The Hopi Indians, whose name is derived from “Hópitu,” meaning “peaceful ones,” are a Puebloan tribe located primarily on three mesas in northeastern Arizona. Although their language belongs to the Shoshonean branch of the Uto-Aztecan family, they are distinct as the only Shoshonean group to adopt a Pueblo culture. The Hopi people have a rich history marked by migrations, village settlements, and interactions with Spanish explorers and missionaries beginning in the 16th century. Despite disruptions, such as the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Hopi maintained their cultural and social identity. Today, they are recognized not only for their unique blend of linguistic and cultural influences but also for ceremonies like the Snake Dance, which have drawn significant interest from scholars and the public alike.
Hopi Indians. Contracted from their own name Hópitu, “peaceful ones,” or Hópitu-shinumu, “peaceful all people.” Also called:
- A-ar-ke, or E-ar’-ke, Apache name, signifying “live high up on top of the mesas.”
- Ah-mo-kfii, Zuni name.
- Ai-yah-kfn-nee, Navaho name.
- A’-mu-kwi-kwe, Zuni name, signifying “smallpox people.”
- Asay or Osay, by Bustamante and Gallegos (1582).
- Bokeaf, Sandia Tiwa name.
- Buhk’herk, Isleta Tiwa name for Tusayan.
- Bukin, Islets name for the people.
- Eyanini dine, Navaho name (Gatschet).
- Hapeka, a Zuni name, referring to excrement.
- Joso, Tewa name.
- Khoso, Santa Clara name.
- Kosho, Hano Tewa name.
- K’o-so-o, San Ildefonso Tewa name.
- Maastoetsjkwe, given by Ten Kate, signifying “the land of Masawe,” god of the earth, given as the name of their country.
- Mastutc’kwe, same as preceding.
- Moki, signifying “dead” in their own language, but probably from some other, perhaps a Keresan dialect.
- Topin-keua, said to be a Zuni name of which Tontonteac is a corruption.
- Tusayan, name of the province in which the Hopi lived, from Zuni Usayakue, “people of Usaya,” Usaya referring to two of the largest Hopi villages.
- Whiwunai, Sandia Tiwa name.
The Hopi constitute a peculiar dialectic division of the Shoshonean branch of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family, and they are the only Shoshonean people, so far as known, who ever took on a Pueblo culture, though the Tanoans are suspected of a remote Shoshonean relationship.
Hopi Locations
On Three Mesas in northeastern Arizona.
Hopi Indian Towns
- Awatobi (destroyed), on a mesa about 9 miles southeast of Walpi.
- Hano, occupied by Tewa (see Tewa Pueblos under New Mexico).
- Homolobi, near Winslow, was formerly occupied by the ancestors of various Hopi clans.
- Kisakobi, at the northwest base of the East Mesa.
- Kuchaptuvela, on the terrace of the First or East Mesa below the present Walpi village.
- Mishongnovi, on the Second or Middle Mesa.
- Moenkapi, about 40 miles northwest of Oraibi, a farming village of Oraibi.
- Oraibi, on the Third or West Mesa.
- Shipaulovi, on the Second or Middle Mesa.
- Shongopovi, on the Second or Middle Mesa.
- Sichomovi, on the First or East Mesa.
- Walpi, on the First or East Mesa.
- Kisatobi and Kuchaptuvela were successively occupied by the ancestors of the Walpi before the later Walpi was built.
Hopi Indian History
According to tradition, the Hopi are made up of peoples who came from the north, east, and south. Their first contact with Europeans was in 1540, when Coronado, then at Zuni, sent Pedro de Tobar and Fray Juan de Padilla to visit them. They were visited by Antonio de Espejo in 1583, and in 1598 Juan de Mate, governor and colonizer of New Mexico, made them swear fealty and vassalage to the King of Spain. In 1629 a Franciscan mission was established at Awatobi, followed by others at Walpi, Shongopovi, Mishongnovi, and Oraibi. These were destroyed in the general Pueblo outbreak of 1680, and an attempt to re-establish a mission at Awatobi in 1700 led to its destruction by the other pueblos. The pueblos of Walpi, Mishongnovi, and Shongopovi, then situated in the foothills, were probably abandoned about the time of the rebellion, and new villages were built on the adjacent mesas for defense against a possible Spanish attack which did not materialize. After the reconquest of the Rio Grande pueblos by Vargas, some of the people who formerly occupied them fled to the Hopi and built a pueblo called Payupki on the Middle Mesa. About the middle of the eighteenth century, however, they were taken back and settled in Sandia. About 1700 Hano was established on the East Mesa, near Walpi, by Tewa from near Abiquiu, New Mexico, on the invitation of the Walpians. About the time when the Payupki people returned to their old homes, Sichomovi was built on the First Mesa by clans from the Rio Grande, and Shipaulovi was founded by a colony from Shongopovi. The present Hopi Reservation was set aside by Executive order on December 16, 1882.
Population
Mooney (1928) estimates a Hopi population of 2,800 in 1680. In 1890 the population of Oraibi was 905, and in 1900 the other pueblos (exclusive of Hano) had 919. In 1904 the total Hopi population was officially given as 1,878. The Census of 1910 re-turned 2,009, apparently including Hano, and the Report of the United States Indian Office for 1923 gave 2,336. The United States Census of 1930 returned 2,752. In 1937 there were 3,248, including the Tewan Hano.
Connections in which they have become noted
The Hopi are noted as a tribe Shoshonean in language but Puebloan in culture, and also deserve consideration as one of the Pueblo divisions to which particular attention has been paid by ethnologists, including Fewkes, the Stevensons, Hough, Voth, Forde, Lowie, etc. Great popular attention has been drawn to them on account of the spectacular character of the Snake Dance held every 2 years.