“Moving back and forth in the wind
Softly moving in the quiet breeze
Rocking by the side of the sea.”

–Ancient Hopoe Chant.

ON the southeastern seacoast of the island Hawaii, near a hamlet called Keaau, is a large stone which was formerly so balanced that it could be easily moved. One of the severe earthquake shocks of the last century overthrew the stone and it now lies a great black mass of lava rock near the seashore.

This stone in the long ago was called by the natives Hopoe, because Hopoe, the graceful dancer of Puna who taught Hiiaka, the youngest sister of Pele, how to dance, was changed into this rock. The story of the jealousy and anger of Pele, which resulted in overwhelming Hopoe in a flood of lava and placing her in the form of a balanced rock to dance by the sea to the music of the eternally moving surf, is a story which must be kept on record for the lovers of Hawaiian folk-lore.

Pele had come from the islands of the South seas and had found the Hawaiian Islands as they are at the present day. After visiting all the other islands she settled in Puna, on the large island Hawaii. There she had her long sleep in which she went to the island Kauai and found her lover Lohiau, whom she promised to send for that he might come to her home in the volcano Kilauea.

Pele called her sisters one by one and told them to go to Kauai, but they feared the uncertainty of Pele’s jealousy and wrath and refused to go. At last she called for Hiiaka, but she was down by the seashore with her friend Hopoe. There in a beautiful garden spot grew the fine food plants of the old Hawaiians. There were ohias[1] (apples) and the brilliant red, feathery blossoms of the lehua trees, and there grew the hala, from which sweet-scented skirts and mats were woven.

Hopoe was very graceful and knew all the dances of the ancient people. Hour after hour she taught Hiiaka the oldest hulas (dances) known among the Hawaiians until Hiiaka excelled in all beautiful motions of the human form. Hopoe taught Hiiaka how to make leis (wreaths) from the most fragrant and splendid flowers. Together they went out into the white-capped waves bathing and swimming and seeking the fish of the coral caves. Thus they learned to have great love for each other. The girl from the south seas promised to care for the Hawaiian girl whose home was in the midst of volcanic fires, and the Hawaiian gave pledge to aid and serve as best she could.

Together they were making life happy when Pele called for Hiiaka. Out from the fumes of the crater, echoing from hill to hill through Puna, rustling the leaves of the forest trees, that insistent voice came to the younger sister.

Hiiaka by her magic power quickly passed from the seashore to the volcano. Some of the native legends say that Pele had slept near the seashore where she had commenced to build a volcanic home for herself and her sisters, and that while longing for the coming of her lover Lohiau she had dug feverishly, throwing up hills and digging some of the many pit craters which are famous in the district of Puna.

At last she determined to visit Ailaau, the god residing in Kilauea, but he had fled from her and she had taken his place and found a home in the earthquake-shaken pit of molten lava, leaping fire, and overwhelming sulphur smoke. Here she felt that her burning love could wait no longer and she must send for Lohiau.

To her came Hiiaka fresh from the clear waters of the sea and covered with leis made by her friend Hopoe. For a few minutes she stood fore her sisters. Then untwisting the wreaths one by one she danced until all the household seemed to be overcome by her grace and gladness. She sent the influence of her good-will deep into the hearts of her sisters.

Pele alone looked on with scowling dissatisfied face. As soon as she could she said to Hiiaka: “Go far away; go to Kauai; get a husband for us, and bring him to Hawaii. Do not marry him. Do not even embrace him. He is tabu to you. Go forty days only–no longer for going or coming back.”

Hiiaka looked upon the imperious goddess of fire and said: “That is right. I go after your husband but I lay my charge upon you: You must take care of my lehua forest and not permit it to be injured. You may eat all other places of ours, but you must not touch my own lehua grove, my delight. You will be waiting here. Anger will arise in you. You will destroy inland: you will destroy toward the sea; but you must not touch my friend–my Hopoe. You will eat Puna with our burning wrath, but you must not go near Hopoe. This is my covenant with you, O Pele.”

Pele replied: ”This is right; I will care for your forest and your friend. Go you for our husband.” As Pele had charged Hiiaka so had Hiiaka, laid her commandment on Pele. Hiiaka, like the other sisters, knew how uncertain Pele was in all her moods and how suddenly and unexpectedly her wrath would bring destruction upon anything appearing to oppose her. Therefore she laid upon Pele the responsibility of caring for and protecting Hopoe. This was ceremonial oath-taking between the two.

Hiiaka rose to prepare for the journey, but Pele’s impatience at every moment’s delay was so great that she forced Hiiaka away without food or extra clothing. Hiiaka slowly went forth catching only a magic pa-u, or skirt, which had the death-dealing power of flashing lightning.

As she climbed the walls of the crater she looked down on her sisters and chanted:

“The traveller is ready to go for the loved one.
The husband of the dream.
I stand, I journey while you remain,
O women with bowed heads.
Oh my lehua forest-inland at Kailu,
The longing traveller journeys many days
For the lover of the sweet dreams.
For Lohiau ipo.”–Ancient Hiiaka Chant.

When Pele heard this chant from the forgiving love of her little sister she relented somewhat and gave Hiiaka a portion of her divine power with which to wage battle against the demons and dragons and sorcerers innumerable whom she would meet in her journey, and also sent Pauopalae, the woman of supernatural power, who cared for the ferns of all kinds around the volcano, to be her companion.

As Hiiaka went up to the highlands above the volcano she looked down over Puna. Smoke from the volcano fell toward the sea, making dark the forest along the path to Keaau, where Hopoe dwelt. Hiiaka, with a heavy heart, went on her journey, fearing that this smoke might be prophetic of the wrath of the goddess of fire visited at the suggestion of some sudden jealousy or suspicion upon Hopoe and her household.

What the Hawaiians call mana, or supernatural power able to manifest itself in many ways, had come upon Hiiaka. She found this power growing within her as she overcame obstacle after obstacle in the progress of her journey. Thus Hiiaka from time to time as she passed over the mountains of the different islands was able to look back over the dearly loved land of Puna.

At last she saw the smoke, which had clouded the forests along the way to the home of her friend, grow darker and blacker and then change into the orange hues of outbreaking fire. She felt Pele’s unfaithfulness and chanted:

“Yellow grows the smoke of Ka-lua (the crater)
Turning heavily toward the sea.
Turning against my aikane (bosom friend),
Coming near to my loved one,
Rising up–straight up
And going down from the pit.”

