Hopi

The Hopi are a Native America Nation who primarily live on the 1.5 million acre
Hopi Reservation in northeaster Arizona. The reservation is surrounded by the
Navajo reservation. Hopis call themselves Hopitu - 'The Peaceful People'.

The name Hopi is the shortened form of the title to what they called themselves,
"Hopituh Sinom", "the people of Hopi". Hopi is a concept deeply rooted in the
culture's religion, spirituality, and its view of morality and ethics. To be Hopi is
to strive toward this concept, but one never achieves in this life. This concept is
one where you are in a state of total reverence and respect for all things, to be at
peace with these things, and to live in accordance with the teachings of 'maasaw'.

Hopis 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.

Ancestry

Evidence suggest that the Hopi consist of the descendants of various groups that
entered the country from the north, the east, and the south, and that a series of
movements covered a period of probably three centuries, and perhaps
considerably longer.

Their ancestors, the Anasazi, appear to have been related to the Aztecs of
Mexico, and may have arrived in their current location 5 to 10 thousand years
ago. In that time, they have developed an intricate ceremonial calendar that has
helped them survive and be strong in a place that would not seem to have enough
reliable water to sustain life.

Related to people of the various Pueblos to the east, the Hopis never actually had
a single group identity--they were independent villages, sharing with the Zuni
and other Pueblos a basic culture and view of the sacred, while sharing among
themselves their own (Uto-Aztecan) language base.

Language

Although the Hopi are composed of elements that must have spoken diverse
tongues, their speech is readily recognized as a dialog of the Shoshonean
language, which in various forms was spoken in a large part of the Great Basin
between the Rocky mountains and the Sierra Nevada, in southwestern Oregon,
and in southern California even to the coast and on Santa Catalina island; and
which furthermore is undoubtedly allied to the great Aztecan language. A
linguistic map would represent the Hopi as an isolated people surrounded by
alien tongues
Homes
Hopi Mesa Homes
Hopis 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 climb down a ladder to get to the south end
where a bench was placed for spectators.

The walls of some Hopi houses are constructed of undressed stone fragments
bound with mud plaster. The flat roof consists of beams resting on the tops of the
walls, pole battens, rod and grass thatching, a layer of gumbo plaster, and a
covering of dry earth. Most of the houses are more than single story, some as
much as four stories. The upper apartments are reached by outside ladders.
 Women

The traditional Hopi are organized into matrilineal clans. When a man marries,
the children from the relationship are members of his wife's clan. The Bear Clan
is one of the more prominent clans.

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.

Marriage

The traditional Hopi are organized into matrilineal clans. When a man marries,
the children from the relationship are members of his wife's clan. The Bear Clan
is one of the more prominent clans. The Hopi, more than most Native American
peoples, retain and continue to practice their traditional ceremonial culture.
However, like other tribes, they are severely impacted by the ambient American
culture.

A Hopi bride grinds corn for three days at her future husband's house to show she
has wife skills. The groom and his male relatives weave her wedding clothes.
After they are finished, the bride to be walks home in one wedding outfit, and
carries the other in a container. Women are also buried in their wedding outfit so
when they entered the spirit world they would be dressed appropriately. A Hopi
man wears several bead necklaces on his wedding day.

Economy

Traditionally the Hopi were highly skilled subsistence farmers. With the
installation of electricity and the necessity of having a motor vehicle and the
other things which can be purchased, the Hopi have been moving into a cash
economy with many people seeking and holding outside jobs as well as earning
money from traditional crafts.
 Crafts

Art is a way for the Southwestern Native Americans to communicate their

dreams, visions, and beliefs to each other or to people today.

Pottery, clothing, and making baskets are just a portion of the great arts and crafts
of the Southwest Native Americans. Their art used symbols and signs to
represent their ideas, beliefs, dreams, and visions.

Pottery was made for everyday use, including cooking, storage, bathing, and
religious ceremonies.They were painted and carved with designs that told a story.

