Reflective Paper “I like the smell of wet clay” said Mrs. Hopi. Someone in our group had asked Mrs. Hopi what she liked best about living in a more primitive community. She responded by saying that she likes the smell of wet clay and how you can just sit in silence and think. On our trip I was amazed by everything; the Hopi and Navajo tribes as well as the national parks and monuments. The day that we spent on the Hopi reservation went by way too fast and was way too much to take in. They were so different than the average American that I just wanted to sit down and watch them. The first thing I noticed about the Hopi is that they really value their culture. In Ms. Hopi’s house we made blue corn tamales. We learned the entire process that …show more content…
The Hopi language is dying out. The tribe is smaller compared to other tribes, such as the Navajo, and as the Hopi are starting to become more modernized their language isn’t being taught to the children. We also went to the Navajo reservation and we were taken on two jeep tours. I enjoyed the first jeep tour a lot more because we got to talk with the driver. As he drove he would show us petroglyphs and old structures like he was supposed to, but he would also stay in the back and point out other things. He pointed out where the some of the Navajo people hid when the United States government tried to relocate them. He also told us how they called themselves the Dineh because the word Navajo has a negative connotation. It was very interesting to see the difference between the Navajo and the Hopi tribes. The Navajo are a more modernized tribe, while the Hopi are going through the process of modernization. For example, some of the Hopi still live without electricity and running water, while others have social media. The Hopi people also seem to stay within their own community. Our Navajo guide on the jeep tour told us about how he was a mechanic, firefighter who jumped out of airplanes, and a bull rider. I think that it would be really interesting to get to see a tribe that is even less modernized than the