Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Commentary Ii: Ceremony, Edna Glenn

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

A typical Hopi ceremonial day offers a visual reality. At Walpi, a village on First Mesa, it is summer and Niman time, and a thanksgiving ritual is beginning. The Kuwan Heheya Kachinas set the first foot movements. Their body actions of their dance begin while their “uncle,” Tu-uqti,1 vigorously performs his solo act in front of their dance lines. A cluster of Koshari clowns,2 starkly visible in their body-paint stripes, collect their parade paraphernalia for antics later in the day. The plaza is crowded, action is anticipated. It is a Hopi celebration day.

The all-encompassing character of the scene itself …

Exemplary Arts: Section A — Subject: Concepts Of Emergence And Migration, Edna Glenn

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

Three Paintings by the Artist Hopid

Figure 7: Emergence — Dawakema (Milland Lomakema)
Figure 8: Migrational Patterns — Lomawywesa (Michael Kabotie)
Figure 9: Spiritual Leadership — Dawakema (Milland Lomakema)

“We believe that we are a part of a great living force which began hundreds of years ago ... Our concept is that we came from the Third World of the Hopi and that now, we are in the Fourth World ... We emerged from underground, somewhere in the Grand Canyon.”—Honvantewa

Ideas of EMERGENCE and MIGRATION permeate the consciousness of every Hopi. They structure ceremonial time and provide patterns for daily …

“Frontmatter” To Hopi Nation, Edna Glenn, John R. Wunder, Willard Hughes Rollings, C. L. Martin

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

Contains:
Editor’s Note
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface by Edna Glenn, Texas Tech University and John R. Wunder, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The Hopi Nation reminds itself daily that it is “at the center” of life on the arid mesas of the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. It has been doing so for over 1000 years, and it will likely do so for many centuries to come. Hopi life is not an easy life, but it is a full and rewarding life. Read this book and enjoy a visual and intellectual celebration of the Hopi Nation.

Hopi Nation: Essays On Indigenous Art, Culture, History, And Law [Complete Work], Edna Glenn, John R. Wunder, Willard Hughes Rollings, C. L. Martin

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

Contents

EDITOR’S NOTE

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE: Edna Glenn, Texas Tech University and John R. Wunder, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

COMMENTARY I: CELEBRATION: Edna Glenn

1 THE HOPI NATION IN 1980: “It is a time to recall and to revitalize the good things of Hopi life and to celebrate Hopism.” Abbott Sekaquaptewa, Chairman, Hopi Tribal Council

EXEMPLARY ARTS: SECTION A — Subject: Concepts of Emergence and Migration: Edna Glenn

2 HOPI MESAS AND MIGRATIONS: LAND AND PEOPLE: “Here among the sandstone mesas you will find the Hopis. ‘Among them we settled as rain....’” Lomawywesa (Michael Kabotie), Hopi Cultural Center and …

Exemplary Arts: Section D — Subject: Contemporary Arts And Crafts, Edna Glenn

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

Hopi people have always been very fine artists. In 1950 we developed the Hopi Arts and Crafts Cooperative Guild . . . The Hopi Co-op supports some four hundred artists and craftsmen . . . Basketry and pottery are the oldest of the art forms among our people. — Lomawywesa

Sixteen examples are presented in this section. Other examples of painting, photography, and graphics are included throughout the book.

Ceramics, Figures 43-51
43. HOPI CERAMIC PROCESSES, 2 photographs — Sylvia Naha Talaswaima, potter,First Mesa, Arizona. 1981
45 – 48. ONE CERAMIC BOWL (four views) — Sylvia Naha Talaswaima, potter,First Mesa, …

Commentary Iii: Challenge, Edna Glenn

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

A visual challenge results from experiences with original works of art reproduced on these pages. These are contemporary Hopi paintings and craft-works executed by young artists who call themselves the Artist Hopid. Coochsiwukioma (Delbridge Honanie), a painter of the Artist Hopid group, presents a view of “Hopi Life,” the title of an extremely complicated work completed in 1974. Examining this painting is indeed valuable in the pursuit of defining the contemporary HOPI. “Hopi Life,” according to its painter, symbolically evolves from the central theme of Hopi migrations. 6 Ideas of migration, fertility, and growth, structure the centuries-old concept of Hopi …

Bibliography — Hopi Nation, John R. Wunder

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

Selected Basic Hopi Bibliography — 51 works
General Hopi Bibliography — 71 works

Chapter 1 The Hopi Nation In 1980, Abbott Sekaquaptewa

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

“It is a time to recall and to revitalize the good things of Hopi life and to celebrate Hopism.”