Modern earthen ware is considerably softer and of coarser texture than the pieces
that have been exhumed in large numbers from the ruins of this region. The most
successful imitator of this ancient ware, who is not a Hopi at all, but the Tewa
woman Nampeyo, of the village Hano, says that its superiority was obtained by
the use of lignite, by which the prehistoric potters were able to fire their vessels
for several days; but a well-informed traditionalist, on the contrary, asserts that it
is the result of burying the clay in moist sand for a long time, perhaps two moons,
which 'caused something in the clay to rot'."

Rugs

Hopi Cross Rug

 Clothing

The clothing they wore depended on what they did. They lived in a warm climate
so they wore little clothing. They would dress in flowers and paint with feather
headdresses. They also used clothing to signify their fighting skills.

The Southwest Indians were the most skilled in making baskets. They would
decorate the baskets with colors and patterns. They could be very symbolic like
the art they made. The Hopi method of basket making has not changed for
hundreds of years.

Diet

The very first Southwest Native Americans hunted mammoths until they became
extinct. Then people began to hunt buffalo, also known as bison, as well as
collect wild plants for food. They also learned to grow maize, or corn, that was
their most common grain, which became domesticated in Mexico.

Corn is the central food of daily life, and piki - paper thin bread made from corn
and ash--is the dominant food at ceremonies. Corn relies on the farmer to
survive, and the Hopi relies on the corn - all life is designed to be interrelated.

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.
 Kachinas

Kachina dolls were carved out wood by the Zuni and Hopi tribes. There are over
300 different Kachinas. They are generally clothed in masks and costumes to
look like the men who dressed up as Kachina spirits. They were given to children
to teach them to identify the different parts of Kachina dolls, and the parts they
play in tribal ceremonies.

The Kachinas, or Gods, were beings of a great might and power to the Native
Americans. They were known to come down to Earth and help the native
Americans tend their fields brining wisdom about agriculture, law and
government. They physically interacted with the people themselves. There are
drawings of them on cave walls.
The famous Hopi Prophecy speaks about the return of the Blue Kachina to
herald in the Fifth Age of Man. This is not unlike any other culture who await the
return of their god or creational force - Example - Jesus.
Hopi Kachina Dancer and Kachina Doll

Mythology
 Kokopelli is a god worshipped by many southeastern tribes. He is
a humpbacked flautist. Among the Hopi, he brought the fetuses to pregnant
women, and took part in many rituals relating to marriage.

Muyingwa is the god of germination.

Taiowa is the creator god. He made Sotuknang and ordered him to make the
universe. The first world was called Topela and had land, water and air, as well
as Koyangwuti (spider woman), who then created twins, Poqanghoya and
Palongawhoya. They made rivers, oceans and mountains. Koyangwuti then made
all organisms, but most of the men did not obey the gods, so Sotuknang killed
them with a flood. Two more bad worlds were created and destroyed.

The fourth world, the modern world, is Tuwaqachi.

Tokpela was the endless, primordial space before creation. Good people go west
and become kachinas, but there is no absolute connection between the former
soul and the kachina.
Hopi Prophecies - Blue Star Kachina

Spider Women Legends

Hopi Myths
 Myths From Hopi Stone Tablets

Myth 1: The Mission of Two Brothers

This Bow Clan chief had two grown sons. When they learned of their father's
misdeed, they were very sad. Their knowledge of the teachings which they had
received from him was all in order. Now they were left alone to lead their people,
for the very next day their father died.

They asked their mother to permit them to carry out the order of their instructions
for an event of this nature. She replied that it was up to them, for their knowledge
was complete. Upon agreement, the younger brother was to continue in search of
Maasau'u, and to settle where he found him. There he would await the return of
this older brother, who was to travel eastward toward the rising sun, where he
would rest briefly. While resting, he must listen for the voice of his younger
brother, who would expect him to come to his aid, for the change in the life
pattern will have disrupted the way of life of his people. Under the pressure of a
new ruler they will surely be wiped off the face of the earth unless he comes.

