PJ 102
CHAPTER 11
GREAT HOPI NATION CRIES OUT FOR HELP
KEEPERS OF THE ANCIENT TRUTHS
7/15/94 Rick Martin
When a stranger comes to the village, feed him. Do not injure one another, because all beings deserve to live together without injury being done to them. When people are old and cannot work any more, do not turn them out to shift for themselves, but take care of them. Defend yourselves when an enemy comes to your village, but do not go out seeking war. The Hopis shall take this counseling and make it the Hopi Way [from the Palatkwapi story].
In the year 1994, the Hopi are calling for help. The reason? Their sacred lands are threatened by bulldozers poised to lay the groundwork for the water and power lines. Why are the Hopi so concerned about this? Because it will be the fulfillment of their ancient prophecies, and would bring forth the last of the prophecies--namely, the Great Purification. The Hopi land is a dry and difficult land to survive on, yet they have done so for hundreds of years. What differs now from times past? Their very water table which is absolutely critical to the survival of the tribe itself is being severely sucked dry by the powerful Peabody Coal Company. It has been stated that Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is looking into this entire matter and will soon be coming out with a decision. Based on the history of the United States of America thus far, who among you believe that any ruling or decision by the Secretary will be in any way favoring the Hopi tribe? This, particularly in light of recent actions to secure water rights across the country--it would appear, at least, that Babbit's directives and agenda are not in alignment with Native Americans, or even sovereign American Citizen, interests. What can possibly be done about this situation? For one thing, prayer. Yes, I said prayer. Then, there is the possibility of an honest attorney/advocate somewhere out there who might just take on a Peabody Coal Company on behalf of the Hopi, or independently. Restraining order? A Congressional investigation? Would a Gerry Spence do it? Someone else? Who? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
What we've elected to share with you is a compilation of material, including statements made by the Hopi Spiritual Leaders at a gathering held on April 21-23; a message to the United Nations presented by the Hopi Spiritual Leaders on November 22, 1993; an article concerning water lines on the Hopi land; an article from the DENVER POST concerning the water depletion on Hopi land; the creation story of THE FOURTH WORLD; and finally, the Hopi Prophecies as told by Dan Katchongya of the Sun Clan.
The Hopi Prophecies in this issue of CONTACT have been handled as a separate insert--it was a requirement of Dan Katchongva, when originally giving the oral prophecies, that they never be sold. We honor that request and, therefore, printed them as a free insert to the paper and will make them available at no cost for those who ask [one per request please]. The article on THE FOURTH WORLD is being reprinted with permission of the publisher, University of New Mexico Press and was taken from THE FOURTH WORLD OF THE HOPIS by Harold Courlander. While we certainly want to express our gratitude to Mr. Courlander, the true credit for THE FOURTH WORLD story rests with the Hopi elders who have kept the oral tradition alive from the beginning--thank you!
Sit back now and tune in to a world seldom experienced by those not of Native descent. Open your hearts and minds and feel the urgent plea of these people. And again, pray on their behalf--for all our relations.
* * *
May 9, 1994
My Dear Friends,
Recently I met with Grandfather Martin Gashweseoma who is a Keeper of the Prophecies for the Hopi Nation.
The People are in desperate need. It is part of prophecy that Mother Earth, represented by the ceremonial land in that area, will be mutilated and that if this occurs, it will precipitate a holocaust of unprecedented proportion, Mother Earth will shake us off her breast. It will be the end of the World as we know it.
Right now bulldozers are poised over Hopi Ceremonial lands to dig water and power lines across the land, which would be a terrible fulfillment of this prophecy. The elders do not want water or electric power. Their struggle has not been heard in the Federal circles.
I send you a copy of their plea for help, prayfully asking that you write, telephone or wire your voice speaking their message. This affects all of us and the next seven generations. One alone is a single voice in the wilderness, but together we can fulfill the other part of the prophecy:
"....that we may help one another, and to help bring about a better way of life."
Your support is essential. Please share this information with your friends and neighbors. Tell your local and national media. Thank you in advance for all your support.
FOR ALL OUR RELATIONS
/s/ Kathleen Koerner
* * *
AN URGENT CALL FROM THE VERY
EARLIEST AMERICANS
Please search your hearts, your talents and your resources to find what you can do.
Find ways you can contribute to this urgent call.
Organizational actions, liaison work, media awareness and
communication strategies are critically needed. Network
this communication to your networks.
Write to your leaders, your legislators, congressmen, and Senators now. Write to your president; the Department of the Interior, Secretary Bruce Babbitt; Attorney General Janet Reno, the Department of Justice. Tell them that you demand an immediate cessation of the disruption of Hopi sacred land and ancient spiritual practices.
Write to your Ambassadors and Human Rights Representatives to the United Nations. Tell them that you support the preservation of Hopi traditional sacred practices, lands, and ceremonies, and that you hold them accountable for following up on this action.
It is time to also contact your press and media contacts and tell them that this is the last opportunity to get this message out.
If the sacred lands are allowed to be disrupted, there will be no more chance to put things right. The bulldozers are on the land now, the workmen are ready to act.
In the name of the Creator, in the name of freedom of religion, in the name of our love for the Earth and for all our children, we must act now. Tomorrow is too late.
The United States Government must know that the world is watching, that we care about the spiritual practices of the Hopi Traditional Leaders.
Please send copies of your correspondence to:
Thomas Banyacya
P.O. Box 112
Kykotsmovi, Arizona, 86039
Manual Hoyungowa
P.O. Box 268
Kykotsmovi, Arizona, 86039
Wittenberg Center
for Alternative Resources
188 Wittenberg Road
Bearsville, New York 12409
We hope you will Join us--with
Commitment, Support and
Action--in this Vision
In Response to the Message from
Our Hopi Brothers and Sisters,
The Cry of the Mother Earth,
the Cries of our Grandchildren,
For all Our Relations
* * *
TO ALL SUPPORTERS OF THE HOPI TRADITIONAL ELDERS:
From those attending the meetings with Hopi Spiritual Leaders--April 21-23, 1994.
IT IS NOW THE TIME FOR ALL OF US TO COME FORWARD WITH OUR SUPPORT.
