“reservation,” as it is called, comprises approximately 1.5 million acres. This “reservation” is surrounded by Navajo “reservation” land established in 1868 – the original parcel of 3.5 million acres granted to the Navajos after their forced exile to Bosque Redondo has since grown to 17.5 million acres, its current size since 1934, creating tensions between the two people.
The Landscape
The land of the Hopi “reservation” is situated within a high altitude desert – meaning it is situated at 7200 feet elevation and receives only 5-8 inches of annual precipitation. The 12 villages of Hopi are situated primarily on the five fingers of the much larger Black Mesa that extends south. During the winter it can be quite cold (mid-20s F), with snow falling often; and during the summer it can be quite hot (low-90s F), as the villages are situated upon high mesas in the desert southwest with few tall trees capable of providing shade.
Visiting Hopi, a person can see how the landscape is both beautiful and intimidating. High upon Third Mesa, one can see for hundreds of miles in all directions. When looking west, a person looks out across a vast sea of sandstone, presaging the drop in altitude required for beginning of the Grand Canyon, and then, when looking to the southwest, a person sees the rise of the San Francisco Mountains from which Crow Mother brings the Katsinas (spirit messengers) during Powamu (Bean Dance) in late February and to which they return during Niman (Home Dance) in July. In between, there are mesas and geologic “hoodoos” or spirals arising from the flat plain, prompting one to think about the origin story that has the Hopi people sailing from one island to another before arriving at the mountainous coast of the Fourth World.
It is, in fact, only when a visitor spends time at Hopi do the eyes adjust and see that the landscape is not all tan, white, or brown. Situated on top of long and large rock “tables,” or mesas, which emerge from the valley floor,” Hopi’s villages are situated amidst a multitude of color – purple, yellow, green, red, gray, black – all contrasting vividly against a bright blue sky that has, for the most part, never been diminished by the polluted skies one would see in large cities. Moreover, a visitor starts to see, when driving through the valleys below the mesas, splashes of green that are plots of corn, beans, squash, melons, and other crops. These outposts of green really are more spots dotting the landscape than a massive field. Water is scarce in these parts, so the spots of green are situated where springs exist or where water flows: behind a hill in a creek bed, or along irrigated terraces carved into the mesa walls. This pragmatic and somewhat random planting practice is integral to what is known as dry land farming – a farming practice the Hopi adopted because of the lack of readily available precipitation. Water is available on Hopi, and found among springs, many of which, being situated below the mesas, require people to transport the water up onto the mesa. It has also allowed Hopi farmers to employ other farming techniques, such as irrigated gardening, cultivating sand dune fields of beans, and irrigating plots to grow fruit trees.
It is within this harsh landscape a person immediately sees the hardier trees that can survive, such as pinon, cottonwood, and juniper trees. But there are also a multitude of plants that exist in this landscape that one does not readily see, some 200 plants the Hopi use for food, medicine, and ceremony: plants such as beeweed, wild potatoes, piñon nuts, yucca fruits, pig weed, saltbush, beebalm, tansy mustard, wormwood, and spiderwort. Though introduced by the Spanish in the 16th century, the number of livestock such as sheep, goats, and cattle raised within Hopi remains small because of the harsh conditions and limits on available water.
The landscape defines everything about Hopi, even the architecture. Built from stone and mortar from the area, the mostly one- or two-story houses situated within villages on top of the mesas blend with the landscape to the
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