After many days had passed and she had found Lohiau. she had another vision of Puna and saw a great eruption of lava making desolate the land. There had been many hindrances to the progress of Hiiaka and she had been slow. The waiting and impatient goddess of fire became angry with her messenger and hurled lava from the pit crater down into the forests which she had promised to protect. Hiiaka chanted:

“The smoke bends over Kaliu.
I thought my lehuas were tabu.
The birds of fire are eating them up.
They are picking my lehuas
Until they are gone.”

Then from that far-off island of Kauai she looked over her burning forest toward the sea and again chanted:

“O my friend of the steep ridges above Keaau,
My friend who made garlands
Of the lehua blossoms of Kaliu,
Hopoe is driven away to the sea–
The sea of Lanahiku.”

Fiercer and more devouring were thc lava floods hurled out over the forest so loved Hiiaka. Heavier were the earthquake shocks shaking all the country around the volcano. Then Hiiaka bowed her head and said:

Puna is shaking in the wind,
Shaking is the hala grove of Keaau,
Tumbling are Haena and Hopoe,
Moving is the land–moving is the sea.”

Thus by her spirit-power she looked back to Hawaii and saw Puna devastated and the land covered by the destructive floods of lava sent out by Pele.

Hopoe was the last object of Pele’s anger at her younger sister, but there was no escape. The slow torrent of lava surrounded the beach where Hopoe waited death. She placed the garlands Hiiaka had loved over her head and shoulders. She wore the finest skirt she had woven from lauhala leaves. She looked out over the death-dealing seas into which she could not flee, and then began the dance of death.

There Pele’s fires caught her but did not devour her. The angry goddess of fire took away her human life and gave her goblin power. Pele changed Hopoe into a great block of lava and balanced it on the seashore. Thus Hopoe was able to dance when the winds blew or the earth shook or some human hand touched her and disturbed her delicate poise. it is said that for centuries she has been the dancing stone of Puna.

Hiiaka fulfilled her mission patiently and faithfully, bringing Lohiau even from a grave in which he had been placed back to life and at last presenting him before Pele although all along the return journey she was filled with bitterness because of the injustice of Pele in dealing death to Hopoe.

[1. Ohia ai = Jambosa Malacrensis. Ohia Ha = Syzygium Sandwicense.]

Hawaiian Legends Of Volcanoes,Collected And Translated From The Hawaiian,W. D. WESTERVELT

Hopi land is an enclave within the much larger Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Their name, Hopitu-shinumu, means Peaceful People, and throughout their history they have lived up to it. They belong to the Uto-Aztecan language family, though the Hopi in the village of Hano, curiously enough, speak Tewa. The founders of Hano were Rio Grande Pueblos fleeing their ancient home under Spanish pressure to seek a refuge among the Peaceful Ones.

The Spaniards made periodic attempts to Christianize the Hopis and fought several battles with them, but eventually left their pueblos alone. They were also the westernmost of the pueblos and therefore hundreds of miles from the center of Spanish power – and intrusion.

The Hopis have been planters of corn since time immemorial, skillfully coaxing their crops to thrive even in desert sands. In the traditional partition of labor, the women made pottery and wove beautiful baskets, while the men did the weaving and hunting.

The Hopi and their close neighbors, – the Navajo have had their disputes in the past, but sealed great peace and contentment between their peoples with a peace bundle, – way over a hundred years ago now, as any of their people will tell you.

Hopi Stories (Literature)

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/hopi.htm

Aholi and Other Walpi Katcinas
Bálölöokongwuu And The Coyote
Bet Between The Cooyoko And The Fox
Big Head And Goat Horn

Blue Corn Maiden and
the Coming of Winter

Boy and the Sun
Chórzhvûk’iqölö And The Eagles

Chief Dan Evehema of the Hopi
Sends A Message to Mankind

Children And The Hummingbird
Clay Old Woman & Clay Old Man
Coming Of The Hopi From The Under-World
Coyote and the Stars
Creation Story
Daughter of Somebody-or-Other
Dr. Fewkes And Masauwu
Emergence to the Fifth World
First Journey Through Grand Canyon
Grandmother Mole and the Sacred Bundle
Grandmother Spider and the Moon
Haliksai! – This Is How It Was
Hopi Raid On A Navaho Dance

How A Family Quarrel Led To
The Founding Of Oraibi

How An Oraíbi Chief Punished His People

How Ball-Head (Tatciqtö)
Wedded An Oraíbi Maiden

How Bees Learned to Fly and
Peaches Became Sweet

How Beetles Produced Rain
How Grandmother Spider Named the Clans

How Hiyónatitiwa Defeated
The Plan Of His Enemies

How Hotevilla And Bakabi Were Founded
How Pö’okong Killed The Bear

How Some Hopis Resisted Sending
Their Children To School And
The Trouble That Resulted

How The Antelope Maiden Was Reconciled
How The Beetles Produced Pain

How The Children Of Pivánhonk’api
Obtained Permission To Catch Birds

How The Circle (Póngo) Katcina
And His Wife Became Stars

How The Coyote Was
Deceived By The Wren

How The Coyotes Had
A Katcina Dance

How The Crow Clan Arrived
And Settled At Mishongnovi

How The Crow Clan Became
Also The Kachina Clan

How the Great Chiefs Made
the Moon and the Sun

How the Hopi Indians
Reached Their World

How The Hopi Marked The Boundary
Line Between Their Country
And That Of The Navajo

How The Hopi Selected
Shung-Opovi For Their Home

How The Mocking Bird Gave
The People Many Languages

How The Pö’okongs Destroyed
Cóoyoko And His Wife

How The People Came Out
Of The Underworld

How The Spaniards Came To Shung-Opovi,
How They Built A Mission, And
How The Hopi Destroyed The Mission

How The Yellow Corn-Ear Maiden
Became A Bull Snake And Revenged Herself

Journey to the Skeleton House
Journey to the Skeleton House 1
Journey To The Skeleton House 2
Journey To The Skeleton House 3

Katcina Race Contest Between
The Wálpi And The Oraíbi

Katcina Race Contest Between
The Wálpi And The Oraíbi 1

Kavúshkavuwnöm
And Shovíviounöm

Kokopelli – Trickster

Kokopilau, the Hump-Backed
Flute Player

Kokoshori Katcina and
the Shongopavi Maiden

Korosta Katzina Song

Kuskurza, the Third World
The End of the Third World

Lâ’vövölvipiki And Nö’nvövölpiki

Legend of the Snake
Order of the Moquis

Little Brother Fieldmouse
Little Hawk Month
Másauwuu And The Háno Hunters
Másauwuu Marries A Maiden
Masauwu
Message from Hopi Elders
Origin of the Clans
Piki Bread
Prophecies
Raid On The Hopi Villages
Rooster, Mockingbird and the Maiden
Wind God
Yaponcha – The Wind God
========================

Hopi
Literature

Hopi Videos

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Hopi&search_type=

“Today almost all the prophecies have come to pass. Great roads like rivers pass across the landscape; man talks to man through the cobwebs of telephone lines; man travels along the roads in the sky in his airplanes; two great wars have been waged by those bearing swastika or rising Sun; man is with the Moon and the stars. Most men have strayed from the path shown us by the Great Spirit. For Massau’u alone is great enough to portray the way back to Him.”