We are entering the last days. The Hopi Spiritual Leaders have spoken their urgent warnings and message to the United Nations and around the world, yet there has been no response. The sacred lands of the Hopi are being desecrated by water and power lines. The bulldozers are on the land. Soon the Hopi will be unable to conduct their ceremonies.
Listen to their words. Then respond. The leaders say it is our turn to act.
"The Government of the United States only recognizes the illegally elected tribal council. These are not our leaders, this is not our way. We must be left alone and allowed to follow our original instructions without the interference of Western ways. We must protect these sacred lands, these sacred ways. If these instructions are not followed, the Purification will begin. Already the signs of the days of Purification are beginning: For the sake of the Mother Earth and her children, for the sake of all your children and your children's children action is needed now."
"Hopi's Ancient Knowledge and Prophecies are warning, through many signs, that we have entered a dangerous period in our lives. Mankind must return to Peaceful ways, and halt the Destruction of the Mother Earth, or are we going to destroy ourselves. All the Stages of Hopi prophecy have come to pass, except for the last, the purification. The intensity of this purification will depend on how humanity collaborates with Creation.
"We must Correct and Change our ways, go back to the Spiritual ways, and take care of Mother Earth. If we do not, we are going to face terrible destruction by Nature, wars will come like powerful winds, bringing Purification or Destruction. The more we turn away from the Instructions of the Great Spirit, the more signs we see in the form of earthquakes, floods, drought, fires, tornadoes; along with wars and corruption.
"If we do not Correct and Change these things, we are all going to suffer; there is no way we will be able to help each other after this. The world problems, and the Destruction on Mother Earth will be so terrible, there may be nothing left on this Earth.
"We do not want to see this happen.
"We hope that by bringing these Warnings to the attention of the people of this land, and around the World, that we will understand the Seriousness of this moment, that we may be able to help one another, and to help bring about a better way of Life."
Hopi Traditional Leaders: including Dan Evehema, Martin Gashweseoma, Manuel Hoyangowa; assisted by spokesman [interpreter] Thomas Banyacya.
JOIN US IN ACTION TO SUPPORT THE
SPIRITUAL LEADERS OF THE HOPI NATION.
As Brothers and Sisters from the Four Directions, we share the Concern for the Healing of Mother Earth, and of all Her people. Visions, Prophecies, Warnings, Teachings of the Traditional Leaders from the Four Directions point to the Same Message, spoken in beautiful variations.
They all speak of the knowledge of these times; of the urgent need for each of us, as individuals, to search our hearts, to recognize and act upon our serious responsibility to protect Mother Earth. We need to heal, to awaken to the danger of these times. We need to take action and sacrifice to protect our Grandchildren and all living beings.
The Elders have had final signs from Mother Nature and from the Great Spirit, declaring this time to be our last and final chance to help one another, heal and work together. It is urgent and essential that we respond in every way we can.
* * *
HOPI JOURNEY
In Response to the Message
Presented by the Hopi Spiritual Leaders
at the House of Mica, the United Nations
November 22, 1993
MESSAGE SUMMARY
"Hopi's Ancient Knowledge and Prophecies are warning, through many signs, that we have entered a dangerous period in our lives. Mankind must return to Peaceful ways, and halt the Destruction of the Mother Earth, or we are going to destroy ourselves. All the Stages of Hopi prophecy have come to pass, except for the last, the purification. The intensity of this purification will depend on how humanity collaborates with Creation.
"We must Correct and Change our ways, go back to the Spiritual ways, and take care of Mother Earth. If we do not, we are going to face terrible destruction by Nature, wars will come like powerful winds, bringing Purification or Destruction. The more we turn away from the Instruction of the Great Spirit, the more signs we see in the form of earthquakes, floods, drought, fires, tornados; along with wars and corruption.
"If we do not Correct and Change these things, we are all going to suffer; there is no way we will be able to help each other after this. The World problems, and the Destruction on Mother Earth will be so terrible, there may be nothing left on this Earth. We do not want to see this happen.
"We hope that by bringing these Warnings to the attention of the people of this land, and around the World, that we will understand the Seriousness of this moment, that we may be able to help one another, and to help bring about a better way of Life.
"That is why we have come here, to this House of Mica, to tell you to do something, as soon as possible, to correct these things. This is the last World. If we destroy this World, which is like heaven, we will be given no other chance..
Let us consider this matter seriously, so that this world is not destroyed, so that we can continue to live and save this land and life for the Generations to come."
"Our Elders have the firm belief that as Human beings, as Brothers and Sisters coming together from the Four Directions, instead of fighting, using weapons, machinery and destroying one another, we should put this aside and talk to each other as we are today. We should share this Spiritual Knowledge we have from the Four Directions. Perhaps out of this we may bring back a good balanced Life.
"Representatives of the House of Mica, Members of various Organizations, our Brothers and Sisters from the four Directions who understand this: it is up to you to consider these matters seriously, and to follow this up with a serious investigation. We invite you to come to Hopi land on behalf of the highest religious leaders. If we work together, we can try to save as many lives as possible. That is why we are here today to give you our strong message. We give you four days, four weeks, four months to come to Hopi land and investigate these matters.
Compilation of Statements by Martin Gashweseoma, David
Monongye, Manuel Hoyangowa interpreted and translated by
Thomas Banyacya
* * *
HOPI MEETING OF SPIRITUAL LEADERS
FROM THE FOUR DIRECTIONS
To Discuss and Initiate Actions for
Global Healing of Mother Earth and
All of Her Children
Proposed by Algonquin Chief William Commanda, Holder
of the Wampum Belts
"For the first time, we have meetings from across the Four Corners of the Continent. We have the same Opinions, which we have had being so far apart... not knowing that when we met we would understand this, being just One Heart, One Mind, and One Understanding."
--Chief William Commanda, Algonquin Nation
"It was also said in the Past, that at some point the Four Powers will come together. The people who came here [the United Nations] seem to represent those Four Powerful Sources that come to us, and it came to us here, and we as Lakota, we say whenever they came together, the place is Holy."
--Birgil Kills Straight, Lakota Nation
"All of us, consistently, every Nation that spoke understood and prophesized about the degradation of the Earth, also the destruction of the Water, the destruction of the Air we breathe, the degradation of the Family, of communities falling apart, leadership being poor, and the Elements manifesting themselves in terms of floods and strong winds and earthquakes, that have been indeed, manifesting themselves."
