Oddly enough this part of the story begins in New York City, in the early 1960s, in a high-rise boardroom stark with morning sun. At the head of a large table stood a philanthropist clothed in fashion brought back from her recent trip to Paris. Seated around the table were lawyers and admins, and back in the corner on a couch, was a lanky, dark-haired, dark-eyed, chain-smoking ethnologist. A philanthropist is someone who donates funds to causes, an ethnologist is someone who studies cosmologies—or what a people believes about their origins.
The ethnologist listens to the philanthropist explain her fascination for Native American culture, sparked by an editorial she’d read in the Wall Street Journal making fun of Hopi elders who had travelled to the United Nations building, attempting to address the General Assembly with a message from their gods. She researched and became increasingly concerned the beliefs of the pueblo peoples would be lost unless her foundation paid someone to go out there, interview the elders, and record it all. The popular conception then was of Native Americans as nomadic people living in tee-pees. The philanthropist knew that the pueblo culture was spread throughout the American Southwest and had learned all tribes of the region claim the Hopi were there first, and everyone had learned the pueblo life from them. She also knew they were the strangest, most secretive tribe in the US. The philanthropist directed the board to send the ethnologist out to create a scholarly book of what is known and practiced amongst the elders.
Stonefield arrives in the land of the Hopi. The Hopi regard themselves as the first inhabitants of the Americas, their village of Oraibi, six hundred feet up atop cliffs of tan sandstone, is the oldest, continuously occupied settlement in North America. He recounts how grand and majestic the home of the Hopi is, how the three mesas, were visible from far off, and as one drew near it was as if approaching a kingdom. He drives up the winding road to Second Mesa, asks around to get a room, and gets directed to White Bear, a Hopi who had married an Irish woman, Mrs. Bear. Stonefield makes a deal for three meals a day, and a half-rock/half-shed dwelling below the mesa.
Stonefield was a trained academic and knew well the bias and misinformation can result when subjects are paid to divulge history and cosmology. He would not pay a Hopi elder to divulge anything. If they were to do it, it would not be for any other reason than in interests of preserving Hopi culture for the future.
*
According to the Hopi, the world has already gone through three previous worlds, and upon emergence into this Fourth World, were greeted by a demigod in the form of a handsome man, Mawsaw. He imparted all they need know about life on the mesa top, and specific instructions for future events, leaving them an outline of coming centuries.
Mawsaw told them that after awhile, after centuries of having mastered the planting and harvesting of corn, and tending to peach trees and sheep, and living the pueblo lifestyle, devoted to supplication of Sun and Earth as benevolent providers of all, a people would show up. They would call themselves Navajo. Prone to violence and war, the Hopi were instructed to give land to the Navajo and keep peace. Then they were told, that centuries after the Navajos arrival, another people would arrive, and they were going to be white in color. From there, they were given even more elaborate prophecies and instructions to keep, to hand down from one generation of elders to the next, until future events dictated they be revealed to the rest of the world.
The Hopi and Navajo lived somewhat stably for centuries until the 1500s, when Catholic priests, soldiers, and settlers invaded their land from Europe, and for decades both Hopi and Navajo were killed and enslaved by the hundreds. The fear of white people was deeply instilled and especially hurtful was the assault on traditional pueblo teachings and ceremonies. They were outlawed and the religious masks of Kachina gods, used in dances, were seized and burned.
Things came to a head when fifty pueblo elders were arrested and accused of sorcery. Four were sentenced to death. Three hung, one committed suicide, and the remaining were whipped and imprisoned. News reached other pueblos, which resulted in an assembly of warriors, which headed to Santa Fe to free the prisoners. After a siege and negotiations they won release of their elders. Among those freed was one who took up residence at Taos pueblo, and for the next five years he and his two lieutenants traveled from pueblo to pueblo advocating for a return to the way of the Hopi. The Catholic priests had defiled the known ways of relating to the world, and the people were asked to revolt and destroy all things of the whites. They were asked to rise and stop the desecration of what they had know to be true for thousands of years. All pueblos joined in the plan. On a designated morning the Taos pueblo sent out runners to all the other pueblos. They carried with them pieces of string, each with a number of knots. The elders of each pueblo were to untie a knot each morning, and the morning the final knot was untied, was the day to rise up, kill all soldiers and priests, and advance on Santa Fe for a final extirpation. The plan worked, the invaders were killed or sent fleeing, their settlements destroyed, and the traditional ceremonies and dances returned.
