THE HOPI
Hopi are an agricultural people with villages on three mesas on the Colorado Plateau in northeastern Arizona. Hopi oral tradition is rich and multifaceted, and the Hopi origin story holds that the ancestors of the Hopi emerged into this world after abandoning earlier worlds filled with moral corruption. They then migrated to the mesas where they currently live, which are also thought to be the center of the earth to many traditional Hopi people. The Hopi are considered Pueblo people because the term Pueblo refers to the Pueblo settlements that they lived in when the Spanish conquered them (Penney 2004). However, today the Hopi are recognized as a nation located in Arizona, and ‘Pueblo’ is just a general term for the people who lived in Pueblo stone structures. (See the Pueblo section for a discussion of looms, weaving techniques, decorative techniques, and designs which also apply to the Hopi).
In Hopi communities, the spinning of thread was a communal process amongst the men, with the aid of the spindle whorl (Whitaker c2002). Hopi men would “attach fibers not yet spun to the tip of the short end of the spindle and rotate the long end of the shaft up the right thigh. Spinning is a rarity in most pueblos today” (Whitaker c2002: 137). They used an upright loom to weave textiles that were made into everyday clothing and ceremonial dress for men, women, and children. Also, they traded their weavings among other villages, especially textiles used for religious rituals and weddings.
Featured Textile: 2617-1
This woman’s manta features a black diagonal-twill center and tassels at its corners. The edges are whipstitched (sewn with stitches passing over an edge, in joining or finishing) and indigo dyed threads are woven into a diamond-twill border. Hopi mantas were influenced by the Spanish serapes, which are woven wider than they are long (Kent 1985). (See our Pueblo section for a description of mantas and Spanish influence. Also, see our Unfolding Tradition section for a discussion of Spanish influence in the Southwest.)
In this case, UT’s DASe and the original documentation correspond in their classification of this garments as Hopi.
Keywords
Manta, wool, black, blue, indigo, tassels, diamond-twill borders, whipstitch
Featured Textile: 2148-585
This woman’s shawl/ manta has been classified on DASe as being an example of Western Puebloan Style (see our Pueblo section to see more examples of this style). Separating its central brown section is a bayeta red stripe with a thin yellow band within. The outer edges are woven with handspun indigo thread.
Between UT’s DASe and the original documentation, there are conflicting designations as to which group of Southwestern Native Americans this textile belongs to. It has been classified on DASe Hopi, as it is on this site. However, the digitized file provided here shows how the garment was originally classified as “Navajo.” There are no elaborations provided as to the change in classification or as to why it was originally considered to be Navajo.
Keywords
Handspun yarn, red, bayeta, yellow, brown, blue, indigo, stripes, twill weave