--Chief Oren Lyons, Onodaga Nation
STATEMENT
As Brothers and Sisters from the Four Directions, we share the Concern for the Healing of Mother Earth, and of all Her people. Our Visions, Prophecies, Warnings, Teachings of our Elders point to the Same Message, spoken in beautiful variations.
They all speak of the knowledge of these times; of the urgent need for each of us, as individuals, to search our hearts, to recognize and act upon our serious responsibility to protect Mother Earth. We need to heal, to awaken to the danger of these times. We need to take action and sacrifice to protect our Grandchildren and all living beings.
We have had signs from Mother Nature and from the Great Spirit. Our Hopi Brothers and Sisters have had the final signs declaring this time to be our last and final chance to help one another, heal and work together. It is urgent and essential that we respond in every way we can.
We propose a Meeting of Spiritual Leaders from the Four Directions, at Hopiland. In accordance with the Hopi Spiritual Leaders' Call and Warnings, it is essential for an initial meeting to occur before the date of April 24, 1994.
The purpose of the Meeting is to join together with One Heart and One Mind, to initiate processes of Healing. We propose to create the opportunity to join together our Wisdoms, Knowledge and Prophecies, as parts of the Greater Vision of the Great Spirit. With humility in front of Creation, we hope to unfold deeper Directions. We wish to ask the Great Spirit to heal our hearts, and reveal the necessary pathways for the Healing of our Mother Earth.
This meeting we hope will initiate discussion, plans and actions that will include our Brothers and Sisters of all Races and Continents to save our Mother Earth and our Grandchildren. Beginning with healing our own Hearts; our hope lays in our coming together, to renew the Spiritual bonds that exist between us. To work again together, as the true Brothers and Sisters that we are.
INITIAL ELDERS' MEETING
We propose a small Meeting of Spiritual Elders from the Four Directions, to bring their Medicine together, to open Doorways for healing the people. This gathering would occur in response to the Hopi Call, in the time period before April 24, 1994, from approximately April 14 to 24.
The Meeting would focus on Healing, on Joining the Medicine Circle, on clearing the Hearts, on clearing the Vision, on joining Spiritual strength to find ways to lift the barriers destroying Life.
In this meeting, the Leaders will discuss Issues, envision and initiate Plans, join their Wisdom together and work ceremonially for Healing. It is hoped that new Pathways for Healing our Future will unfold.
MEETING OF GLOBAL SPIRITUAL LEADERS
The proposed Vision is that this meeting will Light a Fire of Healing that will expand into a larger Gathering of Spiritual Leaders from all Five Continents, along with concerned Members of Organizations and individuals working towards Peace and the Healing of Mother Earth. The Aim is to open Pathways, initiate Actions, activate Networks for Global Healing and Peace.
Through building liaisons with Spiritual and World Leaders, Healers, Organizations, and concerned peoples, we hope a wave of Interconnections and Healing Actions may develop that will envelop and encircle the Globe.
Leaders and People should come who are truly interested in Healing, who have the Vision of the Four Directions, Five Races of Mankind, Five Continents Uniting, Healing and Living in Peace.
This Vision of Healing the Heart of Mother Earth, at the Heart of the Earth in Hopi Land; for the Heart of the people to be Healed, we hope will instigate a wave of Awareness and Kindness, to Transform political and environmental destructiveness with true Peaceful methods.
ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIONS--Utilizing the Directives that unfold from the Elders' Meeting, a cohesive strategy and campaign will be initiated, for the larger conference development, for organizing and implementing solidarity and global interaction.
LIAISON NETWORK BUILDING--Linking actions between the Spiritual and Traditional Leaders, joining with Organizations working towards Global Healing and Planetary Reconciliation, including among many others: Moral Rearmament, InterFaith, United Nations nongovernmental bodies, and various Environmental and Peace Organizations around the World.
HEALING, PEACE, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION--Actions for joining Minds and Hearts Worldwide to implement plans for Global Protection. Building input and solidarity between various Organizations, Spiritual Leaders and Individuals, through meeting and interaction catalyses critically needed momentum towards Healing our Mother Earth.
COMMUNICATION and AWARENESS--Shifting and Building Global Public Consciousness Media and Communication strategies will be developed, including Television, Video, Music, Art, to build Awareness, synergistically increasing Actions towards Reconciliation and World Peace.
We hope you will Join us--with
Commitment, Support and
Action--in this Vision
In Response to the Message from
Our Hopi Brothers and Sisters,
the Cry of the Mother Earth,
and the Cries of our Grandchildren.
* * *
ANCIENT HOPI SPIRITUAL PRACTICES IN
DANGER OF BEING DESTROYED
Water Lines Threaten Hopi
The Traditional Ceremonial Ways of the Hopi Peoples, practiced for thousand of years on Ancient Hopi Lands, are gravely threatened. The Sacred Centers of the Hopi people are becoming permanently violated, destroying their linkage to the Spiritual worlds, making their Ceremonial Practices impossible to continue.
Within Hopi Ceremonial Tradition, direct connection with the Sacred energies held within their Land entrusted to them by Maasau'u, the Guardian of the Earth, is vital. The Spiritual Locations and Vortices within their Land are intricately woven into Hopi Ceremonial Practices and Traditions. Their Land is their Foundation; the Energies of the Land the basis of their entire Way of Life.
Currently, the Sacred Centers of Hopi Ceremonial Practices are being destroyed, threatened by the installation of water pipelines, bulldozing and eliminating the Spiritual areas essential to their ancient Traditional Ways. Seemingly simple, reasonable, and harmless in the minds of Western thinking, the installation of these water systems actually have very serious repurcussions. Endangering the entire Hopi Ceremonial Cycles threatens the very survival of the Hopi people. According to Hopi Prophecy, this reflects a grave threat to Human collective existence and planetary survival.
