Bob Rhodes
Perspective
Question: Is there discrimination and prejudice on the Hopi Indian Reservation?
The short answer is “yes;” but, as is the case with so many things involving humans, it is not so simple.
My History with Hopi
I started coming to Hopi about 1966, and I came to live full-time on Hopi in 1971. I found the Hopi to be very social people who were generally cooperative and collaborative with each other in getting jobs done. For example, in what could be regarded as very similar to a “quilting party,” women would have basket making parties of five or six, where they would go to one lady’s house. That lady would provide the materials for baskets, and each of the women would make a basket during a week of visiting, lunches, and fun. All would leave their products at the house before moving to the next woman’s home, where the activity was repeated. Men and boys also engaged in similar group activities, with each helping the other with planting, hoeing weeds, keeping crows away from the crops, and harvesting.
Over the time I have spent living in Hopi, I have learned and experienced a great many things personally and professionally. And I believe that what I have learned and experienced provides lessons for us all.
The Hopi Indian Reservation
The Hopi Indian Reservation is a small, very isolated reservation of 2.5 million acres in Northeastern Arizona that is completely surrounded by the Navajo Reservation. Many on Hopi do not cooperate with census takers; and as a result, estimates vary as to the total number of Hopi. For example, the following sources evidence the range of estimates: 6,946 (Wikipedia, based on the 2000 census); 7,185 (Demographic Analysis of the Hopi Tribe, using 2010 Census and 2010 American Community Survey Estimates); 12,038 (2019, Bureau of Women’s and Children’s Health, Arizona Department of Health Services); 12,580 (US Census, 2010); and 19,338 (Wikipedia, using the 2010 census). The Hopi tribal enrollment office says that, as of 21 December 2020, there are 14,616 total enrolled Hopi of which 7,845 live on the Hopi Reservation.
Hopi is comprised of 12 semi-autonomous villages and one central government. The 12 villages are located atop or below three mesas, spread out over a 20-mile stretch of two-lane highway in very high desert country. Many of the villages send representatives to the Tribal Council, but several do not. The central government, established in 1936 by the Hopi Tribal Constitution, is housed at Kykotsmovi, below Third Mesa.
It is known that Hopi have lived on the land in northeastern Arizona since at least 1050, as tree ring dating of kiva beams at Oraibi have established that date. Hopi were traditionally farmers–planting corn, beans, squash, and many other crops in fields at the base of the mesas. Navajos came to the area in the 14th century and began raiding Hopi fields. The Spanish came later to Hopi in the 16th century, bringing watermelons, sheep, horses and the Catholic religion. Tewa people were invited to Hopi from their Rio Grande pueblo near Santa Fe, to help protect the Hopi against Navajo
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