point they are almost indistinguishable from the striations and rock outcroppings. Situating villages on top of the mesas was clearly a defensive measure, as it still takes a concentrated effort to locate them from the valley floor; but it also creates interesting insight into what is be possible when building into a particular ecosystem, as the houses have more visual commonality with homes in Nepal than with the adobe structures so commonly associated with pueblos communities in the southwest.
The People
Hopis are referred to as the “Peaceful People.” Some claim Hopi itself means “peaceful people” or “civilized people.” Others claim Hopi is short for Hopi'sinom, which translates to “people who live in the correct way.” Yet others claim it means “one who is mannered, civilized, peaceable, polite, who adheres to the Hopi Way.” Throughout all, the common center is on peace and living harmoniously.
According to the 2010 census, there were 12,580 Hopis living on Hopi land with another 7,000 living off reservation. But according the 2017-2020 census, the population on Hopi Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land had fallen to 8,655.1
Hopi speak a language that is truly distinct, being influenced by Uto-Aztecan (or Uto-Aztekan or Uto-Nahuatl) – a family of some 30 indigenous languages found in the Americas. Though one of the largest language families in America, it is slowly dying out in Hopi. It was estimated that, in 1990, more than 5,000 people could speak Hopi as a native language (approximately 75% of the population). By 1998, a survey of 200 Hopi people showed that 100 percent of Hopi elders (60 years or older) were fluent, but fluency in adults (40–59) was only 84 percent, 50 percent in young adults (20–39), and 5 percent in children (2–19).2
In the early 1600s and until the 1900s when other tribes such as the Navajo and the Plains people entered Hopi territory the Hopis retreated to the mesas. Hopis enlisted the Tewa speaking Pueblo Indians from the Rio Grande Valley to help protect them, and during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Tewas helped the Hopis drive out the Spanish missionaries. As a result, some Tewas became part of Hopi and some still speak in their native Tewa language.3
Culture
The Hopi world is one of a continuous cycle of religious (see the Hopi ceremonial calendar) and secular (baby naming, weddings, burials, etc.) ceremonies, and the authorities and responsibilities that go along with those. At Hopi, there is always some sort of ceremonial activity going on, with the associated changes in decision-makers, leaders, and responsibilities. This cycle of ceremonial life and activity has existed at Hopi for at least 1000 years, since Oraibi was founded in about 1050.
Many of those living off-reservation come back to their village for ceremonies. Each of the 12 villages at Hopi is autonomous, some with a traditional form of governance and some with an elected form of governance. Most traditional villages have a village chief and various leaders of clans and societies who work with the chief. During ceremonial times (usually 16 days before and 4 days after a ceremony), the village chief relinquishes his role and authority to the leader of that ceremony. Village and ceremonial leadership roles are for life or for a time when the leader can no longer perform the role.
Several villages do not have a traditional form of government and have adopted an elected village committee government. Those reflect the Hopi Tribal Council form of government imposed on Hopi by the federal government in 1936 to have only one entity to sign for mineral and other contracts rather than having to deal with the 12 autonomous villages. Several of the traditional villages neither send representatives to the Tribal Council, nor do they recognize the
authority of the council. Other villages withdraw their Council members from the Tribal
80