Hopi Traditional People have been courageously upholding their Traditional Practices in the face of overwhelming outside pressure from the dominant Modern Culture, and the United States Government. At the beginning of this World, the Hopi people agreed to follow the Spiritual Ways, to uphold the balance of the Planet, to uphold the forces of Nature. They were entrusted with Ceremonial cycles to uphold Life. According to Original Instructions given to them by Maasau'u, it is very important that the Land be maintained within Traditional Guidelines, in resistance to the flaws in Modern civilization.
Today, on Hopi Lands, the last remaining Village that still has these Connections intact, is the village of Hotevilla. Hotevilla was created, in 1906, by Traditionalists who desired to live their Original Lifestyle, free from the influences and effects of the encroaching white civilization. In a tragic split, the effects of which are still felt today, Hopi "Hostiles" who wished to continue their Traditional ways were evicted from the ancient village of Oraibi by "Friendlies", influenced by the attractions of the modern world.
Water, a crucial Sacred Energy, plays a critical role in the confrontation between Nature and Technology. One manifestation of the severity of this conflict to the Hopi is the impending water system at Hotevilla. If implanted, it will destroy the last remaining link of the Hopi Ceremonial Cycles with the Spiritual Forces in the Natural World. It will destroy the lifeline and base of the Hopi Traditional Culture. There is a serious conflict between the rights of Hopi Traditionalists, and those influenced by the benefits and ease of the modern lifestyle. The seeming insignificance of a water system precisely underscores the urgency of the situation, making it so difficult for modern people to comprehend its very serious implications.
A more obvious manifestation of Water in conflict on Hopi Land is the Black Mesa Coal slurry pipeline. Peabody Coal, a British company mining on Hopi and Navajo lands, currently transports coal to the Mojave power generating plant in Nevada by means of a water pipeline. The largest Coal mining operation on the planet: huge, giant excavators unearth vast areas of coal daily. Coal is powdered, mixed with water and transported two-hundred-seventy-three miles, in a slurry pipeline, utilizing water from what is called the N-Aquifer. This ancient aquifer is the sole source of water for both the Hopi and Navajo Nations. Affecting the delicate balance of the desert environment, springs and wells of the Hopi and Navajo have dried up. The slurryline drains over two thirds of the total usage of this ancient, forty-thousand-year-old source of pure water. Pumping billions of gallons per day, about four thousand acre-feet of water per year; within eighty years this source will be entirely depleted. This insane measure of untold consequences could be avoided for a comparatively minute increase in the price of coal. With simple measures, this desert environment could be protected.
Hopi Traditionalists have repeatedly and staunchly spoken out against these and many other abuses of Sacred Land and Life. Mining anywhere is against their ways. The Hopi were entrusted to protect a Sacred area of Land bordered by Four Mountains, this area being a spiritual Center of the Earth, never to be disturbed. Coal mining is only one example of the gross violations that have taken place on this Land; decades of Uranium mining, including huge amounts of untreated radioactive tailings and the largest nuclear waste spill in U.S. history, are another.
They call out to save their Nation from imposed genocide. Their opposition cites the need for progress as reason to justify destruction of the Hopi legacy. The mining is authorized by the illegally imposed United States Government Tribal Council system, designed to ‘legitimize' big business interests. This system was flagrantly forced upon the Sovereign Hopi Nation. Against the will of the Hopi people, environmental and human rights violations--the coal mining, the water slurryline, a policing system--have been repeatedly authorized by the Tribal Council. In what justice system does the will of an unauthorized collective have the authority to supercede and obliterate the rights of an ancient and sacred culture? Given by the Creator, Hopi jurisdiction has never been relinquished.
HOPI PROPHECY
According to Hopi Prophecy, the Future of our Planet rests on Mankind's ability to preserve and uphold the essential connection with the Natural worlds, with the Creator. In order to maintain the Balance of the World, it is essential for the Ceremonial processes to continue. Without this connection to the Natural and Spiritual Forces, Humanity's survival is at stake.
Today, this Knowledge is nearly lost, precipitating global environmental, social and political crises confronting the Modern world. We are seeing evidence that the warnings of Traditional People have been accurate, with the devastating effects of our civilization upon our environment, upon our social structure; in the powerful alienation of modern man, divorced from the natural world, divorced from the heart.
Hopi Prophecies have proven true with repeated accuracy and regularity. The First and Second World Wars, Hiroshima, nuclear technology, the United Nations, television, air travel, telephones; as well as clearly delineated stages within the conflict between Ancient and Modern ways are part of the precisely detailed Hopi Prophecy. Mankind is given choices, and warnings of possible and inevitable events in the Future.
The final Prophecy describes a powerful Purification that Mankind is approaching. Natural disasters and violent signs have confirmed that this dangerous time is now upon us. Unless we can change the pattern of global destruction, the Purification will be greatly accelerated, the cleansing will be devastating. This results in the Elders' great concern for the near future; not only for their people, but for all of humanity, for all of life.
In Indigenous Prophecy, Mankind is given two Paths. There are two faces the White Brother can wear. In Prophecy, we will have to choose between two Roads. We can join together with our original Brothers and Sisters, our Hearts connected with the Natural Worlds, and form a mighty Nation of Justice and Love. We can choose to continue to wear the other Face, completing the destruction our ancestors have tragically brought to this beautiful Land. The choice is up to us.
We need to make things right. We have been the contributing force behind the disintegration of Humanity's connection with the Natural World. It is our responsibility to protect this Land. Healing is urgently needed, healing within the Hopi, healing within us all.
In their efforts to maintain Hopi Ceremonial Reality and Traditional Lifestyle faithful to the instructions of Maasau'u, "Hostile" founders of Hotevilla were imprisoned in chain gangs, sentenced to years of hard labor at Alcatraz and elsewhere. Their homes were raided, their children abducted, taken by force to boarding schools in attempts to force integration into the dominant society. The Hopi have courageously resisted, defending their Traditional ways, working to protect the Natural World in the face of the indomitable influences of Modern civilization.
The results of this ongoing struggle have taken their toll. This conflict between opposing World views--the Ancient and Post-industiral--the Natural Forces, and Man-made Technological reality--is reaching its fullest height today. ‘Civilizing influences of Manifest Destiny' have taken effect. Forced educational systems have resulted in the younger Hopi generations, faced with the severely painful repercussions of following the Hopi lifestyle, becoming gradually disconnected from the Ancient ways. Influenced by the advantages of Modern conveniences, programmed like the rest of our civilization, the Ancient Ceremonial Cycle has been neglected, its significance overshadowed by the towering effects of the dominant culture. It is presently maintained by a few Elders and Hopi faithful to their Ways, who are struggling to prevent the genocide of their profoundly rich Culture, and to keep the World in Balance for all living things.