So today we are still standing firmly on the Great Spirit's instructions. We will
continue to look and pray toward the East for his prompt return. The younger
brother warned the elder that the land and the people would change "But do not
let your heart be troubled," he said, "for you will find us. Many will turn away
from the life plan of Maasau'u, but a few of us who are true to his teachings will
remain in our dwellings. The ancient character of our heads, the shape of our
houses, the layout of our villages, and the type of land upon which our village
stands, and our way of life. All will be in order, by which you will find us."

Before the first people had begun their migrations the people named Hopi were
given a set of stone tablets. Into these tablets the Great Spirit inscribed the laws
by which the Hopi were to travel and live the good way of life, the peaceful way.
They also contain a warning that the Hopi must beware, for in time they would
be influenced by wicked people to forsake the life plan of Maasau'u. It would not
be easy to stand up against this, for it would involve many good things that
would tempt many good people to forsake these laws. The Hopi would be led
into a most difficult position. The stones contain instructions to be followed in
such a case.

The older brother was to take one of the stone tablets with him to the rising sun,
and bring it back with him when he hears the desperate call for aid. His brother
will be in a state of hopelessness and despair. His people may have forsaken the
teachings, no longer respecting their elders, and even turning upon their elders to
destroy their way of life. The stone tablets will be the final acknowledgment of
their true identity and brotherhood. Their mother is Sun Clan. They are the
children of the sun.

So it must be a Hopi who travelled from here to the rising sun and is waiting
someplace. Therefore it is only the Hopi that still have this world rotating
properly, and it is the Hopi who must be purified if this world is to be saved. No
other person anyplace will accomplish this. The older brother had to travel fast
on his journey for there was not much time, so the horse was created for him. The
younger brother and his people continued on in search of Maasau'u.

On their way they came to a land that looked fertile and warm. Here they marked
their clan symbols on the rock to claim the land. This was done by the Fire
Clan,the Spider Clan, and the Snake Clank. This place is know called Moencopi.
They did not settle there at that time. While the people were migrating, Maasau'u
was waiting for the first ones to arrive. In those days he used to take walks near
the place where he lived, carrying a bunch of violet flowers (du-kyam-see) in his
belt. One day he lost them along the way. When he went to look for them he
found that they had been picked up by the Hornytoad Woman. When he asked
her for the flowers she refused to give them back, but instead gave him her
promise that she would help him in time of need. "I too have a metal helmet," she
told him, (possibly meaning that certain people with metal helmets would help
the Hopi when they get into difficulty).

Often Maasau'u would walk about a half mile north of his du-pa-cha ( a type of
temporary house) to a place where there lay a long rock which formed a natural
shelter, which he must have picked as the place where he and the first people
would find each other. While waiting there he would amuse himself by playing a
game to test his skill, the name of which (Nadu-won-pi-kya), was to play an
important part later on in the life of the Hopi, for it was here that the knowledge
and wisdom of the first people was to be tested. Until recent times children used
to play a similar game there, something like "hide-and-seek." One person would
hide, then signal by tapping on the rock, which would transmit the sound in a
peculiar way so that the others could not tell exactly where the tapping was
coming from. (Some years ago this rock was destroyed by government road
builders.) It was here that they found Maasau'u waiting.

Before the migrations began Maasau'u had let it be known, though perhaps not by
direct instructions, that whoever would find him first would be the leader there.
Later it became clear that this was a procedure by which their true character
would be specified.

When they found him, the people gathered and sat down with him to talk. The
first thing they wanted to know was where he lived. He replied that he lived just
north of there at a place called Oraibi. For a certain reason he did not name it
fully. The full name is Sip-Oraibi, meaning something that has been solidified,
referring to the fact that this is the place where the earth was made solid.

