Naturally Every Hopi

Pueblo Peoples

Most modern Pueblo peoples (whether Keresans, Hopi, or Tanoans) assert the Ancestral Puebloans did not “vanish”, as is commonly portrayed in media presentations or popular books. They say that the people migrated to areas in the southwest with more favorable rainfall and dependable streams. They merged into the various Pueblo peoples whose descendants still live in Arizona and New Mexico.

The Hopi

The Hopi are a Native American tribe who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the United States.[1] The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the United States and has government-to-government relations with the United States federal government. Particular villages retain autonomy under the Hopi Constitution and Bylaws. The Hopi language is one of 30 in the Uto-Aztecan language family. The majority of Hopi people are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona but some are enrolled in the Colorado River Indian Tribes. The Hopi Reservation covers a land area of 2,531.773 sq mi (6,557.26 km2).

The Hopi encountered Spaniards in the 16th century, and are historically referred to as Pueblo people, because they lived in villages (pueblos in the Spanish language). The Hopi are descended from the Ancestral Puebloans (Hopi: Hisatsinom), who constructed large apartment-house complexes and had an advanced culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. They lived along the Mogollon Rim, especially from the 12th–14th century, after which time their cultures seemed to have disappeared.

The primary meaning of the word “Hopi” is “behaving one, one who is mannered, civilized, peaceable, polite, who adheres to the Hopi Way.”

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, which involves a state of total reverence and respect for all things, to be at peace with these things, and to live in accordance with the instructions of Maasaw, the Creator or Caretaker of Earth. The Hopi observe their traditional ceremonies for the benefit of the entire world.

Traditionally, Hopi are organized into matrilineal clans. The children are born into the same clan structure as the mother. These clan organizations extend across all villages. Children are named by the women of the father’s clan. After the child is introduced to the Sun, the women of the paternal clan gather and name the child in honor of the father’s clan. Children can be given over forty names. The village members decide the common name. Current practice is to either use a non-Hopi or English name or the parent’s chosen Hopi name. A person may also change the name upon initiation to traditional religious societies, or a major life event.

Etymology, Rectifying the Names

Pueblo, which means “village” in Spanish, was a term originating with the Spanish explorers who used it to refer to the people’s particular style of dwelling. The Navajo people, who now reside in parts of former Pueblo territory, referred to the ancient people as Anaasází, an exonym meaning “ancestors of our enemies”, referring to their competition with the Pueblo peoples. The Navajo now use the term in the sense of referring to “ancient people” or “ancient ones”. The Hopi people use the term Hisatsinom, meaning ancient people, to describe the Ancestral Puebloans.

In contemporary times, the people and their archaeological culture were referred to as Anasazi for historical purposes…  Contemporary Puebloans prefer that this term not be used to refer to their ancestors.