THE SACREDNESS OF WATER
Desert Aquifers Being Destroyed
Water, the Essence of Life, so precious in the Desert environment, is central in this confrontation between the Natural and Post-industrial Worlds. Maintaining the Balance of Water with the Earth is a cornerstone of the Hopi Ceremonial Systems. Hopi reality centers around the lifegiving Energy of Water for the sustenance of Life. Water is sacred, and respected.
Hopi Prophecy warns that disturbing this Balance has global consequences and severe repercussions. The near extinction of Ceremonial Ways and the survival of the Natural World are intimately connected. Danger to one parallels danger to the other. Modern technology's effects, threatening the global environment, are now manifesting in multilayered ways, resulting in the destruction of ancient Civilizations and species, resulting in droughts, weather changes, earthquakes and natural disasters.
Hopi Traditionalists call out to protect the Land and Life, to save the Spiritual linkage, which, according to Hopi prophecy, affects the entire reality of our Human existence.
ACTIONS
Solutions need to be found. Real actions need to be developed to protect the Sacred areas of Hopi Traditional Ceremonial Sites, including constructive alternatives of the Hopi people who wish to live with modern conveniences. Serious help is needed to protect Hopi Land and Culture, to create awareness and support for the Hopi Spiritual Ways to continue.
As history has proven, great changes, great events can come about; if we have Conviction, Courage, and take Action to create a positive future. Inspite of this desperately late hour, within Hopi prophecy, miracles can still happen. If we can wake up. We have yet one chance; let us heed the warnings, let us take advantage of it.
Let us form a Network, an Alliance to help these Traditional Leaders to protect our Land and Life. It is up to us to choose and join them with our hearts, with our energies, so that, like two wings of an eagle, we can work towards the Healing of all our Future. If we choose, we can create, in reality, one of the possible outcomes within Native American Prophecy--a World of renewal.
Let us recognize the
urgency of these times.
Let us Protect
the Ceremonial
Ways of the Hopi People.
* * *
"RUNNING ON EMPTY"
From the March 20, 1994 edition of The Denver Post an article title the "Running on Empty" by Joanne Ditmer Denver Post Staff writer [quoting]: Kykotsmovi, Ariz.-
HOPI STAND
The tribe's water experts contend that Peabody Coal Co.'s use of underground water coincides with a loss of springs on the reservation. Rex Morgan, water rights hydrologist for the Hopis, says rainfall has been higher than usual during the 24 years that Peabody has been pumping from the aquifer. Still, he said, springs and washes are declining.
PEABODY STAND
"Our tests--both the original and new--say that PCC pumping has no long-term impact on the water," says G. Irene Crawford, attorney for Peabody Western Coal Co. in Flagstaff, Ariz. "We believe that climatic conditions are affecting the surface water for the villages, while Peabody is pumping deep down."
The water that powers TV sets and lights living rooms in Southern California does something far more basic in the 12 rocky, remote villages where 10,000 Hopi Indians live.
It's the lifeline for the oldest continuously inhabited place in America--the hardscrabble reservation where the Hopis planted their roots more than 900 years ago.
Now the tribe says its very existence is threatened unless the U.S. Government checks Peabody Coal Co., the corporate giant that taps into the Hopis' water supply. Peabody, the world's largest producer of coal, shares the Hopis' naturally pure water, which comes from the Navajo-Aquifer 3,000 feet below the Earth's surface.
For the Hopis, dry-land farmers here since about 1150, this water is all they have for their homes, gardens and animals. Their land on the Black Mesa receives 6 to 12 inches of rain a year. But with no dams to capture that water, the tribe needs the aquifer to survive.
For Peabody, a business partner of the Hopis and Navajos for more than a quarter-century, the water also has a critical purpose. It is mixed with finely powdered coal to make slurry that is piped from Black Mesa Mine to the Mohave Generating Plant 273 miles away on the Nevada-California border. There, electricity is generated for customers in Southern California.
Last year Peabody pumped more than 1 billion gallons of aquifer water to move 4 1/2 million tons of coal through the pipeline.
The Hopis say that when they and the Navajo Nation signed a joint agreement with Peabody 29 years ago, they did not realize how much and how rapidly the water supply would be depleted. Ancient springs and streams have begun drying up.
D.B. Stephens and Associates, an environmental engineering firm based in Albuquerque, projects that Hopi wells will start going dry within the next 20 years if nothing changes. In Tuba City, this could happen by 2011, the consulting company said. Moenkopi Wash could be without water in 2045, and Kayenta in 2075.
The tribe is alarmed, angry and intent on stopping the coal firm from using the aquifer.
Peabody executives say their pumping does not affect the Hopis' water table because the aquifer is far below the tribe's wells.
Their conflict is in the hands of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who's heard much about the issue but perhaps nothing more succinct than the word of Merrill Secakuku, new chairman of the Hopi tribe.
"This must be the only place in the world." Secakuku said, "that pristine drinking water is used for industrial purposes in a land so dry."
The Hopis want the Interior Department, which has responsibility for looking out for Native American tribes, to block renewal of a permit that would give Peabody continued use of water from the aquifer.
Babbitt is to make a decision soon.
If the tribe gets its way, the federal government will order Peabody to find an alternative water source. The Hopis suggest one option is building an 89-mile pipeline from Lake Powell, where the Hopis also claim a water right. The estimated construction cost to the company would be $30 million to $40 million. In turn, the cost increase for average residential electrical users in California would be 1 to 6 cents a month. A small price, tribal leaders say, to protect a people and a way of life.
Hopi officials point to a clause a previous interior secretary inserted in the Peabody lease as the basis for forcing the company to find a new water supply. It states that if any other users of the water are damaged, Peabody must provide water for Indians or find another source for its business operations.
