A Story from the Hopi Peoples' Oral History
It may have taken quite a long time for these villages to be establishedIn the tradition of oral history and storytelling, the storyteller often recounts several events or stories in a row. In what way does this opening sentence imply that this story was probably not the first in the series?. Anyway, every place was pretty well settled down when the Spanish cameIn what way does the tone of this passage connect to the oral tradition?. The SpanishSpanish conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado is believed to be the first Spaniard to visit the Hopi, in about 1540.. were first heard of at Zunia village in what is now New Mexico, the home of the Zuni people and then at Awatovi. They came on to Shung-opovi, passing Walpi. At First Mesaa mesa in Arizona that encompasses the villages of Shung-opovi, Awatovi, Walpi, Si-kyatki, Si-kyatki was the largest village then, and they were called Si-kyatki, not Walpi. The Walpi people were living below the present village on the west side. When the Spaniards came, the Hopi thought that they were the ones they were looking for--their white brother, the BahanaPart of the Hopi emergence creation story holds that a "white brother" came up with the Hopi people from the underworld and would return one day to, their savior.
The Spaniards visited Shung-opovi several times before the missions were established. The people of Mishongnovia Hopi village located in Arizona on Second Mesa welcomed them, so the priest who was with the white men built the first Hopi mission at Mishongnovi. The people of Shung-opovi were at first afraid of the priests but later they decided he was really the Bahana, the savior, and let him build a mission at Shung-opovi.
Well, about this time the Strap Clan were ruling at Shung-opovi, and they were the ones that gave permission to establish the mission. The Spaniards, whom they called Castilliaa region in Spain, told the people that theythe Spaniards had much more power than all their chiefs and a whole lot more power than the witches. The people were very much afraid of them, particularly if they had much more power than the witches. They were so scared that they could do nothing but allow themselves to be made slaves. Whatever theythe Spaniards wanted done must be done. Any man in power that was in this position the Hopi called To-ta-achi, which means a grouchy person that will not do anything himself, like a child. They couldn't refuse, or they would be slashed to death or punished in some way. There were two To-ta-achiWhat information does this description of a "To-ta-achi" provide about how the Hopi viewed the Spanish missionaries?.
The missionary did not like the ceremonies. He did not like the Kachinasancestral spirits worshipped by the Hopi and he destroyed the altars and the customs. He called it idol worship and burned up all the ceremonial things in the plaza.
When the Priests started to build the mission, the men were sent away over near the San Francisco peaks to get the pine or spruce beams. These beams were cut and put into shape roughly and were then left till the next year when they had dried out. Beams of that size were hard to carry, and the first few times they tried to carry these beams on their backs, twenty to thirty men walking side by side under the beam. But this was rather hard in rough places and one end had to swing around. So finally they figured out a way of carrying the beam in between them. They lined up two by two with the beam between the lines.
In doing this, some of the Hopis were given authority by the missionary to look after these men and to see if they all did their duty. If any man gave out on the way he was simply left to die. There was great suffering. Some died for lack of food and water, while others developed scabs and sores on their bodies.
It took a good many years for them to get enough beams to Shung-opovi to build the mission. When this mission was finally built, all the people in the village had to come there to worship, and those that did not come were punished severely. In that way their own religion was altogether wiped out, because they were not allowed to worship in their own way. All this trouble was a heavy burden on them and they thought it was on account of this that they were having a heavy drought at this time. They thought their gods had given them up because they weren't worshiping the way they should.
Now during this time the men would go out pretending they were going on a hunting trip and they would go to some hiding place, to make their prayer offerings. So today, a good many of these places are still to be found where they left their little stone bowls in which they ground their copper ore to paint the prayer sticks. These places are called Puwa-kiki, cave places. If these men were caught they were severely punished.