The Hopi Tribe in Arizona

Two young Hopi women in 1920

    The Hopi are a Native American tribe in Northern Arizona whose reservation lies within the borders of the Navajo reservation. Today they have a population of around 19,300 people, approximately half of whom live on the reservation, while the other half live throughout the rest of Arizona. Their reservation occupies about 2,532 square miles and is one of 22 reservations in the state of Arizona.

    The word “hopi” itself means “the peaceful people” in the sense of “the well-behaved ones,” probably in reference to their sedentary, agricultural lifestyle, as opposed to other bands of natives whose way of life was more nomadic and included plundering and carrying out of raids as part of their economy.

    It is impossible to know the exact history of the Hopi tribe due to a lack of written records, but they are most likely descendants of the ancient Anasazi tribe and are probably one of the tribes which has been in Arizona the longest. Their first contact with Europeans took place in the 16th century, when Spanish explorers first came through Arizona and encountered the Hopi and other nearby tribes whom they called “pueblo” peoples since they were settled in permanent towns (“pueblo” is the Spanish word for “town”).

     Much of the history of the Hopi has been shaped by their interactions with the nearby Navajo tribe, which is their traditional enemy. The Athabascan peoples who would later be known as Apaches and Navajos migrated to Arizona from Northern Canada and Alaska around the 16th century. Ever since that time, the Navajo and Hopi tribes have been close neighbors. Today the Hopi reservation exists like an island, surrounded on all sides by the Navajo reservation, and enmity between Navajos and Hopis still persists. On my many trips to the Navajo reservation, and specifically on visits to Tuba City (on the Navajo reservation) and Moenkopi (on the Hopi reservation), I have witnessed this enmity firsthand. According to the testimonies of locals, fistfights between Hopi and Navajo young people are frequent, and on the weekends, rowdy groups of young people from both sides will sometimes get together near the border of the two reservations for the purpose of a violent clash.

    There has also been serious conflict within the Hopi tribe itself over the issue of Westernization. In 1893 when the Oraibi Day School was founded in one of the tribe’s main cities, many Hopis, including the chief of Oraibi himself named Lololoma, were enthusiastic about Hopi children being given the opportunity to be educated and learn from white Americans. Others were very hostile to the school and viewed the efforts of both the government and missionaries as an assault on their way of life and traditional Hopi culture. This led to the town splitting into two factions, with the hostile conservative faction eventually leaving and founding their own separate village called Hotevilla in 1906. Several other towns went through similar splits in the following years.

    Today conditions on the Hopi reservation vary depending on which part of the reservation you visit. In the city of Moenkopi, for example, the average incomes and average housing values are the same as in the rest of Arizona (city-data.com), and the city has good infrastructure, resources, and accessibility to basic amenities. Deeper in the reservation, especially in places like Hotevilla, poverty abounds, and access to nutritious food is very limited.

The Hopi reservation, like all the Indian reservations in Arizona, is a fascinating place to visit, and makes for a very educational and entertaining excursion. One of the great things about living in Arizona is having access to so many culturally diverse people and places within such a short distance of our home. I recommend pulling off the main highway one of these days and spending a few hours experiencing “the rez” for yourself.