The Hopi people have retained their cultural life to perhaps a greater degree than most Indian peoples in the United States today. Customary practices which govern the pattern of life from birth to death for most Hopi are still carried out to a large extent.

The Hopi mesas are located in northeastern Arizona in the plateau country where the Hopi clans began gathering a millennium ago. The clans were not strangers to the land at that time, for many had passed …

Chapter 3 The Hopi Way: Art As Life, Symbol, And Ceremony, Honvantewa (Terrance Talaswaima)

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

“As artists, we try to document every aspect of Hopi life. We know the Hopi way; we live it, we can taste, we can see, and we can smell Hopi.”

Spiritual essence is the heart of the Hopi way. It is the ceremonial way, but also it is the every-day way of Hopi, human life. It is the physical world of beauty which surrounds us in animals and plants, but also it is the spiritual world, because everything in nature has a spirit. Our concept of the Hopi way is that a spiritual essence touches every part of our lives; …

Exemplary Arts: Section C — Subject: Ceremony — Ancient And Contemporary Images, Edna Glenn

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

The Artist Hopid were inspired and challenged when we took time in the early years of the 1970s to study wall paintings from kivas unearthed at the ancient villages.... We did some intensive research for the purpose of learning about ancient, Hopi ceremonial art. Primarily, we were interested in the style of images, form and composition, and symbolic meaning.—Honvantewa

Twenty-three examples are presented:

Ancient Awatovi site: Figures 20-23(Courtesy of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts)
20. AWATOVI KIVA MURAL, Arizona,Room 529, Right Wall, Design 1
21. AWATOVI KIVA MURAL, Arizona, Room 788, Composite of Left and Right Walls, Design …

Chapter 4 Hopi Kachinas: A Life Force, Barton Wright

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

“Everything has an essence or life force, and humans must interact with these or fail to survive.”


It is not known where the Kachina Cult originated, but some evidence points to a Meso-American origin, brought possibly with the clans which migrated from north to south and north again. There are a few archaeological hints which indicate that there was a viable Kachina Cult by the time the Hopi settled at the center of their world in 1100. The Kachina Cult is shared with all the other Pueblo peoples who live to the east, from Zuni to Taos and formerly Pecos …

Exemplary Arts: Section E — Subject: Kachinas, Edna Glenn

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

“The central theme of the Kachina Cult is the presence of life in all objects that fill the universe.” — Barton Wright

“The concept of fertility is central in Hopi thinking. It applies not only to good crops but to the general multiplication of good and desired objects and beings . . . Thus, as women give birth to the people and cause them to multiply, so do the kachinas cause food and other blessings to multiply.” — Alice Schlegel

Eight examples are presented in this section; others are included on previous pages

Sculptural forms: Figures 68-70
68. EOTOTO AND …

Chapter 5 Hopi Social Structure As Related To Tihu Symbolism, Alice Schlegel

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

“Life is the highest good; in an environment where survival requires constant effort, . . . the richest blessing is abundance of food and children.”


Kachina dolls, those representations of the dancers who impersonate the supernatural kachinas, have captured the fancy of many art lovers for their colorfulness, the skill with which they are frequently made, and the variety of kachina forms they represent. To the collector, they are art objects, to be appreciated in terms of color, design and quality of craftsmanship. To the historian or museum curator, they are representative of the kachinas; as such, they are classified …

Chapter 6 Contemporary Hopi Courts And Law, Piestewa (Robert H. Ames)

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

“We believe we are ‘at the center’ and this gives us a very secure feeling about where we are, where we have been, and what we are going to do.”