They asked permission to live there with him. He did not answer directly, for
within them he saw evil. "It is up to you," he said. "I have nothing here. My life
is simple. All I have is my planting stick and my corn. If you are willing to live
as I do, and follow my instructions, the life plan which I shall give you, you may
live here with me, and take care of the land. Then you may have a long, happy,
fruitful life."

Then they asked him whether he would be their leader, thinking that thus they
would be assured a peaceful life. "No," he replied, "the one who led you here will
be the leader until you fulfill your pattern of life," (for he saw into their hearts
and knew that they still had many selfish desires). "After that I will be the leader,
but not before, for I am the first and I shall be the last." Having left all the
instructions with them, he disappeared.
 Myth 2

Chief Dan Evehema, Grandfather Martin Gashweseoma and son-in-law Emery

Homes shared wisdom's about the stones how they came to be and current events
and where about of the sacred tablets. The presentation took over 2 hours but
according to the Chief Martin & Emery to get the full details you would need 8 to
9 days. This is what was recorded of this conversation.

As Emery spoke of mankind's future according to our Native Prophecies he

unfolded the story of the five Hopi stone tablets, given by the creator long, long
ago. One of these tablets was kept by the Creator.

Two tablets were kept by the Hopis themselves passed down from generation to
generation and used to renew Holy vows of spiritual commitments to the people
and the creator at special times of the year. Martin was the last one who held the
great responsibility for its care, a duty that had evolved to him by default because
his uncle had lost honor by an act of adultery and was therefore no longer worthy
to be the caretaker. Miss fortune later came to Martin also in this quest.

He was instructed and trained by his uncle earlier that when certain signs in
nature were observed, the tablet should be taken to Santa Fe, the first US capital
in the West recognized by the Hopi people. The signs came, Emery explained as
he translated Martins story, Chief Martin set in deep thought and prayer a sadness
of the ages around him.

As Grandfather Martin has been taught, he watched for the sign. It was the
middle of winter, and the peach tree came into full bloom. Desert flowers came
into full bloom, and snakes were seen out when they should have been in
hibernation. These were the signs he had been waiting for, his signal to take the
tablet to Santa Fe. So a delegation was organized to go to Santa Fe to share this
knowledge with other Spiritual leaders.

As this story unfolds his relatives objected strongly. They organized and assessed
that he had done wrong in taking the stone to Santa Fe saying he had made grave
errors in judgments and was not fit to have the stone, saying that it was in the
wrong household. So they took the stone tablet from him by force. Now Martin
and Emery, said as of that day they did not know where the stone is.

In asking what the tablets looked like the Elders explained that 4 of them were
exactly the same, two were left with the Hopi people, two were given to the true
brothers to bring back at a special time in history, along with other sacred items
from the four directions, when the world reunites in peace. The fifth one the
Elders tell us was kept by the Creator and was different markings. Similar to one
on the poster of a Hinduism Today paper "Truth is One, Paths Are Many"
Grandfather Martin said.

This is a great loss for the Elder and now his life is centered around finding the
true Brothers and telling the world of the great prophecies of the Hopis, the
Mayans and other civilizations. These were shared next as the elders explained to
us about there commitment to the human race and mother earth Chief Martin
would often say, "We are humans: we cannot eat the money." We must plant our
fields and pray for guidance honor all the ceremonials, we can eat the Corn. He
then disclosed a package of pictographs, the main one the size of a road map,
consisting of numerous papers tapped together all in a single strip that we rolled
out, page after page until it was open, over 8 feet long.

Emery and Martin explained to us very patiently and slowly the Mayan
pictographs. The story of the pictures in words sometimes Hopi sometimes
English. Beginning in ancient times and ending with four possible pathways that
mankind can choose from their actions as a collective group. The choices range
from complete destruction and loss of sunlight, to less server circumstances,
providing corruption and greed has not already gone to far. The Elders seemed
less optimistic then we had all hoped. The main concerns of the Elders and Holy
people was Starvation and Marshal Law both they are already seeing to close as a
new reality.