Thomas Banyacya, for the Hopi Traditional Village Leaders:

Mrs. Mina Lansa, Oraibi Claude Kawangyawma,
Shungopavy Starlie Lomayaktewa, Mushongnovi Dan Katchongva, Hotevilla

“When the Caciques of the Americans
sit on our decapitated heads,
then they can dress our bodies in their clothes,
feed our bodies with their victuals;
then, too they can have our things to take with them
to the houses of their fathers.”

Hopi elders, 1882

“Truth does not happen, it just is.
You should water your children
like you water a tree.
A shady lane breeds mud.”

“Haliksai” was the usual beginning
when a Hopi told a story in his own language.
“Once upon a time” was his beginning
when he told it in English.”

Other Hopi Home Pages

Ceremonies
Grandmother Mona Polacca
Havasupai Indian Waterfall Relaxation
Hopi Ancestral Land
Hopi Calendar
Hopi Havasupai Maps
Hopi Information Network
Hopi Message Board
Hopi message from Elders (video)
Hopi Prophesy
Hopi Stories
In the Light of Reverance
News Articles
Orgins of Katsinam
Rainmakers froom the Gods
Techqua Ikachi Newsletter
Videos / Music

Hopi Water Wisdom
Techqua Ikachi: Aboriginal Warning
The Elders Say

More videos

17 Hopi Katcina Songs (Audio)
Hopi Snake Dance (Musical Score)
Hopi Song (Audio)

The Hopi (meaning “peaceful”), descendants of the prehistoric ANASAZI people, are a Pueblo Indian tribe of the southwestern United States. Their population of 9,617 (1988 est.) is concentrated in villages on or below three adjoining mesas in northeastern Arizona. They speak a Shoshonean dialect of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family.

Hapitu or Hopi meaning the “peaceful ones” were the only Shoshones to adopt a pueblo culture, located on the Three Mesas in Northeastern Arizona.

Their first European contact was with the Spanish explorer Coronado in 1540. In 1598, the Governor of New Mexico territory made them swear allegiance to the King of Spain. In 1529, a Franciscan Mission was established at several Hopi settlements, however they were destroyed in 1680 at the general Pueblo uprising. The present Hopi Reservation became a reality by presidential order on December 16, 1882.

Hopi culture is regarded as one of the best-preserved native American cultures in North America. Although visited (1540) by members of the Spanish explorer Coronado’s expedition, the Hopi remained relatively free from outside contact until 1629, when the Spanish began to build missions at ORAIBI and other pueblos. The Hopi destroyed these missions in the 1680 revolt led by POPE. To resist further intrusions, they relocated their villages in more remote areas that could be reached only by steep trails ascending through breaks in the cliffs. In the 1820s, however, the NAVAJO began to invade Hopi lands. These raids continued even after a Hopi reservation was established (1882). Land disputes between the two tribes have continued to the present day.

A sedentary farming people, the Hopi have endured numerous hardships resulting from drought, crop failure, epidemics, and the encroachment of alien peoples. An elaborate and all-pervasive religious system has been their answer to insecurity in a difficult environment, and throughout the year one ceremonial follows another in rapid succession. Among those intended to bring rain and fertility are the colorful snake dance and KACHINA pageants.

The performance of their spectacular Snake Dance attracts a huge public, and they remain one of the largest and best known of the North American nations.

Hopi Message to the United Nations

by Mr Thomas Banyacya

Kykotsmovi, Arizona

The presentation by Mr Thomas Banyacya, the final speaker, was preceded by three shouts by Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Six Nations, and first speaker of the day. The shouts were a spiritual announcement to the Great Spirit of the people assembled and the intention to give a message of spiritual importance.

Thomas then sprinkled corn meal next to the podium of the General Assembly and made a brief remark in Hopi that translates as follows:

Hopi Spiritual leaders had an ancient prophecy that some day world leaders would gather in a Great House of Mica with rules and regulations to solve the world problems without war. I am amazed to see the prophecy has come true and you are here today! But only a handful of United Nations Delegates are present to hear the Motee Sinom (Hopi for First People) from around the world who spoke here today.

(In English:) My name is Banyacya of the Wolf, Fox and Coyote Clan and I am a member of the Hopi sovereign nation. Hopi in our language means a peaceful, kind, gentle, truthful people. The traditional Hopi follows the spiritual path that was given to us by Massau’u the Great Spirit. We made a sacred covenant to follow his life plan at all times, which includes the responsibility of taking care of this land and life for his divine purpose. We have never made treaties with any foreign nation, including the United States, but for many centuries we have honored this sacred agreement. Our goals are not to gain political control, monetary wealth nor military power, but rather to pray and to promote the welfare of all living beings and to preserve the world in a natural way. We still have our ancient sacred stone tablets and spiritual religious societies which are the foundations of the Hopi way of life. Our history says our white brother should have retained those same sacred objec
ts and
spiritual foundations.

In 1948, all traditional Hopi spiritual leaders met and spoke of things I felt strongly were of great importance to all people. They selected four interpreters to carry their message of which I am the only one still living today. At the time, I was given a sacred prayer feather by the spiritual leaders. I made a commitment to carry the Hopi message of peace and deliver warnings from prophesies known since the time the previous world was destroyed by flood and our ancestors came to this land.

My mission was to open the doors of this Great House of Mica to native peoples. The Elders said to knock four times and this commitment was fulfilled when I delivered a letter and the sacred prayer feather I had been given to John Washburn in the Secretary General’s office in October, 1991. I am bringing part of the Hopi message to you here today. We have only ten minutes to speak and time is late so I am making my statement short.

At the meeting in 1948, Hopi leaders 80, 90 and even 100 years old explained that the creator made the first world in perfect balance where humans spoke one language, but humans turned away from moral and spiritual principles. They misused their spiritual powers for selfish purposes. They did not follow nature’s rules. Eventually the world was destroyed by sinking of land and separation of land by what you would call major earthquakes. Many died and only a small handful survived.