To understand how Hopi courts are trying to utilize custom and tradition, it is necessary first to understand the court structure, jurisdiction, and procedures of the Hopi Nation’s judicial system. The Hopi court system is composed of two courts—the Hopi Tribal Appellate Court and the Hopi Tribal Trial Court. My present appointment is Chief Judge of the Hopi Tribal Trial Court. The Hopi Trial Court is the highest trial court …

Chapter 7 The Enduring Hopi, Peter Iverson

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

The Hopi world is centered on and around three mesas in northeastern Arizona named First, Second, and Third. It is at first glance a harsh and rugged land, not always pleasing to the untrained eye. Prosperity here can only be realized with patience, determination, and a belief in tomorrow. For over 400 years, the Hopis have confronted the incursion of outside non-Indian societies. The history of white-Indian relations in this country suggests that men and women of good will may differ over the appropriate strategy, over the proper behavior, and over the definition of identity. The Hopis are not exceptions …

Hopi Essence: Self-Portrait And Poem, Lomawywesa (Michael Kabotie)

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

The somber face, the snow-misting hair and the eyes looking at me/you is me—Lomawywesa, Antelopes Walking in Harmony. Born to the Snow/Water Clan of Shungopavi, a migratory people who traveled to the Hopi mesas from the legendary Red City to the South, Paalotkwapi.
It was at Paalotkwapi that our Father, the Serpent, emerged and gathered us, his children, and blessed us with Clouds. “Go northward my Children,” he directed us. So northward we journeyed and among the barren mesas we emerged to reside with the Bear Clan and build our Cloud-Inspired Homes.
And
to these Cloud-Terraced homes our Cloud Fathers/Mothers …

Contributors — Hopi Nation, [The Editors]

Hopi Nation: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law

Robert H. Ames (PIESTEWA)
Edna Glenn
Peter Iverson
Michael Kabotie (LOMAWYWESA)
Alice Schlegel
Abbott Sekaquaptewa,
Terrance Talaswaima (HONVANTEWA)
Barton Wright
John R. Wunder

Coal Miner’S Daughter

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of the most recent targets of China’s self-appointed net detectives—practitioners of the pernicious phenomenon known as the “human flesh search” (ren rou sou sou)—is not an unfaithful husband, a kitten killer, or a Tibet-friendly Chinese student. Instead she is someone who is, supposedly, a comely young woman whose father owns a coal mine and who recently immigrated to Seattle, cash, flashy cars, and Louis Vuitton luggage in hand. Definitely not from Butcher Holler. And, as it turns out, a fake.

The human flesh searchers, who mete out internet justice and facilitate the harassment of those who fail their moral …

Interview With Lijia Zhang

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On Iowa Public Radio’s “The Exchange” (follow that link to stream the mp3 recording). Zhang is currently a participant in the University of Iowa’sInternational Writing Program. She discusses her book, Socialism is Great!, her life experiences, and China in the late twentieth century (as well as her book as a possible gift for Sarah Palin).

Her most recent piece at China Beat is “Ode to the Communist Song.”

Coming Distractions: Speaking To History

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Paul A. Cohen, professor of history emeritus at Wellesley College and also an associate at the Harvard Fairbank Center, has long been interested in not justwhat happened but also how historians tell the stories of the past. As one of the strongest advocates for China-centered historical work, Cohen has explored this tension between history and its telling in works that sometimes reveal unknown stories and sometimes confound the traditional tellings of well-known historical events. These earlier works include China Unbound: Evolving Perspectives on the Chinese Past, History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth,China and Christianity, and …

Nomina Dubia And Faunistic Issues With New Zealand Spiders (Araneae), Pierre Paquin, Cor J. Vink, Nadine Duperre, Phil J. Servid, David J. Court

Insecta Mundi

Attempts to clarify the identity of obscure New Zealand spider taxa have lead to the conclusion that six species are best treated as nomina dubia [Philodromus rubrofrontus Urquhart 1891 (Philodromidae); Dictyna urquhartii Roewer 1951, (Dictynidae); Linyphia albiapiata Urquhart 1891, Linyphia cruenta Urquhart 1891, Linyphia multicolor Urquhart 1891, Linyphia pellos Urquhart 1891 (Linyphiidae)]. Four species currently listed in Araneus Clerck 1757 (Araneidae) are re-affirmed as synonyms [Araneus lineaacutus (Urquhart 1887) = Zealaranea crassa (Walckenaer 1842), Araneus powelli (Urquhart 1894) = Novaranea laevigata (Urquhart 1891), Araneus sublutius (Urquhart 1892b) = Zealaranea trinotata (Urquhart 1890), Araneus ventricosellus (Roewer 1942) = Eriophora heroine …

Culture And Collapse Revisited, Pierre Fuller

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In May of this year I wagged a few fingers at British writer Simon Winchester for an op-ed piece he penned in the wake of Sichuan’s devastating quake. Appearing as it did both in the New York Times and in its global edition, the International Herald Tribune, his attempt at posing a supposedly quake-fit “West” or “America” against a Chinese people who had collectively all “turned their back” as early as the 16th century on science and construction know-how begged immediate comment.