Peace reigned for about ten years, but then, the early 1700s, more Catholic priests and soldiers marched into the land of the pueblos. This time they had valuable gifts for everyone and eventually made their way to Santa Fe unopposed. They promised clemency and comfort to whoever would aligned with their religion. In the following months other pueblos accepted terms. The agreement was bloodless and most Hopi were happy to accept gifts and go along with the routines of the whites, which all natives found silly. But then, after awhile, the behavior of the Catholic priests returned when they started cutting off the feet and hands of those practicing seasonal rituals and dances. A dozen or so pueblos attempted another revolt, but it wasn’t organized well enough. Retribution was unmerciful and prolonged, and by the end of the century the last resisting pueblo had surrendered to the whites completely. Then came the federal government of the United States and more decades of bloodshed.
By the 1880s, due to acts by Congress, the Hopi had lost three-quarters of their ancestral land. Loloma, a chief of the Hopi at that time, went to Washington DC where he was persuaded to cooperate further. Yukioma, another Hopi chief, lead a tribal dispute against Lololma and his followers for being too friendly with the US Government. Within the entire Hopi tribe, across all mesas, were two factions—the Friendly’s and the Traditional’s. The Traditional’s would not allow their children to be taken to white schools, and especially when one of their gods, Masaw, had told them this would come to pass, that the whites would attempt to destroy their teachings. Soon troops of US Calvary arrived to complete the Americanization of all Hopis. Parents were hiding children in holes which troopers dug out with shovels, only to ship them off to schools, where priests and nuns chopped off their hair before indoctrinating them into Christianity. Many Hopi fathers were put in Alcatraz Prison for resisting. Lololma, betrayed and shamed, died. Another Hopi took leadership of the Friendly’s and continued to rebuke Yukioma and the Traditional’s, until 1906 when the tribe reached a breaking point between those who wanted to go the way of the whites, and those who wanted to remain as they had been instructed to remain. The two factions agreed to a bloodless competition to decide the issue. The Traditional’s lost, and that night hundreds of men, women and children left ancient Oraibi to found a new village, Hotevilla.
*
By the time ethnologist Stonefield showed up a the behest of the New York City philanthropist, a half century after the tribal split and founding settlement for Hopi Traditionals, it was difficult to determine who on the mesas still knew what, and did it match with what was still taught in Hotevilla? Stonefield told White Bear he would not pay participants, but he would pay him as agent for access and translation. At first White Bear was neutral, without care if teachings and prophecies were brought to light, he liked getting paid well to lodge and assist Stonefield. He puts out word to some elders and weeks go by with nothing. Stonefield is shut out. The elders, all of whom had lived through the horrors of being a Hopi at the hands of whites, were silent.
Then one day Stonefield goes to White Bear and Mrs. Bear’s apartment for lunch, and upon entering, finds someone else on the couch. An old, dark Hopi, in an ragged red sweater and tattered Levi’s. A mop of black and gray hair cut chin length, he had tears running down his face.
“I don't blame you white people for ability to transmit power through machines,” he says. “But I know these machines will break. We were taught how to live with what Sun and Earth provide, and live well. The First World was destroyed because people forgot and ignored the instructions—then the Second World, then the Third World—each time falling into ignorance. Now we are on the Fourth World and we are close to our final instructions. So I will continue to conduct our ceremonies, singing and praying to Sun and Earth, so that we may continue life into the Fifth World.”
The Hopi speaking was Old Dan, the son of Yukioma, the leader of the Traditionals. As a young man, Old Dan was one of the combatants on the day of the battle and tribal split. He had gotten knocked out and came to after the battle was lost. He declared he would dedicate his life to keeping the Hopi prophecies alive and ceremonies protected. He helped his father build Hotevilla until Yukioma spent his last seventeen years in jail for continuing to resist. Old Dan kept Hotevilla in tact and in line with tradition. Now he was almost eighty years old, sitting on White Bear’s couch, torn about his feelings to protect Hopi knowledge from whites, and working with Stonefield for the future preservation of his culture.
It was November by then and the first ceremonies in the annual cycle were beginning. The first was dedicated to the dawn of creation, a supplication to birth of all forms of life—plant, animal, and human. Hopi priests wore one horn or two horns, designating their knowledge of the three previous worlds as well as the present Fourth World. Old Dan conducted the ceremony as chief of the Two Horn society. No white man, and no Hopi, except for participating members, we’re allowed to witness the proceedings. Old Dan and the elders went into a kiva to begin sixteen days of rituals before a final public ceremony.