Then this handful of peaceful people came into the second world. They repeated their mistakes and the world was destroyed by freezing which you call the great Ice Age.

The few survivors entered the third world. That world lasted a long time and as in previous worlds, the people spoke one language. The people invented many machines and conveniences of high technology, some of which have not yet been seen in this age. They even had spiritual powers that they used for good. They gradually turned away from natural laws and pursued only material things and finally only gambled while they ridiculed spiritual principles. No one stopped them from this course and the world was destroyed by the great flood that many nations still recall in their ancient history or in their religions.

The Elders said again only a small groups escaped and came to this fourth world where we now live. Our world is in terrible shape again even though the Great Spirit gave us different languages and sent us to four corners of the world and told us to take care of the Earth and all that is in it.

This Hopi ceremonial rattle represents Mother Earth. The line running around it is a time line and indicates that we are in the final days of the prophecy. What have you, as individuals, as nations and as the world body been doing to to take care of this Earth? In the Earth today, humans poison their own food, water and air with pollution. Many of us, including children, are left to starve. Many wars are still being fought. Greed and concern for material things is a common disease.

In this western hemisphere, our homeland, many original native people are landless, homeless, starving and have no medical help.

The Hopi knew humans would develop many powerful technologies that would be abused. In this century, we have seen the First World War and the Second World War in which the predicted gourd of ashes, which you call the atomic bomb, fell from the sky with great destruction. Many thousands of people were destroyed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

For many years there has been great fear and danger of World War Three. The Hopi believe the Persian Gulf War was the beginning of World War Three but it was stopped and the worst weapons of destruction were not used. This is now a time to weigh the choices for our future. We do have a choice. If you, the nations of this Earth, create another great war, the Hopi believe we humans will burn ourselves to death with ashes. That’s why the spiritual Elders stress strongly that the United Nations fully open the door for native spiritual leaders as soon as possible.

Nature itself does not speak with a voice that we can easily understand. Neither can the animals and birds we are threatening with extinction talk to us. Who in this world can speak for nature and the spiritual energy that creates and flows through all life? In every continent are human beings who are like you but who have not separated themselves from the land and from nature. It is through their voice that Nature can speak to us. You have heard those voices and many messages from the four corners of the world today. I have studied comparative religion and I think in your own nations and cultures you have knowledge of the consequences of living out of balance with nature and spirit. The native peoples of the world have seen and spoken to you about the destruction of their lives and homelands, the ruination of nature and the desecration of their sacred sites. It is time the United Nations used its rules to investigate these occurrences and stop them now.

The Four Corners area of the Hopi is bordered by four sacred mountains. The spiritual center within is a sacred site our prophecies say will have special purpose in the future for mankind to survive and now should be left in its natural state. All nations must protect this spiritual center.

The Hopi and all original native people hold the land in balance by prayer, fasting and performing ceremonies. Our spiritual Elders still hold the land in the Western Hemisphere in balance for all living beings, including humans. No one should be relocated from their sacred homelands in this Western Hemisphere or anywhere in the world. Acts of forced relocation, such as Public Law 93-531 in the United States, must be repealed.

The United Nations stands on our native homeland. The United Nations talks about human rights, equality and justice and yet the native people have never had a real opportunity to speak to this assembly since its establishment until today. It should be the mission of your nations and this assembly to use your power and rules to examine and work to cure the damage people have done to this Earth and to each other. Hopi Elders know that was your mission and they wait to see whether you will act on it now.

Nature, the First People and the spirit of our ancestors are giving you loud warnings. Today, December 10, 1992, you see increasing floods, more damaging hurricanes, hail storms, climate changes and earthquakes as our prophesies said would come. Even animals and birds are warning us with strange change in their behavior such as the beaching of whales. Why do animals act like they know about the earth’s problems and most humans act like they know nothing? If we humans do not wake up to the warnings, the great purification will come to destroy this world just as the previous worlds were destroyed.

(Thomas and Oren Lyons held up a picture of a large rock drawing in Hopiland)

This rock drawing shows part of the Hopi prophecy. There are two paths. The first with technology but separate from natural and spiritual law leads to these jagged lines representing chaos. The lower path is one that remains in harmony with natural law. Here we see a line that represents a choice like a bridge joining the paths. If we return to spiritual harmony and live from our hearts, we can experience a paradise in this world. If we continue only on this upper path, we will come to destruction.

Its up to all of us, as children of Mother Earth, to clean up this mess before it’s too late.

The Elders request that during this International Year for the Worlds Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations keep that door open for spiritual leaders from the four corners of the world to come to speak to you for more than a few minutes as soon as possible. The Elders also request that eight investigative teams visit the native areas of the world to observe and tell the truth about what is being done and stop these nations from moving in this self- destructive direction.

If any of you leaders want to learn more about the spiritual vision and power of the Elders, I invite you to come out to Hopiland and sit down with our real spiritual leaders in their sacred Kivas where they will reveal the ancient secrets of survival and balance.

I hope that all members of this assembly that know the spiritual way will not just talk about it, but in order to have real peace and harmony, will follow what it says across the United Nations wall: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and study war no more.” Lets, together, do that now!

Epilogue

The night before the presentations of the native people from around the world to the General Assembly, there was a total eclipse of the moon over New York City and the sky was clear. The evening after the presentation by Mr Banyacya and the other native spokespersons, heavy rain and strong wind began. The weathermen had been calling for a snowstorm but what came the following day were the worst floods in New York’s memory. Major highways were washed away by the sea and the United Nations itself experienced flooding of its lower subfloors, forcing a shutdown of its heating and air conditioning and all personnel were dismissed at three o’clock.

In the ground floor meeting room, where on December 11, native peoples were meeting representatives of various UN agencies, Thomas Banyacya spontaneously called on all the participants, including UN officials, to form a great circle. All the Elders were in the center and Thomas called in some non-native people as well. Each silently said a prayer. The forming of the circle of unity of all people from the four corners of the Earth was more than just a symbolic act. One participant said she had never felt herself to be in such a safe place. Later, several people present noted that no further storm damage occurred in Manhattan and that the storm itself abated that afternoon.

Germination Katsina Ah-la Tihu Hopi, ca. 1904

Ah-la, a winter solstice katsina, arrives to open the kivas for the other katsinas’ visitations. He blesses all the houses in the village and the seeds that each household will plant in the upcoming agricultural season.

