View from Hopi Point, Grand Canyon
Population: 12,580 in the Hopi Tribe, 1,660 live on First Mesa
Language: Uto-Aztecan
Location: 1,620,335 acres in Arizona, surrounded by Navajo Nation land
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Hopi & Navajo Lands
Traditional Hopi Homelands
Tano Lands in Galisteo Basin
The Hopi are stewards of the Earth, here because Maasaw entrusted the Center of the Universe to their care. They are connected to the land, water, and agricultural cycles. Their values are rooted in respect and mutual care – sumi’nangwa, nami’nangwa, and hita’nangwa.
The westernmost of the Pueblo Indian tribes, the independent Hopi Nation is the only Pueblo tribe that speaks a Shoshonean language of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family. The primary meaning of the word "Hopi" is "behaving one, one who is mannered, civilized, peaceable, polite, who adheres to the Hopi Way."
The majority of Hopi people are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona but some are enrolled in the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Their 1.6 million acres of land is completely surrounded by the Navajo Nation’s lands.
Social Structure
Traditionally, Hopi are organized into matrilineal clans. Children are born into the clan of their mother. Clans extend across all villages. Children are named by the women of the father's clan. After the child is introduced to the Sun, the women of the paternal clan gather, and name the child in honor of the father's clan. Children can be given over 40 names. The village members decide the common name. Current practice is to use a non-Hopi or English name or the parent's chosen Hopi name. A person may also change the name upon initiation to traditional religious societies, or a major life event.
First Contact
The complex Hopi culture, much as it exists today, was firmly in place by the 1500s, including the ceremonial cycle, the clan and chieftain social system, and agricultural methods that utilized every possible source of moisture in an extremely arid environment. The Hopis' "historical period" began in 1540, when first contact with Europeans occurred. In that year a group of Spanish soldiers led by the explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado arrived, looking for the legendary Seven Cities of Gold. After a brief, confrontational search produced no gold, the Spanish destroyed part of a village and left.
Safe Haven
Following the Pueblo Revolt, the Hopi moved three of their villages to the mesa tops as a defensive measure against possible retaliation. At different times, the Hopi have been a safe haven for other Pueblo people.
Isleta: Following the Pueblo Revolt, many people from Isleta fled to stay with the Hopi. When they returned, many brought Hopi spouses with them. The village of Oraibi at Isleta was named after Old Oraibi - one of four original Hopi villages.
Tano: (see below)
Sandia: The Spanish repeatedly attempted to reconquer the Tiguex Province in 1681, 1688, and 1692. And each time the people of Sandia Pueblo fled to the Hopi.
The Galisteo Basin & The Tano
As stated on the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act website, “The Galisteo Basin reflects the pace and trajectories of more than 16,000 years of Native American history in North America.”
In ancient times, the Tano were the southern group of the Tewa. Even before the big move from the Four Corners area, people were already moving south and east of Santa Fe. The Tano inhabited this land between the Pecos and Kewa - the verdant Galisteo Basin - from La Cienega and Cerrillos to Galisteo and Lamy and up to the foothills where Eldorado is now situated.
At the west side of the basin, the remains of San Marcos Pueblo can be found near Cerrillos. This pueblo may once have been called Ya-tze in the Keres language or Kua-kaa in the Tano language, but more certainly it was known as Kuunyae Ongwi Keji - Turquoise Pueblo in Tewa. San Marcos was one of the largest adobe settlements in North America. It had 2,000 rooms in 22 roomblocks, some thought to be two and three stories high. As with many other Pueblos in the area, it was occupied through the Pueblo Revolt.
The Tano had an active role in the Revolt. They also destroyed all of Catholic churches built in their valley. But, because of the increased raids by Apache and Comanche, when the Spanish returned to reconquer New Mexico in 1692, many Tano decided to leave. Some stayed at Kewa Pueblo while others continued west to the Hopi, where they stayed permanently. They are now called Hopi-Tewa and live in the village of Hano / Walpi on First Mesa.
GOING THE DISTANCE
For two decades, the Hopi refused to send its children to boarding schools, as demanded by the U.S. government. Then, in 1906, the military arrived and made every child go under compulsion. One of these children was Tsökahovi Tewanima. The group he was with was forced to march 20 miles. Then they had to do manual labor. Eventually they were put on a train and sent to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.
He was given the name Lewis, put in Western clothing, and prevented from speaking his language. He and his fellow “classmates” could not speak the same language. They all were alone, even while surrounded by a thousand other youth. They would be whipped when they did not follow instruction - an impossible task when you don’t know the language.
Tsökahovi ran away with a few other boys. They made it all the way to Texas by learning how to jump trains. Just 500 miles from home, the boys were captured and sent back to Carlisle.
As a young child, Tsökahovi would run long distances with his friends - for fun and as part of his spiritual practice. So, to ease his pained heart while at Carlisle, he ran.
In 1912, Tsökahovi and another Carlisle student, Jim Thorpe, competed in the Summer Olympics in Stockholm. Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon events. Tsökahovi ran the 10,000-meter in 32:06.6, setting an American record for the event. It would not be beat at the Olympics until 52 years later in 1964, by Billy Mills, an Oglala Lakota Sioux.
Learn more about Tsökahovi’s story here.
The Hopi are still running. Each year they host an event in Tsökahovi honor. And, in 2021, Hopi runner Kyle Sumatzkuku ran in the 125th Boston Marathon. He came in 48th out of 18,000 runners.
