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The Institutions, Laws And Values Of The Hopi Indians: A Stable State Society, John W. Ragsdale Jr

Faculty Works

The Hopi Indians of northeastern Arizona have existed as a stable or steady state society for a thousand years or more, and, even though they have felt the impact of white growth society in this century, they have maintained a greater cultural integrity than any other native people in the United States. This Article examines traditional Hopi values and institutions, especially their law. Hopi thinking and social organization were shaped by a profound reverence for their environment and an equally profound awareness of the constraints it imposed. With its growing sense of a need for balance with the environment, modern …