By Lee Brown,

There was the cycle of the mineral, the rock. There was the cycle of the plant. And now we are in the cycle of the animal coming to the end of that and beginning the cycle of the human being. When we get into the cycle of the human being, the highest and greatest powers that we have will be released to us.

At the beginning of this cycle of time, long ago, the Great Spirit made an appearance and gathered the peoples of this earth together, and said to the human beings, “I’m going to send you to four directions, and over time I’m going to change you to four colors, but I’m going to give you some teachings, and you will call these the Original Teachings; when you come back together with each other, you will share these so that you can live and have peace on earth, and a great civilization will come about. During the cycle of time, I’m going to give each of you two stone tablets. When I give you those stone tablets, don’t cast them upon the ground. If any of the sisters and brothers cast their tablets on the ground, not only will human beings have a hard time, but almost the earth itself will die.”

And so He gave each of us a responsibility, and we call that the Guardianship. To the Indian people, the red people, He gave the Guardianship of the Earth. We were to learn during this cycle of time the teachings of the earth, the plants that grow from the earth, the foods that you can eat, and the herbs that heal so that, when we came back together with the other sisters and brothers, we could share this knowledge with them. Something good was to happen on the earth.

To the South He gave the yellow race of people the Guardianship of the Wind. They were to learn about the sky and breathing and how to take that within ourselves for spiritual advancement. They were to share that with us at this time.

To the West He gave the black race of people the Guardianship of the Water. They were to learn the teachings of the water, which is the chief of the elements, being the most humble and the most powerful. The elders have told me that the black people would bring the teachings of the water.

To the North He gave the white race of people the Guardianship of the Fire. If you look at the center of many of the things they do, you will find the fire. They say a light bulb is the white man’s fire. If you look at the center of a car you will find a spark. If you look at the center of the airplane and the train you will find the fire. The fire consumes, and also moves. This is why it was the white sisters and brothers who began to move upon the face of the earth and reunite us as a human family.

And so a long time passed, and the Great Spirit gave each of the four races two stone tablets. Ours are kept at the Hopi Reservation in Arizona at Four Corners Area on Third Mesa. I talked to people from the black race, and their stone tablets are at the foot of Mount Kenya. They are kept by the Kukuyu Tribe. I was at an Indian spiritual gathering about 15 years ago. A medicine man from South Dakota put a beaded medicine wheel in the middle of the gathering. It had the four colors from the four directions; he asked the people, “Where is this from?” They said, “Probably Montana, or South Dakota, maybe Saskatchewan.” He said, “This is from Kenya.” It was beaded just like ours, with the same colors.

The stone tablets of the yellow race of people are kept by the Tibetans. If you went straight through the Hopi Reservation to the other side of the world, you would come out in Tibet. The Tibetan word for sun is the Hopi word for moon, and the Hopi word for sun is the Tibetan word for moon.

The guardians of the traditions of the people of Europe are the Swiss. In Switzerland, they still have a day when each family brings out its mask. They still know the colors of the families, and they still know the symbols, some of them. Each of these four peoples happen to live in the mountains.

Each of the four races went to their directions and learned their teachings. It was in Newsweek not long ago that eight out of ten foods that people eat on the earth are developed here in the western hemisphere because that was our Guardianship — to learn the teachings of the earth and the things that grow from the earth. We were given a sacred handshake to show, when we came back together as sisters and brothers, that we still remembered the teachings.

It was indicated on the stone tablets that the Hopis had that the first sisters and brothers who would come back to them would come as turtles across the land. They would be human beings, but they would come as turtles. So when the time came close, the Hopis were at a special village to welcome the turtles that would come across the land. They got up in the morning and looked out at the sunrise. They looked out across the desert, and they saw the Spanish conquistadors coming, covered in armor, like turtles across the land. So this was them. So they went out to the Spanish man, and they extended their hand, hoping for the handshake. But into the hand the Spanish man dropped a trinket. And so word spread throughout North America that there was going to be a hard time, that maybe some of the brothers and sisters had forgotten the sacredness of all things and all the human beings were going to suffer for this on the earth.

So tribes began to send people to the mountains to have visions to try to figure out how they could survive. At that time there were 100,000 cities in the Mississippi Valley alone, called the mound civilization: cities built on great mounds. Those mounds are still there. They began to try to learn to live off the land because they knew a hard time was going to come. They began to send people to have visions to see how we could survive this time. They were told in the prophecies that we should try to remind all the people that would come here of the sacredness of all things. If we could do that, then there would be peace on earth. But if we did not do that, if we had not come together as a human family, the Great Spirit would grab the earth with His hand and shake it.

The elders on the west coast prophesied that they would then begin to build a black ribbon. And on this black ribbon there would move a bug. And when you begin to see this bug moving on the land, that was the sign for the First Shaking of the Earth. The First Shaking of the Earth would be so violent that this bug would be shaken off the earth into the air and it would begin to move and fly in the air. And by the end of this shaking this bug will be in the air around the world. Behind it would be a trail of dirt and eventually the whole sky of the entire earth would become dirty from these trails of dirt, and this would cause many diseases that would get more and more complicated. So the bug moving on the land, of course it’s easy to see now. In 1908 the Model-T Ford was mass produced for the first time. So the elders knew the First Shaking of the Earth was about to come about — that was the First World War.

In the First World War the airplane came into wide usage for the first time. That was that bug moving into the sky. And so they knew something very important would happen. There would be an attempt to make peace on earth on the west coast of this land, and so the elders began to watch for this. They began to hear that there was going to be a League of Nations in San Francisco, so the elders gathered in Arizona around 1920 or so, and they wrote a letter to Woodrow Wilson. They asked if the Indian people could be included in the League of Nations.

The United States Supreme Court had held that a reservation is a separate and semi-sovereign nation, not a part of the United States but protected by it. This became a concern because people didn’t want the reservations to become more and more separate. They didn’t want them to be considered nations. So they did not write back, and the Native people were left out of the League of Nations so that circle was incomplete. In the League of Nations circle there was a southern door, the yellow people; there was a western door, the black people; there was a northern door, the white people; but the eastern door was not attended. The elders knew that peace would not come on the earth until the circle of humanity is complete, until all the four colors sat in the circle and shared their teachings, then peace would come on earth.