On this day, still waiting for the true white brother, the Elders came together in a
meeting when East meets West. Hopi spiritual leaders of Hotevilla Arizona
hosted The Hindu delegation led by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami in a
special prayer meeting at the corn fields at Chief Dan Evehema's corn fields.

Religion

The Hopi have been affected by missionary work by several religions and also by
consumerism and alcoholism. Nevertheless there remains a traditionalist core.

The people of the Southwest, along with the Southeast had full-time religious
leaders with shrines or temple buildings. Most Native Americans believe that in
the universe there exists an Almighty, a spiritual force that is the source of all
life. The Almighty belief is not pictured as a man in the sky, but is believed to be
formless and exist in the universe. The sun is viewed as the power of the
Almighty.

They are not worshipping the sun, but praying to the Almighty, and the sun is a
sign and symbol for that. Native Americans show less interest in an afterlife
unlike the Christians. They assume the souls of the dead go to another part of the
universe where they have a new existence carrying on everyday activities like
they were still alive. They are just in a different world.

The religious and ceremonial life of the Hopi centers in the kiva, which is simply
a room, wholly or partly subterranean and entered by way of ladder through an
opening in the flat roof. While the membership of the kiva consists principally of
men and boys from certain clan or clans, there is no case in which all the
members of a kiva belong to one clan- a condition inseparable from the provision
that a man may change his kiva membership, and in fact made necessary by the
existence of more clans than kivas. It is probable, nevertheless, that originally the
kivas were clan institutions."

Snake Priest
The Hopi or "Hopituh Shi-nu-mu" meaning "The Peaceful People" or the
"Peaceful Little Ones" are a well know Indian Nation in Northern Arizona,
especially known for their "Kachina Dolls". The Navajo name for the Hopi is
Anazazi which means "ancient enemies". The Hopi's are a very peaceful tribe
whose reservation lies somewhat in the center of the Navajo Nation and although
the co-exist because of their geography their relationship is somewhat strained
because of their tribal histories.

The cliff painting of the Mesa Verde and other areas are said to be "guides" for
their warriors and they claim that the "snake-shaped" mounds in the eastern
United States were built by their ancestors.

The "Snake Dance" is performed even today although the picture is of a Snake
Priest Circa 1890. The dance takes about two weeks to prepare and the snakes are
gathered and watched over by the children. The snakes are usually rattle snakes
and are dangerous but no harm seems to befall the children. Before the dance
begins the dancers take an emetic (probably a sedative herb or hallucinogenic)
and then dance with the snakes in their mouths. There is usually an Antelope
Priest in attendance who helps with the dance, sometimes stroking the snakes
with a feather or supporting their weight. After the dance the snakes are released
to carry the prayers of the dancers.
Beside the trail that leads from the Hopi mesas to an ancient shrine where salt
was gathered in the Grand Canyon, a large boulder bears the markings of clans
which carved their emblems into the rock each time they passed on a pilgrimage.

From various quarters, the Hopi have brought with them in their migration from
other regions or have borrowed from other pueblo a mass of religious practices,
and the result is a complex presenting many anomalies and obscurities. They
recognize a very large number of deities, and of none can it be said that he is
supreme. The explanation may be that that each was the principal deity of some
one group that entered into the making of the present Hopi people. Numerous
ceremonies are performed at proscribed times, which are determined by the
position of the rising sun with reference to certain landmarks or by the moon.

Hopi Medicine Wheel

In the Hopi Medicine Wheel of the Hopi prophecy of the four peoples of the
Earth, the cardinal direction North represents the body, plants and animals, the
color white and 'white skinned peoples', and Childhood. (can also represent birth,
and/or meeting a stranger and learning to trust as in infancy, explained in Erik
Erikson's stages of Psychosocial development).
The East is held to represent the mind, air, the color yellow and 'yellow skinned
peoples', learning the groups to which people belong and Adolescence.