After that ceremony was finished, Stonefield and White Bear waited patiently for Old Dan, but he would not see them, and kept putting them off. Finally a meeting of clan leaders was called. For three hours they sat talking, listening, and finally left to think things over. A week later Old Dan sent word one of the elders had turned against White Bear and Stonefield, saying they were being paid by the US Government or the church to discover Hopi secrets to use against them. The rival was someone known as Mr. Hopi. He was feared by many Traditionals, being aggressive for publicity and power. He declared himself a Traditional yet could gather with Non-Traditional members of the government backed Tribal Council. He dressed well, spoke excellent English, and wrote letters datelined The Hopi Empire.
A week later White Bear and Stonefield were called to another meeting, this time at Mr. Hopi’s home. Here he informed everyone that they were either government or church spies, but it didn’t matter because none of the elders would give them any information. Old Dan did not utter a word in defense during the harangue, but sat head tilted back, eyes half closed, his body shrinking. Stonefield and White Bear left without a word. White Bear was shaken, felt disrespected and defeated. “That’s it! The project is finished!” he told Stonefield.
Then White Bear had a dream where he was walking up a mesa, and saw a Hopi near the top who had a string attached to a boulder, and when he pulled it, the boulder of rock spoke.
A few days later White Bear and Stonefield are walking up along the cliffs to one of the mesas, and they see a Hopi above, bare chested, in jeans, thick gray hair cut jawbone length, bangs to the eyebrows. Stonefield recounted that his body glowed an earthen red. One hand above his head, leaning against a boulder, he stared out at something across the desert floor. It was Johnny Lance of Oraibi. At seventy years old he was alert and deft in movement, making his way across the rocks and ledges of the mesa tops sure as a mountain lion. He was devout in belief and tradition and strictly observed every ritual left to him, made thankful prayers daily, and aimed to keep good thoughts at all times. He came down off a boulder to speak with them. He asked if Stoneman he was the one seeking knowledge of Hopi, and after a brief exchange said, “Why don’t we visit the pueblos of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, and the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in Colorado.”
Early next morning the three set off in Stonefield’s truck. They make a giant loop through the southwest and along the way visit ruins that were unidentified and sometimes even un-excavated. Johnny always found rock writing and symbols and just like the dream of the Indian pulling the string to make the rock talk, he had the ability to read the engraved pictographs, petroglyphs, and clan signatures like a chronicle. He could tell which clans had occupied a dwelling during their migrations, and identify those markings of Hopi teachings.
As they made their way back to the three mesas and home, Johnny tells Stonefield to drive up an old canyon to the only man who lived there, to a recluse who stoutly defended himself against government edicts and Navajo encroachment. We finally came to his house at the head of the canyon.
It was true the Hopi had taught them how to weave baskets, and create ritual sand paintings, and fashion jewelry, it was also true that the Navajos had raised all these arts to a perfection.
His wife Myrna was no less engaged. She was of the Bear Clan, and in her custody was a tablet given to that clan by Masaw when they arrived in the Fourth World. She brought it out one day for White Bear and Stonefield to see it. The stone was about ten inches by eight inches, light gray in color with blotches of rose. It was engraved on one side with the figures of six men enclosed within a double rectangle, and marked on the other side with a maze of symbols. All these markings John Lance readily interpreted for us. The stone tablet, he said, spoke with a clear voice.
Introverted and dedicated to their elaborate ceremonialism, they were a people which inhabited life for the purpose of ritual—ritualism so profound, however, that even the Navajos respected its power.
*
In the beginning there was endless time and space, and Tawa the creator, contemplated it, and decided he wanted it filled with joyful sounds and joyful movements. So he created Sotuknang in his image, who upon waking, asked, “Who am I, and why am I here?”
“You are Sotuknang, my nephew, and I am Tawa, your uncle,” he tells him. “Within all this space, I’d like to hear joyful sounds and see joyful movements. You are here to create universes to carry out that plan.”
“OK,” replies Sotuknang, and he goes and creates nine universes, one for Tawa, one for himself, and seven others, all modeled after them, each with an axis around which all form and equilibrium manifest. Sotuknang asks how he did.
“Perfect,” replies Tawa. “Now I want you to create life.”
“OK,” and Sotuknang goes and creates the beautiful Mother Wuti. She awakes and asks, “Who am I, and why am I here?”