So they knew things would happen. Things would speed up a little it. There would be a cobweb built around the earth, and people would talk across this cobweb. When this talking cobweb, the telephone, was built around the earth, a sign of life would appear in the east, but it would tilt and bring death (the swastika of the Nazis). It would come with the sun. But the sun itself would rise one day, not in the east but in the west (the rising sun of the Japanese Empire). So the elders said when you see the sun rising in the east, and you see the sign of life reversed and tilted in the east, you know that the Great Death is to come upon the earth, and now the Great Spirit will grab the earth again in His hand and shake it, and this shaking will be worse than the first. So the sign of life reversed and tilted, we call that the Swastika, and the rising sun in the east was the Rising Sun of Japan. These two symbols are carved in stone in Arizona. When the elders saw these two flags, they knew that these were the signs that the earth was to be shaken again.

The worse misuse of the Guardianship of the fire is called the gourd of ashes. They said the gourd of ashes will fall from the air. It will make the people like blades of grass in the prairie fire, and things will not grow for many seasons. The atomic bomb, the gourd of ashes, it was the best-kept secret in the history of the US. The elders wanted to speak about it in 1920.

They would have spoken of it and foretold its coming if they could have entered into the League of Nations. The elders tried to contact President Roosevelt to ask him not to use the gourd of ashes because it would have a great effect on the earth and eventually cause even greater destruction and a the Third Shaking of the Earth, the Third World War.

So they knew after the Second Shaking of the Earth when they saw the gourd of ashes fall from the sky, there would be an attempt to make peace on the other side of this land. And because the peace attempt on the west coast had failed, they would build a special house on the east coast of this Turtle Island, and all the nations and peoples of the earth would come to this house, and it would be called the House of Mica, and it would shine like the mica on the desert shines. So the elders began to see they were building the United Nations made out of glass that reflects like the mica on the desert so they knew this was the House of Mica, and all the peoples of the earth should go to it. So they met and talked about this. They said that in the 1920′s they had written and they had not been responded to, so they said this time we’d better go to the front door of the House of Mica because things might get a lot worse.

So elders representing a number of tribes drove to New York City. When the United Nations opened, they went to the front door of the house of Mica and they said these words, ‘We represent the indigenous people of North America, and we wish to address the nations of the Earth. We’re going to give you four days to consider whether or not we will be allowed to speak.’

They retreated to one of the Six Nations Reserves in New York State. Four days later they came back, and I believe the nations of the earth heard that the Indians had come to the door. And they voted to let the Indians in. They wanted to hear what they had to say. But the United States is one of five nations of the United Nations with a veto power, and still they were concerned because this time the Native sovereignty was even stronger. And I believe they vetoed the entrance of the Native people.

So then they knew other things would happen on the Earth. So they retreated to the Six Nations Reserve, and they talked about this, and they said the time is really getting close now — 1949. They said, “We’re going to divide the United States into four sections, and each year we’re going to have a gathering. We’re going to call these the White Roots of Peace Gatherings.” They began to have these around 1950. And they authorized certain people to speak in English for the first time about these prophecies.

One that I used to listen to many times, over and over, was Thomas Banyaca. He was authorized to speak in English about what was on the stone tablets, and he has dedicated his life to doing this. And they began to tell us at these gatherings, “You’re going to see a time in your lifetime when the human beings are going to find the blueprint that makes us.” They call that now DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid. They said, “They’re going to cut this blueprint.” They call that now genetic splicing. And they said, “They’re going to make new animals upon the earth, and they’re going to think these are going to help us. And it’s going to seem like they do help us. But maybe the grandchildren and great-grandchildren are going to suffer.” The elders said long ago, “They will release these things, and they will use them.” This is going to be released not too long from now. They are making new animals. The elders talked about this. They said, “You will see new animals, and even the old animals will come back, animals that people thought had disappeared. They will find them here and there. They’ll begin to reappear.”

They said, “You’re going to see a time when the eagle will fly its highest in the night, and it will land upon the moon. And at that time, many of the Native people will be sleeping,” which symbolically means they have lost their teachings. We’re at that time now. The Eagle has landed on the moon, 1969. When that spaceship landed, they sent back the message, “The Eagle has landed.” Traditionally, Native people from clear up in the Inuit region have shared with us this prophecy, clear down to the Quechuas in South America.

At this time you’re going to see that things will speed up, that people on the earth will move faster and faster. Grandchildren will not have time for grandparents. Parents will not have time for children. It will seem like time is going faster and faster. The elders advised us that, as things speed up, you yourself should slow down. The faster things go, the slower you go. Because there’s going to come a time when the earth is going to be shaken a third time. The Great Spirit has shaken the earth two times: the First and Second World Wars to remind us that we are a human family, to remind us that we should have greeted each other as brothers and sisters. We had a chance after each shaking to come together in a circle that would have brought peace on earth, but we missed that.

Tonight they were talking on the news about the sign for the Third Shaking of the Earth. They said they’re going to build what the elders called the house in the sky. In the 1950′s they talked about his: they will build a house and throw it in the sky. When you see people living in the sky on a permanent basis, you will know the Great Spirit is about to grab the earth, this time not with one hand, but with both hands. When this house is in the sky, the Great Spirit is going to shake the Earth a third time, and whoever dropped that gourd of ashes, upon them it is going to drop. They say at that time there will be villages in this land so great that when you stand in the villages you will not be able to see out, and in the prophecies these are called villages of stone, or prairies of stone. And they said the stone will grow up from the ground, and you will not be able to see beyond the village.

At the center of each and every one of these villages will be Native people, and they will walk as hollow shells upon a prairie of stone. They said hollow shells, which means they will have lost any of their traditional understandings; they will be empty within. They said that, after the Eagle lands on the moon, some of these people will begin to leave these prairies of stone and come home and take up some of the old ways and begin to make themselves reborn, because it’s a new day. But many will not. And they said there’s going to come a time when in the morning the sun is going to rise, and this village of stone will be there, and in the evening there would just be steam coming from the ground. They will be as steam. And in the center of many of those villages of stone, when they turn to steam, the Native people will turn to steam also because they never woke up and left the village.

They say there’s going to be the Third Shaking of the Earth. It’s not going to be a good thing to see, but we will survive it. We will survive it. And when we survive it, there’s going to be another attempt to make a circle of the human beings on the earth. And this time the Native people will not have to petition to join but will be invited to enter the circle because they say the attitude toward us will have changed by then, and people will let us into the circle, and all the four colors of the four directions will share their wisdom, and there will be a peace on earth. This is coming close.

The prophecies are always either/or. We could have come together way back there in 1565, and we could have had a great civilization, but we didn’t. Always along the path of these prophecies, we could have come together. We still could.

