Hopi Tours

The Hopi are a Native American tribe, often recognized for populating the North American continent and in particular, Arizona. According to the 2010 census, there were 19,338 Hopi in the United States. The Hopi language is one of 30 in the Uto-Aztecan language family. The majority of Hopi people are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona but some are enrolled in the Colorado River Indian Tribes. The Hopi Reservation covers a land area of 2,531.773 sq mi . The Hopi encountered Spaniards in the 16th century, and are historically referred to as Pueblo people, because they lived in villages . The Hopi are descended from the Ancient Pueblo Peoples , who constructed large apartment-house complexes and had an advanced culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. They lived along the Mogollon Rim, especially from the 12th–14th century, when they disappeared. The name Hopi is a shortened form of their autonym, Hopituh Shi-nu-mu . The Hopi Dictionary gives the primary meaning of the word Hopi as: behaving one, one who is mannered, civilized, peaceable, polite, who adheres to the Hopi Way. In contrast to warring tribes that subsist on plunder.Hopi is a concept deeply rooted in the culture's religion, spirituality, and its view of morality and ethics. To be Hopi is to strive toward this concept, which involves a state of total reverence and respect for all things, to be at peace with these things, and to live in accordance with the instructions of Maasaw, the Creator or Caretaker of Earth. The Hopi observe their traditional ceremonies for the benefit of the entire world. Traditionally, Hopi are organized into matrilineal clans. The children are born into the same clan structure as the mother. These clan organizations extend across all villages. Children are named by the women of the father's clan. After the child is introduced to the Sun, the women of the paternal clan gather, and name the child in honor of the father's clan. Children can be given over forty names. The village members decide the common name. Current practice is to either use a non-Hopi or English name or the parent's chosen Hopi name. A person may also change the name upon initiation to traditional religious societies, or a major life event. The Hopi have always viewed their land as sacred. Agriculture is a very important part of their culture, and their villages are spread out across the northwestern part of Arizona. The Hopi did not have a conception of land being bounded and divided. The Hopi people settled on the high mesas both for protection , and irrigation in these areas. The Hopi are caretakers of the land that they inherited from their ancestors. On December 16, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur passed an executive order creating a reservation for the Hopi. It was smaller than the surrounding land that was annexed by the Navajo reservation, which is the largest in the country.On October 24, 1936, the Hopi people ratified a Constitution. That Constitution created a unicameral government where all powers are vested in a Tribal Council. While there is an executive branch and judicial branch, their powers are limited under the Hopi Constitution. The traditional powers and authority of the Hopi Villages were preserved in the 1936 Constitution.Today, the Hopi Reservation is entirely surrounded by the much larger Navajo Reservation. The two nations used to share the Navajo–Hopi Joint Use Area, but this was a source of conflict. The partition of this area, commonly known as Big Mountain, by Acts of Congress in 1974 and 1996, has also resulted in long-term controversy.
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