I soon found myself in the bowels of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies’ …

In Case You Missed It: Tibet Special, Part 3–Comments By Pico Iyer And Pankaj Mishra

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Continuing our series seeking to draw attention to overlooked readings on Tibet, we are happy to be able to provide comments by two long-time friends of the blog, Pico Iyer and Pankaj Mishra, talented and versatile writers whose most recent books are The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond, respectively. It seemed particularly appropriate to ask Iyer and Mishra to suggest articles or books that they have found useful in thinking about Tibet but which might be under the radar of …

In Case You Missed It: Tibet Special, Part 2

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This second piece in our ongoing series highlighting “In Case You Missed It” readings on Tibet, is devoted to reflections by Charlene Makley, a member of Reed College’s Anthropology Department. She was part of the same Boulder roundtable mentioned in our first post in the series, and she is the author of The Violence of Liberation: Gender and Tibetan Buddhist Revival in Post Mao China, published last year by the University of California Press in cloth and paperback editions.

Having just returned from a year in Tibetan regions of the PRC, I am not completely versed on the most recent …

Blog To Book: The China Beat Moves Into The Print World

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This Self-Promotion Saturday will be the first of a series devoted to a book project:China in 2008: A Year of Great Significance. Rowman & Littlefield will be publishing it fairly early in 2009 and it will be edited by three people familiar to “China Beat” readers: Kate Merkel-Hess, Ken Pomeranz and Jeff Wasserstrom, all of whom are based at UC Irvine. Some of the content will also be familiar to “China Beat” readers, since the book will include material that first appeared on this site (though in some cases in an updated and expanded form). China in 2008 will also …

In Case You Missed It: Tibet Special, Part 1

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

It has now been six months since “China Beat” ran a series of reports about and suggested readings relating to the March unrest in Tibet. We thought this a fitting time to try to figure out what some of the best works out there are that deal with Tibet in general, not just a particular crisis involving the region and its people. So, we will be asking some people the following question: “Can you think of any particular article or book relating to Tibet that you wish more people had read?” We’ll run the answers periodically, as they come in. …

A Western Man Of Color: Richard Wright And The World, Guy J. Reynolds

Department of English: Presentations

Richard Wright had become by the mid 50s an analyst of what it means to be ‘of’ the West. He was by now a firmly-established émigré, and had become a French citizen in 1947. His journeys, in a way, had only just become: Europe was a stage or an inauguration into further mappings of the self and society. Those mappings took the extraordinary geo-political shifts of the mid-century as their subject. In the wake of the Second World War, severely damaged economically and in terms of sheer power, European nations were finally forced to give ground to the nationalist movements …

In Case You Missed It: The Thrill Of The Chase, Angilee Shah

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

My redeye flight from Singapore to Shanghai in August was timed purposefully before the Olympics ended, but my route was planned meticulously to avoid the big Olympics events.

Before the trip I likewise scoured the library of the Singapore school where I teach for fresh (or at least fresh to me) narratives on China–the kinds of simple but expansive journeys that unabashedly take young explorers “beyond the headlines” and spark awe-inspiring careers. I’d already read Peter Hessler’sOracle Bones and I was looking for more.

(My friend Anka was tasked with writing about life in China, and I was tasked with …

What Did The Cultural Revolution Look Like?

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Many people outside of China get their first ideas about the Cultural Revolution from reading memoirs or works of fiction that deal with the years 1966-1969 or the final decade of the Maoist era (1966-1976). It is also possible, though, to start to grapple with the meaning of that complex and traumatic period via its visual culture, and finding out about a new exhibit and a new online collection (new to me at least) has inspired this Top Five List. It includes some sites that have been mentioned before at China Beat, but seem worth referring to again.

1. The …

Tainted Love

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Forget about any barbequing. Taiwan is just beginning to recover from one of the worst typhoons in recent memory. Super Typhoon Sinlaku spent the entire weekend over the island, meandering up the east coast, doing a loop-de-loop around Yilan, moving northwest and doing a second loop-de-loop around Danshui, before taking another jaunt to the west and finally traipsing off to the northeast. Mountain areas have been inundated with between 3 AND 5 FEET OF RAIN, resulting in numerous casualties (7 dead and 14 missing so far) and catastrophic damage (bridges washed out, riverside hotels toppled or swept away, crops destroyed, …