Hopi Reservation Cliffs
The name Hopi, is a shortened form of what these Native American people call themselves Hopi'sinom, or "People Who Live in the Correct Way." The catholic encyclopedia lists the name Hopi as having been derived from "Hopita", meaning those who are "peaceful ones." 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.
They live in northeast Arizona at the southern end of the Black Mesa. A mesa is the name given to a small isolated flat-topped hill with three steep sides called the 1st Mesa, 2nd Mesa, and the 3rd Mesa. On the mesa tops are the Hopi villages called pueblos. The pueblo of Oraibi on the 3rd Mesa started in 1050, and is the oldest in North America that was lived in continuously. They live in pueblos that are made of stone and mud and stand several stories high.
Traditionally, Hopi are organized into matrilineal clans. When a man marries, the children from the relationship are members of his wife's clan. The child is named, however, by the women of the father's clan. On the twentieth day of a baby's life, the women of the paternal clan gather, each woman bringing a name and a gift for the child. In some cases where many relatives would attend, a child could be given over forty names, for example. The child may use any of these names or may use a non-Hopi name. A person may also change their name upon initiation into a katsina society.
The Hopi still practice a complete cycle of traditional ceremonies. These ceremonies take place according to the lunar calendar and are observed in each of the Hopi villages.
Traditionally the Hopi are highly skilled micro or subsistence farmers. The Hopi have also had to deal with the modern cash economy; a not insignificant number of Hopi have regular paying jobs; others earn a living from producing high quality art, traditional crafts - notably the carving and sale of Kachina dolls, highly crafted earthenware ceramic pottery, and other activities such as the design and production of jewelry, notably sterling silver silversmithing.