If we could stop the racial and religious disharmony, we would not have to go through this third shaking. The elders say the chance of that is pretty slim. It seems to me like it’s pretty slim, too. But they say what we can do is we can cushion it so it won’t be quite as bad. How do we do this? We do this by sharing the teaching that will reunite us.

http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/prophecy/hopi2.html

 

Hopi (contraction of Hópitu, ‘peaceful ones,’ or Hópitu-shínumu, ‘peaceful all people’: their own name). A body of Indians, speaking a Shoshonean dialect, occupying 6 pueblos on a reservation of 2,472,320 acres in north east Arizona. The name “Moqui,” or “Moki,” by which they have been popularly known, means ‘dead’ in their own language, but as a tribal name it is seemingly of alien origin and of undetermined signification—perhaps from the Keresan language (Mósǐcha in Laguna, Mo-ts in Acoma, Mótsǐ in Sia, Cochiti, and San Felipe), whence Espejo’s “Mohace” and “Mohoce” (1583) and Oñate’s “Mohoqui (1598). Bandelier and Cushing believed the Hopi country, the later province of Tusayan, to be identical with the Totonteac of Fray Marcos de Niza.
History.—The Hopi first became known to white men in the summer of 1540, when Coronado, then at Cibola (Zuni), dispatched Pedro de Tobar and Fray Juan de Padilla to visit 7 villages, constituting the province of Tusayan, toward the west or north west. The Spaniards were not received with friendliness at first, but the opposition of the natives was soon over come and the party remained among the Hopi several days, learning from them of the existence of the Grand canyon of the Colorado, which Cardenas was later ordered to visit. The names of the Tusayan towns are not recorded by Coronado’s chroniclers, so that with the exception of Oraibi, Shongopovi, Mishongnovi, Walpi, and Awatobi, it is not known with certainty what villages were inhabited when the Hopi first became known to the Spaniards. Omitting Awatobi, which was destroyed in 1700 with the possible exception of Oraibi none of these towns now occupies its 16th century site.
Francisco Sanchez Chamuscado visited Zuñi in 1581 and speaks of the Hopi country as Asay or Osay, but he did not visit it on account of the snow. Two years later, however, the province was visited by Antonio de Espejo, who journeyed 28 leagues from Zuñi to the first of the Hopi pueblos in 4 days. The Mohoce, or Mohace, of this explorer consisted of 5 large villages, the population of one of which, Aguato (Ahuato, Zaguato=Awatobi) he estimated at 50,000, a figure perhaps 25 times too great. The names of the other towns are not given. The natives had evidently forgotten the horses of Tobar and Cardenas of 43 years before, as they now became frightened at these strange animals. The Hopi presented Espejo with quantities of cotton “towels,” perhaps kilts, for which they were celebrated then as now.
The next Spaniard to visit the “Mohoqui” was Juan de Oñate, governor and colonizer of New Mexico, who took possession of the country and made the Indians swear to obedience and vassalage on Nov. 15, 1598. Their spiritual welfare was assigned to Fray Juan de Claros, although no active missions were established among the Hopi until nearly a generation later. The 5 villages at this time, so far as it is possible to determine them, were Aguato or Aguatuybá (Awatobi), Gaspe (Gualpe=Walpi), Comupaví or Xumupamí (Shongopovi), Majananí (Mishongnovi), and Olalla or Naybí (Oraibi).
The first actual missionary work undertaken among the Hopi was in 1629, on Aug. 20 of which year Francisco de Porras, Andrés Gutierrez, Cristobal de la Concepcion, and Francisco de San Buenaventura, escorted by 12 soldiers, reached Awatobi, where the mission of San Bernardino was founded in honor of the day, followed by the establishment of missions also at Walpi, Shongopovi, Mishongnovi, and Oraibi. Porras was poisoned by the natives of Awatobi in 1633. All the Hopi missions seem to have led a precarious existence until 1680, when in the general Pueblo revolt of that year four resident missionaries were killed and the churches destroyed. Henceforward no attempt was made to reestablish any of the missions save that of Awatobi in 1700, which so incensed the other Hopi that they fell upon it in the night, killing many of its people and compelling its permanent abandonment.
Before the rebellion Mishongnovi and Walpi had become reduced to visitas of the missions of Shongopovi and Oraibi respectively. At the time of the outbreak the population of Awatobi was given as 800, Shongopovi 500, and Walpi 1,200. Oraibi, it is said, had 14,000 gentiles before their conversion, but that they were consumed by pestilence. This number is doubtless greatly exaggerated.
The pueblos of Walpi, Mishongnovi, and Shongopovi, situated in the foothills, were probably abandoned about the time of the Pueblo rebellion, and new villages
built on the adjacent mesas for the purpose of defense against the Spaniards, whose vengeance was needlessly feared. The reconquest of the New Mexican pueblos led many of their inhabitants to seek protection among the Hopi toward the close of the 17th century. Some of these built the pueblo of Payupki, on the Middle mesa, but were taken back and settled in Sandia about the middle of the 18th century. About the year 1700 Hano was established on the East mesa, near Walpi, by Tewa from near Abiquin, New Mexico, who came on the invitation of the Walpians. Here they have lived uninterruptedly, and although they have intermarried extensively with the Hopi, they retain their native speech and many of their distinctive tribal rites and customs. Two other pueblos, Sichonlovi on the First mesa, built by Asa clans from the Rio Grande, and Shipaulovi, founded by a colony from Shongopovi on the Second or Middle mesa, are both of comparatively modern origin, having been established about the middle of the 18th century, or about the time the Payupki people returned to their old home. Thus the pueblos of the ancient province of Tusayan now consist of the following: Walpi, Sichomovi, and Hano, on the First or East mesa; pop. (1900) 205, 119, and 160, respectively, exclusive of about 20 who have established homes in the plain; total 504. Mishongnovi, Shongopovi, and Shupaulovi, on the Second or Middle mesa; estimated pop. 244, 225, and 126; total 595. Oraibi, on the Third or West mesa; pop. (1890) 905. Total Hopi population (1904) officially given as 1,878.
Maize being the basis of their subsistence, agriculture is the principal industry of the Hopi. On the average 2,500 acres are yearly planted in this cereal, the yield in 1904 being estimated at 25,000 bushels. Perhaps one-third of the annual crop is preserved in event of future failure through drought or other causes. There are also about 1,000 acres in peach orchards and 1,500 acres in beans, melons, squashes, pumpkins, onions, chile, sunflowers, etc. Cotton, wheat, and tobacco are also raised in small quantities, hut in early times native cotton was extensively grown. In years of stress desert plants, which have always been utilized to some extent for food, form an important part of the diet.
The Hopi have of late become more or less pastoral. Flocks (officially estimated in 1904 at 56,000 sheep and 15,000 goats), acquired originally from the Spaniards, supply wool and skins. They own also about 1,500 head of cattle, and 4,350 horses, burros, and mules. Dogs, chickens, hogs, and turkeys are their only other domesticated animals. All small desert animals are eaten; formerly antelope, elk, and deer were captured by being driven into pitfalls or corrals. Communal rabbit hunts are common, the animals being killed with wooden clubs shaped like boomerangs. Prairie dogs are drowned out of their burrows, coyotes are caught in pitfalls made of stones, and small birds are captured in snares.