To help encourage the ruling they covet, the Hopis--normally averse to publicity--have invited national media to visit their reservation. They want outsiders to see the evidence of drought and perhaps, to capture the image of 10,000 stalwart people fighting for survival against a multibillion-dollar corporation. To make their case with the government, the Hopis have enlisted a cadre of big-city attorneys, the Denver office of Arnold & Porter.
The story line being pushed by the Hopis is too pat for Peabody Coal. Headquartered in St. Louis, Peabody doesn't argue that it's big business, the offspring of Hanson PLC, a British-American industrial management corporation with annual revenues of $15 billion.
Still, said G. Irene Crawford, an attorney for Peabody in Flagstaff, Ariz., it's frustrating to be portrayed again and again as a corporate bully taking advantage of a relative handful of Indians, many of whom live in poverty. "Most reporters already have written their stories when they finally call us," she said.
Peabody, feeling political pressure but confident in its position that it isn't adversely affecting the Hopis' water supply, recently completed a new round of hydrological studies. The results were shipped to Babbitt on March 1.
"Our tests--both the original and new--say that PCC pumping has no long-term impact on the water," Crawford said. "We believe that climatic conditions are affecting the surface water for the villages while Peabody is pumping deep down."
Nonetheless, the company this month showed its first sign of bending.
In a surprise announcement March 7 the Navajo Nation, a neighbor of the Hopis, said it is considering building a water pipeline from Lake Powell to Black Mesa, and that Peabody had begun a feasibility study. Secakuku, the Hopi chairman, hailed the announcement as a "productive and progressive step towards solving one of the greatest problems facing both tribes--the protection of our water resources."
But neither Peabody nor the Navajos can guarantee that the Lake Powell project will materialize.
When Peabody's Black Mesa mining project began 24 years ago, no one thought the Hopis water supply was in danger. A U.S. Geologic survey computer model of Black Mesa groundwater predicted that water pumped from the tribes' aquifer by the company would be replenished naturally.
After seeing their streams and springs drying up, the Hopis began to question that premise. Late last year the U.S. Government acknowledged that the computer model used to make the original decisions on water allocations was too crude to be dependable. "I have reservations about the validity of predictions made," wrote William D. Nichols, of the water resources division of the Interior Department.
The aquifer sits beneath both the 1.5-million-acre Hopi Reservation and the encircling Navajo Nation of 16.2 million acres. Peabody signed a contract with both tribes in 1966.
Coal mining began four years later at Black Mesa, where the slurry system is used, and neighboring Kayenta, which delivers coal by rail. Peabody's 6,500-acre mine is the largest in the United States.
The Navajo Nation, physically larger than West Virginia and boasting a population of 161,405, is not as threatened by the water depletion as the Hopis. The Navajos occupy parts of three states, and their reservation has access to water from the Colorado, Little Colorado and San Juan Rivers.
And in the dusty lands where the Navajos live, Peabody is a welcome source of jobs. The company is the nation's biggest employer of Native Americans, giving them preferential treatment in hiring. Of the 900 Indian workers at the Peabody coal mines, perhaps 885 are Navajos whose communities are closest by. A mere 15 or so of the jobs are held by Hopis.
Other gaps separate the tribes. the Hopis and Navajos have engaged in a 111-year land dispute. Water is sometimes viewed as a pawn in this conflict.
The Navajos' official position has been that Peabody isn't hurting tribal water supplies. Now, however, the Navajos have expressed interest in the alternative Lake Powell pipeline, which could be a substantial moneymaker for the tribe.
Vernon Masayesva, Hopi chairman until February, says Navajo perceptions don't lessen his worries about the Hopis' ability to survive. "Without water we die. Our culture is shaped by water....Even the games we play as little kids, we always pray for rain. My father, when he plants the corn seeds, he goes through the whole ritual of denying himself water until after lunch. He sings and prays when he plants.
"We certainly don't want to close the mine, but we can't lose our water."
The tribe's water experts contend that Peabody's use of the underground water supply coincides with a loss of springs on the reservation.
Rex Morgan, water rights hydrologist for the Hopis, said rainfall has been higher than usual during the 24 years that Peabody has been pumping water from the aquifer. Still, he said, springs and washes are declining.
"We had 500 to 600 percent of annual rainfall in January-February ‘93, the wettest month in years....There should have been greater springs activity and higher water levels, but instead they continued to drop."
Crawford, the Peabody attorney, knows the Hopis generally are portrayed as the underdog in this dispute, regardless of the company's research.
"Factually we think we're right," she said. "But from a business standpoint, it gets very tiring to always be on the defensive. We're all spending a lot of time and money on this, and since we do have a business relation with the Navajo and the Hopi we want to cooperate in an approach that isn't adversarial and that will be more constructive for all of us."
Peabody executives were among the guests at ceremonies last week in which the new Hopi chairman was installed. Moreover, everyone on both sides knows the company fuels the Hopis' economy.
Eighty percent of the tribe's budget comes from Peabody royalties, so the attorneys fighting the company are being paid, in part, with dollars supplied by their adversary.
Last year Peabody paid the Hopi and the Navajo $8.8 million each in coal revenues from jointly controlled lands. Antoerh $15.6 million went to the Navajos for coal derived solely from that tribe's land. Water royalties of $3.2 million were split equally.
Domestic water use for the Hopi and Navajo tribes is estimated at only 27 gallons per person per day. Non-Indian communities in the United States use 200 gallons per person daily. As the tribes' populations grow and their standard of living improves, steady or dramatic increases in water use probably will occur.
"If the tribes run out of water, we're looking at the relocation of up to 100,000 Indians in the next century, at a cost of billions of dollars to the taxpayer," said hydrologist Morgan.
Hopi chairman Secakuku said this parched, barren piece of the West is home, and he hopes that won't change.
"We don't want to be relocated from here. We go away to school, maybe to work, but we always come back here. Our destination is to take this world, protect it, take it into the future.
"We have a covenant with the Creator to do that. Our choice is predestined...to protect water and Earth. That's the Hopi way."
Vice chairman Wayne Taylor adds, "The Hopi didn't settle in this place by accident. Our ancestors left footprints to where we have traveled. Beautiful places like Flagstaff, with forests, water, animals (were in reach), but we settled here. We didn't want people to have too easy a life."
