopi Tribal council this is where to find bimonthly reports:
https://www.hopi-nsn.gov/news/hopi-tutuveni/
The tribe’s official website can be found at:
https://www.hopi-nsn.gov/