Hopi Indian (Rev)

[Music] in their own language they are called the peaceful people we know them as the hopy Indians of the southwestern United [Music] States on the flat topped mountains called Maes Stand The Villages where the Hy people have lived for hundreds of years through those years a special way of life was developed beliefs and Customs that shape the lives of the hopes [Music] today surrounding the villages is the hot sandy soil of a great desert [Music] the hopes live on a reservation surrounded by the reservation of the Navajo Indians the boundaries of their land have been set by the United States government near Hopi country is the Grand Canyon hopes believe that the bottom of the canyon is the dwelling place of The Souls of their dead ancestors [Music] this Village was built by the early ancestors of the hopes about a thousand years ago they were the first people to settle in this desert [Music] country no one lives here now the buildings have been empty for seven 100 years there are painted designs on the walls of buildings and on nearby rocks symbols perhaps of the religious beliefs that shaped the lives of the [Music] people part of the Hy religion that came down through the centuries is a belief in spirits called cachas today Hy Craftsmen carve dolls and decorate them to represent the cachas this is one way that ancient Traditions are kept [Music] alive how has Hy life changed through the years and how has it remained the same let's see what Hy life was like when this man was a small boy his father was a farmer and corn was his most important [Music] crop the corn was planted deep in the ground to help it survive the glaring heat of the Desert Sun [Music] another crop that could be grown in the desert soil was squash apples and other fruit gave some variety to the hopy diet the fruit trees were probably brought from Europe by Spanish missionaries about 300 years ago [Music] to provide water for their crops the hoopies had developed a system of irrigation at a spring water was lifted by hand into the irrigation ditch [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] today Hy men Farm the desert in much the same way as their ancestors did and corn is still their most important [Music] crop there are other ways in which Hopey life is the same today as in the past we can go back several years to see a Hopey wedding ceremony it begin began when the new bride baked a special batch of cornbread and brought it to her future in-laws when they ate the bread they were accepting the girl into their family in the next part of the marriage ceremony the hair of the bride and groom was washed by their future mothers-in-law [Music] [Music] the bride's hair was braided in the style worn by married [Music] women wedding garments were woven by the groom and his relatives [Music] while this was being done the bride was living with the parents of the groom before long the bride was dressed in her wedding robe she wrapped other wedding G garments in a covering made of Reed as she prepared to leave with her husband they would live with the bride's parents until their own home was ready and so after saying goodbye to the parents of the groom the couple soon arrived at the home of the bride's parents this was the second wedding in their family on this day the bride's mother was taking care of one of her grandchildren [Music] a few months later one more event took place the groom's father placed the wedding robe on the bride and then he fastened a roll of black yarn to the back of the [Music] Rope this completed the wedding ceremonies [Music] today a bride and groom follow the same [Music] Ceremony this is one of many ways in which the special Hopey way of life is being kept [Music] alive parents and grandparents still teach children the ancient crafts of their tribe [Music] but some parts of Hopi life have come from outside their own tribe many hopes use modern means of transportation and live in modern [Music] houses many Craftsmen use modern tools to make things more quickly and easily but they keep the special designs that were used by earlier Hy Craftsmen their craft work is sold to tourists in a modern store owned by the tribe this helps them earn money that can be used to improve the living conditions on the [Music] reservation so the hopes have accepted ideas from the outside world and yet they've been able to keep alive the Customs belief and skills that make them a special [Music] people for