Introduction
The Hopis are one of the major communities of the Pueblo Indian communities that are the inhabitants of the southwest of America. The Pueblo Indian communities lived peacefully while observing their Indian cultural practices until the early 17th century when they were attacked and conquered by the Spaniards who in the long run made them their colony for at least 80 years. The Pueblo people are composed of approximately 25 communities but the widely known and illustrated in various kinds of literature are the Hopi, Taos, Acoma, and the Zuni. The Pueblo people had a very excellent cultural as well as religious history and have over the years tried their level best to preserve and uphold their cultural practices to date. It is in that connection that is important to understand the cultural heritage and history of the Pueblo people with emphasis on the Hopi community (Hodge 138). In this essay paper, I will discuss the cultural practices of the Pueblo while concentrating on the Hopi community. In the discussion, I will discuss the Pueblo revolt of 1680 and the contributions of the Hopi people towards the success of the revolution. It is in the discussion that it would become clear on the contribution of the Hopi community to the success of the revolution and how they manage to uphold their cultural practices after the revolt.
The History of the Pueblo
The Pueblo is believed to have inhabited the southwest part of America as early as 100 BC. They occupied places such as Colorado, northern Arizona, and the current New Mexico. They are sometimes referred to as the Anasazi or the Mogollon due to their prehistoric settlement cultures. During their early years, the Pueblo stayed in caves that had been well built using mud bricks. In the prehistoric period, the Pueblo people were mainly hunters and gathers and practiced no agriculture. However, at the beginning of the first century, they began practicing some form of agriculture with the cultivation of crops such as maize and beans though hunting remained a major part of their culture for the provision of food (Yue C. and Yue D. 01).
In 400 A.D, they adopted a pottery-making culture where they made pots for water storage and cooking purposes. The Pueblo people divided themselves into different villages living in a pit-like house known as ‘Kivas’. As a result of the changes in the climatic conditions, the villages further subdivided themselves and moved further to other areas. For example, some populations of the Pueblo migrated to Rio Grande valley while others migrated to areas such as the Hopi mesas. The social structure of the Pueblo people was mainly divided into two that is, the western system which was composed of the Hopis, and the eastern system. In both systems, women were bestowed with the responsibility of making pots while the men we responsible for weaving. Women were ranked high in both systems although there were some minor differences in the social structures between the western and eastern Pueblo people (Yue C. and Yue D. 05).
The Hopis
As mentioned in the introduction, this essay will discuss the Pueblo revolt with emphasizes on Hopi’s role in the revolts of 1680. As a result, it is essential to discuss some of the basic cultural practices of the Hopis in order to ascertain how the Spanish rule interfered with their practices that necessitated them to participate in the revolt of 1680. The Hopis are a group of indigenous people who belong to the large community of Pueblo. They are located in the Northeastern part of Arizona and are organized into small villages known as the Mesa. The Mesas are further divided into 1st, 2nd and 3rd mesas. The village of Kykotsmovi located in the third Mesa is the current governing body of the Hopi people. According to statistics of 2000, the total population of the Hopi was approximately 6900 all divided in the three basic villages. The Hopi’s are the longest surviving inhabitants of North America and have over the years tried to upload their traditional practices. For example, one of their basic cultural activities is farming and gardening which began around 1500 BC and is considered as one of their ways of life. They not only practice agriculture as a way of getting food but also entrench it in their culture as part of their cultural practices (James 125).
Religion wise, the Hopis are among the few indigenous communities that practice very unique religious practices. They have annual ceremonies carried out in their ‘kiva’ which represent their ceremonial chambers. In the chambers, there are several spirits known as ‘katsina’ whose main responsibilities is to bring rain on the Hopi’s land for cultivation especially the cultivation of spring crops. These spirits are worshiped by all the people in the Hopi land and are believed to be the force behind the existence of Hopi community. In addition to the religious practices, they also practiced and continue to practice crafts such as the making of ‘katsina’ dolls, baskets and pottery. With the arrival of the Spanish in the late 16th century, all these cultural practices were threatened with extinction as a result of the introduction of other cultures from the Europeans.
