An Overview of the Hopi Indians

In the area that is known now as eastern Arizona there is a culture that has lived in the area for at least 1,000 years and perhaps longer. They are the Hopi. They are pueblo Indians who live on three separate mesas (Stephen 1936a: xxvii). The First or East Mesa has three villages. (The term village does not necessarily connote what a European would have thought of as village, it is an area where some have chosen to settle in order to maintain balance.) On the First Mesa are the villages of Walpi, Sichomovi, and Tewa (Stephen 1936a: xxvii). Sichomovi is considered a suburb of Walpi. Tewa is a new settlement compared the others. They were native peoples who moved to assist the Hopi during the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 (Stephen 1936a: xxvii). On the Second or Middle Mesa there are three villages which are called Misho`ninovi, Shuno`povi, and Shipau`lovi (Stephen 1936a: xxvii). The Third or West Mesa contains the oldest settlement in the Hopi civilization, Oraibi. It was the only settlement on the Third Mesa until 1906, when after population growth Hotavila and Pokabi were also settled (Stephen 1936a: xxvii).…