Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes

HOPI 107
the tribesmen, were also important in the religion of the
ZUNI, another Pueblo people on the southern Colorado
Plateau.
The Hopi believed that the kachinas were supernatural
beings dwelling in their own world high up in the
mountains to the west. Every year, at the winter solstice,
the shortest day of the year, the kachinas supposedly
traveled to the world of humans, where they entered
people’s bodies and stayed in residence until the summer
solstice, the longest day of the year. Hopi men impersonated
the kachinas with elaborate painted masks of
wood, feathers, and other materials.
The masked kachina dancers performed at many festivals,
such as the 16-day summer festival called the
Niman Kachina. One of the many rain dances was the
Snake Dance, performed last of all. The kachinas danced
with live snakes wrapped around their necks and arms,
and even in their mouths. At the end of the dance, they
threw the snakes on a design made with corn meal. The
snakes were released outside the pueblo, and the kachina
dancers were sent off at the same time to bring cloudbursts
of rain.
Scare-kachinas had faces with long teeth and bulging
eyes. Hopi men wore scare-kachina masks to frighten
children who had misbehaved.
Children could learn the names of the different kachinas,
and what they stood for, through the dolls their
fathers and grandfathers carved for them. These are
known as kachina dolls, but a better description would
be statues or god-figures. They are not for play, but to be
treasured, studied, worshiped, and passed on to one’s
own children.
The fear caused by the scare-kachinas, as well as great
love and attention from their parents, helped the Hopi
children grow up to be friendly and sharing. This was
the Hopi Way: to be in balance with both nature and
other people. If a child or adult acted with cruelty, he
was shunned by others until he changed. But the Hopi
Way also taught forgiveness.
Contacts with Non-Indians
The fact that the Hopituh, the “peaceful ones,” went to
war with the Spanish shows what an impact the outsiders
had on them. The first explorers to reach the Hopi were
two of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s men, Pedro de
Tobar and Juan de Padilla, in 1540. The Hopi let these
two Franciscan priests and their soldiers stay with them
for several days. The Spanish learned of the existence of
the Grand Canyon at this time.
A Hopi woman with the squash-blossom hairdo, a symbol
of maturity and readiness for marriage
Another Spanish explorer, Antonio de Espejo, visited
the Hopi in 1583. Then Juan de Oñate followed with
many more men in 1598. He made the Hopi swear allegiance
to the Spanish Crown. The first missionaries settled
in Hopiland in 1629, and more were to follow.
Because of the Spanish soldiers, the Hopi were forced
to tolerate the new religion among them. But they continued
to practice their traditional beliefs. When the
Spanish tried to eliminate all kachina worship, the normally
peaceful Hopi rebelled. They joined the Rio
Grande pueblos in the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680 and
destroyed the missions in their midst. At that period in
their history, the Hopi established new pueblos that were
easier to defend. The Spanish reconquered the Rio
Grande pueblos, starting in 1689, but they did not push
westward to the Hopi pueblos. The Hopi remained free
to practice their own religion. Some Tewa Indians from
the Rio Grande pueblos fled to Hopiland at this time to
start a new life.