The European who came from Spain conquered Pueblo land Hopi’s inclusive. Consequently, the Hopis together with other communities were made colony of Spain and were forced to pay tribute to the Spanish government. This involved working under the guardianship of the colonial masters who mistreated them to a very large extent. These mistreatments occurred in many forms such as denying the Hopis their right to practice their culture, sexually harassment of the female population, forced labor and being denied the right to worship their gods. Religious interference came in form of the introduction of Christianity which was made compulsory by the colonial masters. This angered the Hopi population and especially the male population who after 80 years of colonization opted to regain their freedom and thus decided to revolt against the Spaniard administration leading to the 1680 revolt (James 46).
The Spaniard’s Notion
The Spaniard had a belief that they were good in conquest, Catholicism and imperialism and thus could settle in any country they so wished. Consequently, when they came to Pueblo 1598, they saw themselves culturally superior to the natives Pueblo and thus saw the need for the Pueblo people to be their subjects. When they arrived, their main intention was to make the Pueblo people subject to the Spanish laws and above all, subject them to accepting Christianity. This was done forcefully and required the Pueblo to renounce their traditional religious practices. In the Spaniard view, it was the will of God for the Spaniards to conquer and introduce Christianity in all countries they were assigned to either forcefully or peacefully. According to Don Juan de Onate the conqueror of Pueblo, the Spaniards were acting on behalf of the “the father, the son and the holy spirit” which was God and therefore the mission was a divine one and fully sanctified by God almighty (Ponce 21).
In addition, the Spaniards were of the view that they Pueblo people needed civilization in form of new system of governance, commerce, arts, farming and livestock keeping (Salpointe 14).
Rio Grande Pueblos
In all the lands of the Pueblo, the Pueblos from Rio Grande were the first to witness the takeover of the Pueblo land since the announcement by Onate on the taking over of Pueblo as a colony of Spain was pronounce there. Consequently, they witnessed the harsh rule the Spaniard early than their counterparts such as the Hopis. As the mistreatment grew, they were the first to stage a major revolution in 1650 against the Spaniards though the revolt was unsuccessful. Prior to this revolt was some efforts by the Zunis and Hopis in 1632 and 1633 respectively who killed some friars. As time passed by, the Pueblos decided to turn back to their leaders for liberation from the Spaniards and this was done mainly in the villages of Rio Grande. Here, village elders consulted each other and all agreed that the best solution was to drive the Spaniards away from their land in order to restore their cultures. Consequently, the Zuni and the Hopis who formed the majority and very influential Pueblo were consulted and agreed to merge for the purpose of removing the Spaniards. Here is where the role of the Hopi is seen. Since they formed a major part of the Pueblo, their participation was very essential for the success of the revolt (James 46).
The Pueblo Revolt
The Pueblo revolt was a rebellion by most of the Pueblo people except a few tribes towards the Spanish administration as a result of mistreatment from the Spaniard’s colonialists. It should be noted that most of the tribes in Pueblo participated in the revolt Hopi inclusive. Hatred between the Pueblo people and the Spanish administration began as a result of prohibition of indigenous religious practices by the Spanish administration. It was also due to the disruption of the traditional practices of the Pueblo such as farming, basket making and pottery that led to their fury thus leading to the revolt of 1680. For example, the colonialist imposed forced labor on the Pueblo people despite the fact that they introduced new farming devices that enhanced agriculture. The Pueblo were forced to work on the colonialist mines as well as their farms for very long hours with low pays (Knaut 14).