"MOISTURE IS CRUCIAL TO ARID PLATEAU"
The following article, written by Joanne Ditmer, is taken from from the March 20, 1994 edition of The Denver Post :
MISHONGNOVI, Ariz.--The 20th century evaporates on a drive through a Hopi village...perched on a plateau.
Stone houses lean out to the narrow rocky lane that is the road. Fat pups lazily watch the car bump by. A woman rhythmically tosses blue corn from a shallow basket into the air to winnow it of chaff and dirt.
The world spreads out below. A vast plain of dull greens, grays and browns melts into the horizon, along with a touch of distant gold from winter grasses. Tiny plots of turned soil dot the landscape, marking where subsistence farms thrive in summer. The sense of seeing forever is overwhelming.
Nat Nutongia savors the panorama.
"It's Big Sky--lots of emptiness here. But it's ours, and we don't want to leave."
The future, he says, is only as secure as the tribe's water supply. Hopi leaders say both are tenuous these days. A coal company is tapping the tribe's aquifer, and Hopis contend the result has been shriveling springs and streams.
Several Hopi villages, by their own choice, have no running water or electricity. A few have water only from bright-red faucets that sprout from unpaved streets. Some springs are on the mountainside. Bare little stone houses are on the mountaintop. That means lots of water-toting by young and old.
Villages are named for nearby springs, many of which are sacred. Water--often doled a dipper at a time from buckets carried from the springs--grows corn, squash, beans, melons, radishes and lettuce in tiny plots that have sustained families for centuries.
On a sunny winter morning Jerry Lacapa, of the Corn and Water Clan from Polacca on First Mesa, leads the way across a gold-and-red stubbled desert hillside to a rectangular stone structure dug into the Earth. Steps carry him to a small, fetid puddle called Spider Spring.
"The water used to be more than halfway up, and it was blue, so clean you could see to the bottom. The people had gardens down there," he said, waving at a shallow sagebrush covered incline. Now it's drying up. "Now they say, ‘Basha's got my garden growing,' and that's wrong," Basha's is an Arizona grocery chain.
Saba Spring is the same dry story. Lamave Spring used to fill up even in winter. Now it is more a puddle than a spring, but it sustains a nearby garden, says guide and religious leader LaVern Siweumptewa.
The village of Moenkopi sits by languid Moenkopi Wash. Residents say the land has been farmed since at least 1540, for many years growing cotton. Once this was the only village in which Hopi children knew how to swim, because the wash held so much water. It ran year-round. Now it dries out in the summer, says Russel Gascoma, surveying his dormant plot in the communal garden. Hopis have to be on a list to get irrigation water. Those who volunteer one day in the spring to clean the ditch get first chance at the water.
A village spring runs by the road on the way out. A motorist parks alongside it. The car trunk is open, and the driver is filling a 5-gallon plastic can with water to take home. He has five in the car, and is filling the last can.
"Some people say we're getting lots of money for our water from the coal company, but we can't drink money." he says.
CHAPTER 12
THE FOUR WORLDS
[Editor's note: The following excerpt is quoted from The Fourth World of the Hopis, The epic story of the Hopi Indians as preserved in their legends and traditions, by Harold Courlander, p. 17-33]
IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS ONLY TOKPELLA, Endless Space. Nothing stirred because there were no winds, no shadows fell because there was no light, and all was still. Only Tawa, the Sun Spirit, existed, along with some lesser gods. Tawa contemplated on the universe of space without objects or life, and he regretted that it was so barren. He gathered the elements of Endless Space and put some of his own substance into them, and in this way he created the First World. There were no people then, merely insect-like creatures who lived in a dark cave deep in the earth. For a long while Tawa watched them. He was deeply disappointed. He thought, "What I created is imperfect. These creatures do not understand the meaning of life."
So Tawa called his messenger, Gogyeng Sowuhti, Spider Grandmother, and told her to go down and prepare the living creatures for a change. Spider Grandmother went down. She spoke to the insect creatures, saying, "Tawa, the Sun Spirit who made you, is unhappy because you do not understand the meaning of life. He says: ‘The creatures are fighting among themselves. They see but they do not comprehend. Therefore I will change things. I will make a new world, and I will perfect all things that have life in them.' This is the message Tawa asked me to bring. Therefore, prepare to leave this place to enter the Second World." The creatures said, "If that is the way it must be, very well, let us depart from here."
Spider Grandmother led them on their journey, taking them to another great cave that lay far above the first one. The journey was long, and between the time they began and the time they finished, Tawa changed them into other forms of living things. When at last they emerged into the Second World they looked quite different. They were animals that somewhat resembled dogs, coyotes and bears. There was fur on their bodies, their fingers were webbed, and they had tails. They lived on in the Second World and were happy at first. But because they did not have any understanding they grew bitter and warred upon one another, even eating one another. Tawa saw how the creatures of his Second World were living. He saw that they did not grasp the meaning of life. And so again he sent Spider Grandmother to lead then on another journey.
While they travelled, Tawa created the Third World. He made the atmosphere a little lighter and gave them water to moisten their fields. When the creatures followed Spider Grandmother into the Third World they discovered that their bodies had changed again. Their fur, their webbed fingers and their tails had disappeared. Spider Grandmother said to them: "Now you are no longer merely creatures. You are people. Tawa has given you this place so that you may live in harmony and forget all evil. Do not injure one another. Remember that Tawa created you out of Endless Space, and try to understand the meaning of things." Then Spider Grandmother left them.
The people made their villages. They planted corn. They lived on. They were in harmony, and they were grateful to the Sun Spirit who had created then and given them a new world to live in. Yet things were not perfect. There was a chill in the air, and the light was only a grayness. Spider Grandmother came and taught people how to weave blankets and cloth to keep their bodies warm. She taught the women how to make pots out of clay so that they could store water and food. But the pots could not be baked and they broke easily. And the corn did not grow very well because warmth was lacking.
Then one day a hummingbird came to where some people were working in their fields. The people asked, "Why are you here?"
The hummingbird answered, "I have been sent by my master."
They said, "Who is your master?"
The bird replied, "He is Masauwu, Ruler of the Upper World, Caretaker of the Place of the Dead and the Owner of Fire. He has observed how you live here, and he says, ‘The crops do not grow well because the people do not have warmth.'"
