Hopi
Mon, 11/12/2007 - 09:18 — fshabat
| HOMES: Hopi lived in the southwestern desert of what is now Arizona. Hopi villages, or pueblos, were built on top of mesas (flat topped mountains). Hopi houses were made of stone covered with wet clay or mud. Some homes were 3 or 4 stories high. There were no doors or windows on the first floor (so their enemies couldn't get into their homes.) The Hopis used ladders to get to the top floors. The Hopi lived on the top floor and used the bottom floors for storage. |  |
| CLOTHING: Hopi girls wore their hair in buns on the sides of their head. It looked like the blossoms of squash plants. After they were married, they wore their hair in long braids. Most girls wore simple dresses dyed blue from sunflower seeds, and moccasins made from animal skins. Men wore breechcloth. Women wore dresses with belts. It was very warm in the summer, so they didn't wear a lot of clothing. In the winter, when it was cold, everyone wore leggings, and a blanket or rabbit fur around themselves to keep warm. |
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| JOBS: Hopi women owned the houses and land. The women built homes, cooked, wove baskets, and made pottery. The men hunted, planted crops, wove cloth for the family's clothes and did religious ceremonies. Hopi children helped their parents. The boys learned farming and the girls helped build the walls of their pueblo homes. They put clay on the walls. The girls helped make pottery out of clay. They helped grind dried corn into flour. | |
| FOOD: They grew 24 different types of corn, which was their basic food. They made very thin bread, called piti, made from corn. They also grew beans, squash, melons, pumpkins, fruit and other vegetables. There weren't a lot of animals to provide meat in the desert. The men hunted for rabbits. |
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| ARTS AND CRAFTS: The Hopi painted and carved pottery out of clay. They used art and symbols on the pottery to tell about their beliefs and dreams. Pottery was used for cooking, storage, bathing, and religious ceremonies. Sometimes the symbols on their pottery told a story. Kachina dolls were carved out of wood and sometimes men dressed up like the kachina dolls and did special dances to ask their gods for rain. | |
| TRADE: They made pottery, baskets and jewelry. They made pottery out of clay, and they wove baskets out of stalks of corn and reeds that grew near them. They traded their corn meal and vegetables for meat. |
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| SNAKE DANCE: The Snake Dance brings rain and good crops to the Hopi. Hopi Indians dance with the rattlesnakes in their mouths. It takes at least nine days. Priests spend up to five days gathering the snakes. The snakes are kept in pots and alters are made. On the last day of the ceremony, the snakes are taken out of their jars and bathed. After the dance, the priests sprinkle the snakes with corn meal and release the snakes. The Hopi believe the snake will return to the gods and report that they were treated well. The gods will then give the Hopi Indians the rain they need for a good crop. |
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 Hopi Ceremony
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 Father-Son Eagle Dance Kachina Doll |
 White Buffalo KAchina
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 Snake Dance
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