“You are Mother Wuti,” he replies, and shows her the nine universes. “Tawa our creator would like to hear joyful sounds and see joyful movements. You have been given the powers, wisdom, and love to bless all beings you create, this is why you are here.”
Following Sotuknang’s instructions, Mother Wuti mixes Earth with her spit, molds two beings, sings a song over them, and they come to life. “Who are we and why are we here?” the two ask.
“You are the Hoya Twins,” she replies, and shows them Earth. “You are here to support the Earth by maintaining balance at the poles to divide water from land so it can transmit the vibrations of joyful sounds and joyful movements.”
“OK,” replied the twins, and they cast a grid from pole to pole for vibrations to run across Earth’s surface. The Earth awoke with laughter, and the entire universe quivered in tune with joy.
The twins returned to Mother Wuti to ask how they did.
“Perfect,” replies Mother Wuti, whereupon she creates all animals and plants, again singing over them, bringing them to life. Next she molds four figures, from four different colors of Earth—Black, Red, Yellow, White—all in the image of Tawa and Sotuknang—then four more figures in her own image, making four pairs. Again she sings over them. She sings all the night and then in the purple light of dawn, the four pairs emerge, holding each other, their heads still soft and damp. She said the Sun would appear to dry our heads and make them hard. When we did not reply Mother Wuti noticed we could not speak, so she called to Sotuknang, who appeared and gave each of the four pairs their own language. Then Mother Wuti informed us, “Up in the sky is your father the Sun, the face and eyes of Tawa, through which he watches over us. She told us that all the land and all the waters make up Earth, our mother. We are all part of Tawa’s plan and our role is to create joyful sounds and joyful movements. With the ability to remember the past, examine the present, and imagine the future, we’re asked to honor the Sun and Earth by living respectfully with all life.
Soon we multiplied and spread across Earth, and despite our four languages, in the First World we could understand each other without speaking. For thousands of years, with the animals we lived together as one. Then came Lava Hoya, the Talker, who got us to focus on our differences rather than our similarities. We began to divide, both people from animals, and people from each other. As division became more widespread and fear and suspicions emerged, only a few from each of the four groups remembered the plan. Sotuknang appeared before them, telling them the world needed to be cleansed, and gave them signs to follow to a cave entrance. When they finally converged at it, Sotuknang appeared again and told everyone to go down to live with the ants. He then told the Hoya Twins to turn their backs while the Sun cleansed Earth with fire, which then brought forth the Second World. Not quite as beautiful as the first, but when ready, Sotuknang brought us up from below and again reminded us to honor the Sun and Earth and Tawa’s plan to live harmoniously. In the Second World we were shunned by the animals, and this made us sad, but we accepted it, and again multiplied and covered Earth, creating joyful sounds and making joyful movements.
After thousands of years, again the people began to focus on the differences and again suspicion appeared. Soon wars over resources and trade broke out when finally, again, Sotuknang appeared before the few people who still remembered the divine plan, and again sent them to live with the ants while he cleansed the Second World. This time he instructed the Hoya Twins to abandon their posts at the poles, for Earth to roll on axis, where the oceans washed across the land and cleansed it. Then Sotuknang summoned the Hoya Twins back to their posts and called us up from the underground and introduced us to the Third World.
Again we multiplied, even more than before, and soon we were living in cities and nations, and again, soon there was war. Earth brought the Third World to an end quickly, before it corrupted even the few humans left who still remembered the plan. Sotuknang had summoned Mother Wuti to gather them along the shore, and place them in a vessel along with all they would need to survive. This done, Sotuknang instructed the Hoya Twins to dislodge all ice at the poles, and throw it into the oceans. The Earth flooded and destroyed the warring nations of the Third World.
When the waters had calmed, Mother Wuti called us on deck, as we drifted across the waters. We asked if the land of the Fourth World was close and Mother Wuti informed us we still had a long journey ahead, and instructed us to trust our hearts, and sent us on alone, until finally, we encountered a vast land. Its shores were so high we couldn’t land, and some reminded the others to trust our hearts and follow them to a landing, which we did, and when we got ashore, Sotukning was there waiting for us. It was not as beautiful as the previous worlds, this new Fourth World, he told us; life here would be harder, with heat and cold, but the instructions were still the same—honor Sun and Earth by living respectfully and harmoniously. Before leaving us, he pointed inland, saying that somewhere over the horizon we would find a guardian with further instructions.
No comments:
Post a Comment