Hopi Tribe

Known as "the peaceful ones," the Hopi tribe of the southwest is famous for their religious, intellectual, and peaceful worldviews. Their "way" of life influenced all aspects of their existence, including relationships with nature, people, craftsmanship, survival, and religion. Who were the Hopi? Where did they live? And, what is their history?

Fig. 1 - A depiction of the Hopi ritual Harvest Dance. Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Hopi Tribe Facts

The table below lists some brief facts about the Hopi.

Hopi Tribe Location and Map

The Hopi occupied different villages on what the Hopi called the First Mesa, Second Mesa, and Third Mesa, a rocky formation carved by erosion out of the Colorado Plateau between the Colorado River and the Rio Grande. The historical territory of the Hopi is now a part of present-day northeastern Arizona.

The Hopi are the westernmost Pueblo Native Americans and are the only Pueblo peoples to speak a dialect of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Hopi is an abbreviation of their word "Hopituh," meaning "peaceful ones."

Fig. 2 - This map shows the Hopi's historical and current tribal lands. Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Hopi Tribe Culture

The Hopi's unique adaptations to their natural environment profoundly impacted their culture and ways of life.

Hopi Tribe Shelters: The Pueblos

The walls of the Pueblo dwellings are made of stones and mud, then plastered the surface with more mud. Trees are rare in their homeland, so tribal members traveled great distances to find pine and juniper trees for beams. The men would provide the building materials, and the women would shape the houses. They would stretch the wood beams from one wall to another, forming a flat roof, which was filled with poles and branches and covered with plaster. The Pueblo walls are solid; family members would enter the dwelling through an opening on the roof, climbing down a notched log or ladder. Much like modern apartment buildings, the wall of one home would connect to the walls of another. So, if a family wanted more room, they had to build vertically. Some Pueblo dwellings could be four to five levels high.

The Hopi usually dug "Kivas," underground rooms lined with stone walls, near the village center. Hopi men used them as chapels and meeting rooms. Hopi women were only allowed into kivas by invitation.

Hopi Tribe Diet

The Hopi are highly skilled farmers who supplement their diet with hunting and gathering. The men farmed and hunted; women collected wild plants and cooked. Because of the arid climate, men would study all the patches of soil for miles around their pueblos, looking for moisture areas conducive to farming. They would plant their crops at the base of the mesas, where they would catch runoff from the plateau if it ever rained. The Hopi would also search for underground springs and build fences out of branches and brush to protect their crops from sandstorms.

The Hopi grew corn, beans, squash, cotton, and tobacco. Corn is the most important crop of the Hopi, and had dozens of ways to prepare it, such as in thin bread called "piki." The Hopi also kept flocks of turkeys as a source of protein.

Hopi Tribe Craftsmanship and Hopi Tribe Clothing

Hopi women crafted bowls of clay decorated with geometric patterns. They wove ornate baskets out of reeds and grasses. Hopi men would cultivate cotton and weave the fibers for blankets and clothing. Women would dye the cotton threads with various colors from plants, allowing the Hopi to create colorful and intricate cotton clothing. Due to its scarcity, leather was reserved for moccasins and animal skins for warmer robes. In style unique to the Hopi: young unmarried women wore their hair protruding from both sides of their heads in a shape that resembled a squash blossom.

Fig. 3 - A Hopi woman was weaving a basket. The photograph was taken by Pierce, C.C., in 1900. Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Hopi Tribe Social Organization

Unlike most indigenous tribes of North America, which had a chief, a war chief, and a medicine man, for the Hopi Tribe, the shaman was the chief. Different clans made up of related families–usually named after animals such as Badger, Snake, or Deer, also helped direct the religious events and make village decisions.

Fig. 4- A Hopi woman with the traditional hairstyle of unmarried women shaped like a squash blossom. The photograph was taken by Pierce, C.C. in 1901. Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Hopi Tribe Religion

• The Hopi conduct religious ceremonies all year long. The purpose of most of the rituals was to affect the weather and bring enough rain for a good harvest. The Hopi believe in guardian spirits called "Kachinas," They play a crucial role in the Hopi religion. Tribe members would recreate the kachinas in masks and dolls.

The Hopi believe that the kachinas were supernatural beings dwelling in their world in the Mountains. Every year on the winter solstice, the kachinas would enter the human world and inhabit a person's body until the summer solstice. Hopi men impersonated kachinas with elaborately painted masks of wood and feathers. One of the many rain dances the Hopi celebrated was the Snake Dance. The dance is performed with live snakes wrapped around the kachinas and sometimes in their mouths. At the end of the dance, the snakes would be released outside the Pueblos, and the kachinas sent off to bring rain.

Fig. 5 - Hopi men dressed in ritual costumes as Kachinas. Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Hopi Tribe History: Summary

The Hopi have inhabited their territory for nearly 1,500 years with little known conflict with other indigenous tribes. The Hopi disputes with the Spanish exemplify the Europeans' influence.

Spanish Interactions and Influence

The first interaction with the Spanish was in 1540, with two Spanish priests and their guard of soldiers. The Hopi let these two priests and their guard stay with them for several days, and it was during this initial contact that the Spanish learned of the Grand Canyon. Other explorers interacted with the Hopi in 1538, and by 1598, the Spanish explorer Juan de Onate made the Hopi swear allegiance to the Spanish crown. By 1629, Spanish missionaries began to occupy the Hopi territory, converting some of them to Catholicism.

Because of the presence of Spanish soldiers, the Hopi tolerated the new religion among them and continued to practice their traditional beliefs. When the Spanish attempted to eradicate kachina worship, the Hopi rebelled. The Hopi joined the Rio Grande Pueblos in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and destroyed the Catholic missions in their territory. Though the Spanish reconquered the Rio Grande Pueblos twelve years later, they did not push into the Hopi territory. The Hopi remained free to practice their religion.

Hopi Tribe Today

The Hopi still controlled their original territory on the Hopi reservation and retained the three original Mesas of their land. Present-day pueblos have modern doors and windows and other modern-day conveniences. Hopi homes have much in common with their ancestors.

Of all the tribes in North America, the Hopi most likely live the closest to their traditional way of life. They are practicing the same agricultural methods, growing the same crops, with some also raising sheep. Many continue to produce traditional craft work as a means of income. Many Hopi continues to shape their lives on the practices of their ancient religion, performing their traditional dances, some even open to the public.