The Hopi Tribe

Exam 1 Essay

The Hopi tribe is strongly entrenched in religion, spirituality, morals and ethics, and as a matter of fact, the meaning of Hopi is “The Peaceful People” or “Peaceful Little Ones”. Hopis strive to be respectful of all living things, meanwhile, they follow the instructions of the Massaw, the Earth Guardian. The Hopi are one of the oldest living tribes in existence; to this day they are still living the Hopi way by continuing to conduct ceremonies and traditions meanwhile still speaking their ancient language. The Native American tribe are currently located on a Hopi Reservation in Northeastern Arizona with 19,327 Hopis according to the 2010 census (Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS), 2010). The Hopis hold great value

The connection that they have with the creator starts at birth when they are kept in a dark room for twenty days on confinement- the point of the dark room is the meaning behind it which is to represent the underworld that he Hopi is told to have emerged from. When born, the baby is looked upon as incomplete- just like the first Hopis from the underworld, the twenty day period is divided into four periods which is symbolic of the four worlds. On the twentieth day, the baby becomes known as a Hopi to the world and goes into the sun for the first time to represent the Hopi through the earth navel (Loftin 10). The Hopi tribe mostly remained independent from the outside world due to them following the ways of the past, yet, they are somewhat integrated; as the Hopi is the most traditional tribe, and although they keep separate from others, they keep their culture in tact. The government tries to assimilate Hopis by requiring them to learn english as the attend public schools- which does force integration. In the past, Hopis tried to be outdated, they did not use up to date technology because they wanted to keep living the “old way” regardless of any updated farming technology, now, Hopi’s are still using their hands to plant seeds, and or to pick/harvest corn along with now using some technology such as tractors or trucks. Hopi society is matriarchal, which gives special power to females as being a role of a mother along with the importance of parents and grandparents. The gender roles in the Hopi tribe go like this: the men work outside of the home; women are supposed to stay inside and work at home and to be a mother. The role of being a mother is far more superior than the mens role is in this matriarchal society because women are