Apart from the oppression from the Spaniards, the period preceding 1680 was faced with a lot of attacks from the neighboring nomadic people which the Spanish administration was unable to contain thereby leading to many deaths among the Pueblo. This did not go well with most Pueblo people especially the Hopi who opted to fight for their liberation from the colonial master. Moreover, the Europeans introduced a new kind of disease among the Pueblo people which significantly reduced the numbers of the Pueblo people. Further still, there was a lot of sexual harassment for the Pueblo people that did not go well with the male population who thought it better to revolt in order to save their women counterparts from being sexually exploited by the colonial masters. As a result of all these grievances, a revolt was inevitable among the Pueblo people (Knaut 14).
The revolt began as a simple organization by a few tribes but soon incorporated all the tribes within the Pueblo region. The revolt was mainly planned by Pope. The revolt was well organized and though Pope planned the revolt while in exile, the revolt became one of the most successful revolts to have ever occurred in history. Pope used his intelligence while in exile and always sent the Pueblo people with notification concerning the days remaining for the revolt in a manner that the colonialists could not understand. Notifications were sent in form of a knot. The unfolding of these knots by the elders always signified the days remaining before the revolt would occur. Initially, the day for execution was planned to be 11th August 1680 but as a result of the arrest of some youths who were responsible for the distribution of the knots by the Spaniards guards, the day was immediately changed to counteract any ideas by the Spaniards to pin down the revolt. This was a brilliant idea since it caught the Spaniards by surprise that they were being attacked. Consequently, on 10th the same month, the revolt began and approximately 380 Spaniard and 40 Franciscans were killed prompting the remaining population to flee to the neighboring Pueblo community known as Isleta Pueblo which did not participate in the revolt. On September 15, the Spaniards further fled and the insurgents further surrounded and entered the city and took over it by cutting off the supply of water thus frustrating the remaining Spaniards further. By 20th of August, all the remaining Spaniards that were in the city fled thereby making the Pueblo to regain their independence (Salpointe 100).
This was the beginning of their freedom and Pope gave an order for the destruction of any kind of European cultural material remaining in the land especially the Christian’s crosses and other materials. All the Indians that had incorporated Christianity were ordered to renounce the practice and come back to the original practices of the Pueblo people. Consequently, their freedom was somehow regained though not for long. However, a problem emerged concerning who was supposed to be the leader of Pueblo people. Though these tribes had initially come together, the issue on power threatened the peaceful co-existence of these communities that led to the recon quest of the Pueblo land by the Spaniard.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can note that though the success of the revolt was short-lived, the revolt provided a plat form towards the maintenance of the Pueblo’s cultural practices. It should be noted that in the second colonization, the cultural practices of the Pueblos were fully observed and respected by the colonialist though there was some form of Christianity in the land. Harassments reduced and the Pueblo people regained some independence. However, it should also be noted that the introduction of Christianity in the land attracted some of the people from the Pueblo community who joined the religion secretly and thus became priests in the long run. The culture of the Pueblo was somehow eroded though some of the elders tried to uphold their culture by passing the information to the next generation. Of the Pueblo people, the Hopis are the ones that have uploaded most of their cultural practices to date and though they are few, they still make a lot of impact historically.
The revolt therefore sent a very clear message to the Spaniard administration that the Pueblo people were not willing to part with their traditional practices that easily as was the notion of the Spaniards during their Conquest of Pueblo. They had to change the way they handled the Pueblos in order to establish a peaceful colony in Pueblo.
Work Cited
Hodge, Frederick W. Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico Government Printing Office. Original from Harvard University. 1910, pp. 138-150.
James, Harry C. Pages from Hopi history. University of Arizona Press. 1974, pp. 125-130.
James, Harry C. The Hopi Indians: their history and their culture. Caxton, 1956. pp 45-56.
Knaut, Andrew L. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1995. P.14.
Ponce, Pedro, “Trouble for the Spanish, the Pueblo Revolt of 1680”, Humanities, 2002, Volume 23/Number 6.
Salpointe, Jean B. Soldiers of the Cross; Notes on the Ecclesiastical History of New-Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, Salisbury, N.C.: Documentary Publications, 1977.
Yue, Charlotte, Yue, David. The Pueblo. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1990, pp. 1-45.