The Hopi are skilled in weaving, dyeing, and embroidering blankets, belts, and kilts. Their textile work is durable, and shows a great variety of weaves. The dark-blue blanket of the Hopi woman is an important article of commerce among the Pueblos, and their embroidered ceremonial blankets, sashes, and kilts made of cotton have a ready sale among neighboring tribes. Although the Hopi ceramic art has somewhat deteriorated in modern times, fair pottery is still made among the people of Hano, where one family has revived the superior art of the earlier villagers. They weave basketry in a great variety of ways at the Middle Mesa pueblos and in Oraibi; but, with the exception of the familiar sacred-meal plaques, which are well made and brightly colored, the workmanship is crude. The Hopi are clever in making masks and other religious paraphernalia from hides, and excel in carving and painting dolls, representing kachinas, which are adorned with bright feathers and cloth. They likewise manufacture mechanical toys, which are exhibited in some of their dramatic entertainments. Nowhere among the aborigines of North America are the Hopi excelled in dramaturgic exhibitions, in some of which their imitations of birds and other animals are marvelously realistic.
The Hopi language is classified as Shoshonean; but, according to Gatschet, it “seems to contain many archaic words and forms not encountered in the other dialects, and many vocables of its own. “The published vocabularies are very limited, and comparatively little is known of the grammatical structure of the language; but it is evident that it contains many words of Keresan, Tewa, Pima, Zuñi, Ute, Navaho, and Apache derivation. As among other Southwestern tribes a number of words are modified Spanish, as those for horse, sheep, melon, and the names for other intrusive articles and objects. Slight dialectic differences are noticeable in the speech of Oraibi and Walpi, but the language, of the other pueblos is practically uniform. The Hopi language is melodious and the enunciation clear. The speech of the people of Awatobi is said to have had a nasal intonation, while the Oraibi speak drawlingly. Although they accompany their speech with gestures, few of the Hopi understand the sign language. The Keresan people have furnished many songs, with their words, and Zuñi and Pima songs have also been introduced. Some of the prayers also have archaic Tanoan or Keresan words.
The Hopi are preeminently a religious people, much of their time, especially in winter, being devoted to ceremonies for rain and the growth of crops. Their mythology is a polytheism largely tinged with ancestor worship and permeated with fetishism. They originally had no conception of a great spirit corresponding to God, nor were they ever monotheists; and, although they have accepted the teachings of Christian missionaries, these have not had the effect of altering their primitive beliefs. Their greatest gods are deified nature powers, as the Mother Earth and the Sky god—the former mother, and the latter father, of the races of men and of marvelous animals, which are conceived of as closely allied.
The earth is spoken of as having always existed. In Hopi mythology the human race was not created, but generated from the earth, from which man emerged through an opening called the sipapu, now typified by the Grand canyon of the Colorado. The dead are supposed to return to the underworld. The Sky Father and the Earth Mother have many names and are personated in many ways; the latter is represented by a spider; the former by a bird—a hawk or an eagle. Such names as Fire god, Germ god, and others are attributed designations of the great male powers of nature, or its male germinative principle. All supernatural beings are supposed to influence the rain and consequently the growth of crops. Every clan religion exhibits strong ancestral worship, in which a male and a female ancestral tutelary of the clan, called by a distinctive clan name, is preeminent. The Great Horned or Plumed Serpent, a form of sky god, derived from the south, and introduced by the Patki and other southern clans, is prominent in sun ceremonies. The number of subordinate supernatural personages is almost unlimited. Thee are known as “kachinas,” a term referring to the magic power inherent in every natural object for good or for bad. Many of these kachinas are personations of clan ancestors, others are simply beings of unknown relationship but endowed with magic powers. Each kachina possesses individual characteristics, and is represented in at least six different symbolic colors. The world quarters, or six cardinal points, play an important role in Hopi mythology and ritual. Fetishes, amulets, charms, and mascots are commonly used to insure luck in daily occupations, and for health and success in hunting, racing, gaming, and secular performances. The Hopi ceremonial calendar consists of a number of monthly festivals, ordinarily of 9 days duration, of which the first 8 are devoted to secret rites in kivas or in rooms set apart for that purpose, the final day being generally devoted to a spectacular public ceremony or “dance.” Every great festival is held under the auspices of a special religious fraternity or fraternities, and is accompanied with minor events indicating a former duration of 20 days. Among the most important religious fraternities are the Snake, Antelope, Flute, Sun, Lalakontu, Owakultu, Mamzrautu, Kachina, Tataukyamu, Wuwuchimtu, Aaltu, Kwakwautu, and Kalektaka. There are also other organized priesthoods, as the Yaya and the Poshwympkia, whose functions are mainly those of doctors or healers. Several ancient priesthoods, known by the names Koyimsi, Paiakyamu, and Chukuwympkia, function as clowns or fun-makers during the sacred dances of the Kachinas. The ceremonial year is divided into two parts, every great ceremony having a major and a minor performance occurring about 6 months apart; and every 4 years, when initiations occur, most ceremonies are celebrated in extenso. The so called Snake and Flute dances are performed biennially at all the pueblos except Sichomovi and Hano, and alternate with each other. Ceremonies are also divided into those with masked and those with unmasked participants, the former, designated kachinas, extending from January to July, the latter occurring in the remaining months of the year. The chief of each fraternity has a badge of his office and conducts both the secret and the open features of the ceremony. The fetishes and idols used in the sacred rites are owned by the priesthood and are arranged by its chief in temporary altars, in front of which dry-paintingsare made. The Hopi ritual is extraordinarily complex and time consuming, and the paraphernalia required is extensive. Although the Hopi cultus has become highly modified by a semi-arid environment; it consisted originally of ancestor worship, embracing worship of the great powers of nature—sky, sun, moon, fire, rain, and earth. A confusion of effect and cause and an elaboration of the doctrine of signatures pervade all their rites, which in the main may be regarded as sympathetic magic.

 

Handbook of American Indians, 1906