They Were Built So Purposely, Since They Must
Serve For Fortresses As Well As Homes.
Hopi Wafer.
Bread. One is often likely to find a woman engaged in making
piki. Piki is a wafer bread, peculiar to the Hopis. It is finer than the
finest tortilla of the Mexican, or oatcake of the Scotch. No biscuit maker
in America or England can make a cracker one-half so thin. The thinnest
cracker is thick compared with piki, and yet the Hopi make it with
marvelous dexterity. Cornmeal batter in a crude earthenware bowl, is the
material; a smooth, flat stone, under which a brisk fire is kept burning,
is the instrument; and the woman's quick fingers, spreading a thin layer of
the batter over the stone, perform the operation. It looks so easy. A lady
of one of my parties tried it once, and failed. My cook, a stalwart Kansas
City man, knew he would not fail. And he didn't. He had four of the
best-blistered fingers I have seen in a long time. But the Hopi woman
merely greases the stone, dips her fingers into the batter, carries them
lightly and carelessly over the heated surfaces, and, in a moment, strips
the already baked sheet from the stone. When several are baked, she folds
them over and over until they are about the size of an elongated shredded
wheat biscuit.
Hopi Women as Builders. It is a reversal of our conception of things to see
the "gentler sex " engaged in building a house, as is often the case in
Hopiland. Yet to the Hopi there is nothing strange in this scene, for the
woman, and not the man, is the owner of the house. Hence, the Hopi reasons,
why should she not build it? It is hers, so let her make it; and she does.
She uses no spirit-level, no plumb line, no square, no saw, and yet she
makes a creditable house, fairly square and plumb, warm and cosy in winter,
and cool and comfortable in summer. The mud of the winter's watercourses is
used as mortar, and the pieces of disintegrated sandstone, that abound on
the mesa tops, form the building material.
Men Who Weave and Knit. In accordance with Hopi logic, the antithesis of
the woman house-builders is to be seen daily in the men who are engaged in
weaving the women's garments; men, also, knit the stockings, and follow
other so-called feminine occupations. There is nothing incongruous in these
things to them. They are part of "the way of the old," handed down to them
by their forefathers.
Hopi Method of Weaving. To watch a weaver at work is to acquire a new
respect for Indians. As one sees the crude, home-made appliances, and then
watches the yarn climb up, thread by thread, battened down by hand so that
the garment will hold water, until the article is finished, artistically
designed, and perfectly fitted for its required purpose, he comes to the
conclusion that the Hopi weaver, at least, is a skilled artificer.
Hopi Rituals. The Hopi are a remarkably religious people. I question
whether there is to be found elsewhere in the world so ritualistic a people
as they are. They have ceremonies - all of religious character for every
month of the year, and some of them require from eight to sixteen days for
their observance. Their dances are propitiations of the gods they worship,
and whose aid they implore. One of the most noted and world-renowned of
their ceremonies is the Snake Dance, and I wish to conclude this chapter
with a brief description of this wonderful act, which I have now witnessed
thirteen separate times. It has been woefully misrepresented by careless
writers.
The whole ceremony is conducted with a dignity and solemnity that is not
surpassed by any Christian observance.
Hopi Mythology Regarding Snake Dance. It is not a dance, in our sense of
the word. It is a prayer for rain, and of thanksgiving for the blessings of
harvest. Neither is it an act of snake worship. According to Hopi
mythology, the snake and antelope clans, or families, are descended from
the union of Tiyo and his brother with two sisters, daughters of the snake
mother, - Tiyo being the paternal Ancestor of the Snake Clan, and his
brother of the Antelope Clan. The story of Tiyo's visit, using a sealed-up
hollow pinion log as a boat, and sailing down the Colorado river through "
shipapu" to the underworld, is one of the most interesting pieces of
aboriginal folk-lore. It appears elsewhere,* and forms the burden of the
sixteen dramatic songs sung in the secrecy of the underground ceremonial
kivas of the snake and antelope clans, in the nine days of preliminary
ceremonial, which culminate in the open-air public dance.
* See Indians of the Pointed Desert Region.
Antelope Race and Corn Scramble. There are two other ceremonies connected
with the Snake Dance that may be witnessed by all who like. These are the
antelope race and the corn scramble. The former takes place on the morning
of the eighth day before sunrise. Though apparently a mere test of athletic
ability, it is in reality a religious ceremonial. For centuries, the Hopi
lived surrounded by warlike people who preyed upon them. Being few in
number, living in a desert land, and beset by murderous marauders,
fleetness of foot and great "staying" powers while running over the long
trails of the sandy deserts became an essential condition of national
preservation. Hence the priests made the cultivation of the bodily powers a
matter of religion. Every youth was compelled to exercise to the utmost.
The result is a fine athletic development. Each year many great races are
run, and two of the chief of these are at the Snake Dance, there being a
race on both the eighth and ninth mornings.
At the end of that fierce race across the hot sands and up the steep mesa,
the winner exultantly stands before the chief priests.
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