godmother is not of the same clan as the child, so the child now has another set of relatives to go along with those from his clan.
At First and Second Mesas, there is another level of initiation and transfer of knowledge that happens during adulthood. Men may be initiated into one of the men’s societies (Wuwutsim, Qwaqwant, One Horn, Two Horn, Singer) and women may be initiated into one of the women’s societies (Owakol, Marau, and Lalkon). Men may also be initiated into Snake or Antelope Society, sometimes because their father or godfather is in that society or sometimes because an illness was resolved by that society. Each of the societies has additional traditional knowledge that is given to initiates.
It sounds like Hopi is all about responsibilities and obligations, but that is a bit misleading. One of the main tenets of Hopi is that one person is not to control another. Each person (even each animal) is a responsible entity and is responsible for themselves. Thus everyone (and every animal) chooses their own way, their own actions. If their actions are inappropriate, then they will have to take the consequences, but each person may choose how much or how little to participate in traditional activities.
All Hopi, and particularly those initiated, have lots of resources. They have their family resources, those of their clan members, those of their godparents, and those of their godparent’s clan. Parents seldom worried about their children as it got dark. It was assumed that they were with an aunt or uncle. Only if it got late would parents go looking for their children, and then they would start with the aunts and uncles. By this standard, a child or an adult is never “poor”. They always have a place to go to sleep or have a meal, regardless of what kind of shape they are in. Even a drunk can go to an aunt and get a meal and a place to sleep. At Hopi money does not determine rich or poor, resources (relatives) do.
There are ways of acting or ways of being that Hopi identifies with. Those who strive to be good Hopis use the following guidelines.
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There is also a tradition of helping each other, particularly blood and clan family, whenever necessary and whenever possible. That is particularly true of sharing food and shelter, but also in helping with planting, harvesting, cooking, hunting, building, etc. Tradition holds that Hopis help each other without an expectation of pay, though usually, those working or helping will be fed.
There is not a Hopi word for “art” but there is one for “beauty”. When men say something is beautiful, they say it is “loloma.” When women say something is beautiful, they say it is “sonwai.” Art, decoration, and balance are all just assumed at Hopi. It is nice to have nice things around. Charles Loloma, a renown Hopi jeweler, used to act as an uncle with the people working at or visiting his studio by going on a walk and commenting on the beauty of the plants, the flowers, the rock formations, the sky, and more. He would pick up a small rock from the ground and put it on his hand or arm and comment about how this rock could look good on a ring, or a bracelet, or maybe a pendant. He would pick up a hollow geode broken in half and commented as to how it could be a ring, then went back to the studio, added a pearl in the hollow, and fashioned a ring out of the combination. As Charles would say, “There is beauty all around us here at Hopi.” Hopi is a beautiful place where all can live in harmony.
R.R. & W.P.W
1 “Hopi Tribe Community Profile,” Native American Advancement, Initiatives & Research. Retrieved from: https://naair.arizona.edu/hopi-tribe
2 Wikipedia, citing “Status of the Hopi Language.” Archived from the original on 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2015-09-08. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi_language
3 “Hopi Reservation,” Nature, Culture, and History at the Grand Canyon, Arizona State University. Retrieved from: https://grcahistory.org/sites/beyond-park-boundaries/hopi-reservation/
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