The South holds the heart, fire, the color red and 'red skinned peoples', and
Adulthood.

Finally West holds the spirit, water, the color blue or black, and 'black-skinned
peoples' and Elderhood. West also represents the final life stage in the wheel,
being an elder and passing on knowledge to the next generation so that the wheel
may start again just like the circle it takes after.

In many other tribes, however, the Northern direction corresponds to Adulthood

(the White Buffalo), the South represents Childhood (the Serpent), the West
represents Adolescence (the Bear) and the Eastern direction represents Death and
Re-birth (Eagle). In terms of social dynamics, community building and the use of
Circles in Restorative Justice work, the four quadrants of the circle correspond to
Introductions.

Star Knowledge - Ant People

Native Americans followed the movements of the celestial markers - much as we
do today. They called it Star Knowledge. Beyond the land where they lived, was
the sky, and that beyond were dimensional portals or sky holes. Beyond that was
an area that they called the Ocean of Pitch, were the beauty of the night sky and
the galaxies spun out towards them. Beyond that were the boundaries of the
universe. And that set along the rim at the boundaries of the universe were 4
different exterrestrial groups.

The Hopis called the Pleiadians the Chuhukon, meaning those who cling
together. They considered themselves direct descendents of the Pleiadians. The
Navajos named the Pleiades the Sparkling Suns or the Delyahey, the home of the
Black God. The Iroquois pray to them for happiness. The Cree came to have
come to earth from the stars in spirit form first and then became flesh and blood.

Each year a medicine man performs the green corn dance where he takes 7 ears
of corn from 7 fields of the 7 clans to insure a healthy harvest. Early Dakota
stories speak of the Tiyami home of the ancestors as being the Pleiades.
Astronomy tells us that the Pleiades rise with the sun in May and that when you
die your spirit returns south to the seven sisters.

They believe that Mythic Mountain is actually the home of the Kachinas. This
mountain top is a sacred one. Being the home of the kachina spirits it is the place
where all of the large mythic beings they honor in their rituals land. "We come as
clouds to bless the Hopi people" is a quote passed from generation to generation.

There are some remarkable drawings that appear to be luminous discs of light in
the petroglyphs all along the south west. Photographs of Billy Meier's Pleiadian
space and beam ships look just like these rock petroglyphs from long ago.

The Snake People and the Ant People

Petroglyphs
The Apache and other Pueblo Indians, such as the Zunis and Hopi, have legends
about their ancestors emerging from an underground world, generally after some
cataclysmic event, as if a cycle in time, or another reboot in the
programmed realities of the human experiment, always linked to star gods, or star
people, who brought them here from outer space.

They speak of the Snake People (metaphor for human DNA) and the Ant People
(gray aliens,) who protected them beneath the surface. Physical reality is a
metaphor for 'beneath the surface'. To rise above is to return to
higher consciousness, through the Back Hole (Eye of Time) or the Stargate of
human creation.

Hopi Prophecy speaks of the return of the Blue Kachina, or Star People at the end
of this cycle of time.
 Imprint of a gray alien placed in my crystal, while I meditated in the mountains
of Sedona.

Present Day

Today there are 12 Hopi villages on or below the three mesas, with Moencopi to
the west (on Dinetah), and Keams Canyon to the east. Each village has its own
village chief, and each contributes to the annual cycle its own ceremonies. Each
village presents its own distinct cast of katsinam, and each village has maintained
its own balance of engagement with the Euro-American culture and traditional
Hopi practices and views.
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.

There are now eight Hopi pueblos, all of them on the tops of mesas. The Hopi
villages were established on their present almost inaccessible sites for purposes
of defense; and with the same object in view the builders formerly never left a
door in the outer walls of the first story, access to the rooms invariably being
through hatchways in the roof.