The people said, "Yes, it is true. Warmth is lacking."
The hummingbird said, "I have been sent to teach you the secret of warmth." And he gave them the secret, showing them how to create fire with a fire drill. After that he departed.
Now that the people had the knowledge of fire, they gathered grass and wood and made fires around their fields, and the warmth made their corn grow. But once they became careless and the fire spread to a nearby house and consumed it, including everything that was inside. When the ashes were cool the people found that their clay pots had become hard and did not break so easily. Thus they learned the secret of baking pottery. From this time on, the people began to cook their meat instead of eating it raw. Those who had received the secret of fire from Masauwu's messenger became known as the Firewood or Fire People. They said, "Masauwu is our relative." Now things were better in the Third World.
It was the powakas, or sorcerers, who brought disruption and conflict among the people. They made medicine to injure those whom they envied or disliked. Worse yet, they turned the people's minds away from virtuous things. The younger people grew disrespectful of the older. Husbands sought other women, and wives sought other men. Instead of caring for their fields, men spent their time in the kivas gambling. And instead of grinding corn, women went into the kivas to join the men. Children wandered about unclean and uncared for, and babies cried for milk. What a man wanted he would take from another instead of fashioning it for himself. Dissension spread everywhere. Instead of seeking to understand the meaning of life, many began to believe that they had created themselves.
In the beginning, life in the Third World had been good. But because people succumbed to the evil unleashed by the powakas, things began to change. The cornstalks in the fields withered before the ears were formed. The flowing rivers moved more sluggishly and the springs dried up. Clouds drifted over the fields but did not release their rain. Squash and melon vines stopped growing, and sickness came into many houses.
Now, those who had not forgotten that Tawa was their father worried greatly about the way things were going. Night after night they met in the kivas to discuss the corruption that was spreading in the Third World. They encouraged the lazy to work, admonished women for their promiscuous ways, threatened the powakas with punishment and sought to create order, yet nothing changed. There was evil and chaos all around them.
Tawa saw what was happening to the world had made. He called Gogyeng Sowuhti, Spider Grandmother, and sent her to the people with a message. Spider Grandmother went down. She entered a kiva where the people were gathered, She said: "Tawa, the Sun Spirit, is displeased with what he has created. The powakas have made you forget what you should have remembered. Therefore all people of good heart should go away from this place and leave the evil ones behind."
The people said to one another, "Where can we go? Is there another place?" But they did not know of another place anywhere, and they were troubled.
Then an old man said, "Have we not heard footsteps in the sky, as though someone is walking there?"
And other old men replied, "Yes, there has been someone walking above us up there. We have heard it many times when the air is still."
Other people said, "Let us discover what is there. Let us send a messenger to investigate things."
So the chiefs called for the medicine men to sit with them and consider things. They filled a pipe with tobacco and lighted it. They smoked, passing the pipe from one to another until their minds were tranquil. Then one of the chiefs said, "We must send someone to the place above the sky to see what it is like. If it is good, our messenger will request permission for us to come there. But who can make such a difficult journey?"
The medicine men pondered, and after a while one of them said, "We shall create a messenger who can perform this task." The medicine men gathered some clay and shaped a bird out of it. The placed a kwatskiavu cloth, which is the robe made for brides, on the ground and placed the clay bird on it. They covered the clay bird with an ova cloth. They sat in a circle holding the edges of the upper cloth, singing and moving it gently up and down. They placed their hands underneath, doing what no one could see. When at last they removed the cloth there was a living swallow sitting there.
The swallow asked, "Why have you called me?"
The chiefs answered, "We have called you so that you may go up to discover whether there is another world above the sky. If you find someone living in that place, ask if we may come there and begin our lives again."
The swallow flew up. He circled higher and higher, until the people could no longer see him. His strength began to flow away, but still he went upward. At last he saw an opening in the sky. But he was too tired to go on, and he returned to the place where the chiefs and the medicine men were waiting. He fluttered weakly and settled on the ground. He said, "I went up. I found an opening in the sky. It was as though I were looking up through the entrance of a kiva. But my strength failed and so I had to return."
The medicine men decided to make a stronger bird. They began again, fashioning a figure our of clay and covering it with the cloth. They sang and made medicine, and this time when they removed the cloth a white dove sat there. The chiefs said, "How can the dove do what the swallow could not do?"
The medicine men answered, "It has great strength. Let it try."
The white dove spoke, saying, "Why am I here?"
The chiefs said, "We have called you to go above us to see what kind of a world is up there. Pass through the opening in the sky and tell us what lies beyond. If anyone inhabits that place, ask if we may come to find new homes for ourselves."
The dove went up and passed through the opening. He saw a vast land, but no living things, and he returned. He said, "It is true that there is an opening in the sky, and on the other side is a land that spreads in all directions, but I saw nothing that was alive."
The chiefs and the medicine men discussed the matter, recalling the sounds of footsteps in the sky. They said, "Surely someone lives in that place. We must know who he is."
Once more the medicine men fashioned a bird out of clay and brought it to life under the ova cloth. This time it was a hawk. The hawk also went up through the sky and explored the land above, but he returned without discovering what the people wanted to know.
The medicine men tried again, and this time they created a catbird. When the catbird asked, "Why am I here?" the chiefs replied, "You have been called because the swallow and the dove and the hawk have not been able to discover who it is that walks in the land above us. You, catbird, go up, discover who makes the sound of walking up there. Speak to him. Tell him the people of good heart wish to leave this place. Ask for his permission to enter his land. Go and return. Let us know how things are."
So the catbird flew up and passed through the opening in the sky. He passed the place where the hawk had turned back. He went on. He came to a place of sand and mesas. He saw large fires burning alongside gardens of squash, melons and corn. Beyond the gardens was a single house made of stone. A person was sitting there, his head down, sleeping. The catbird alighted nearby and waited. The person awoke and raised his head. His eyes were sunken in deeply, there was no hair on his head, and his face was seared by burns and encrusted with dried blood. Across the bridge of his nose and his cheekbones two black lines were painted. Around his neck were two heavy necklaces, one made of four strands of turquoise, the other of bones. The catbird recognized him. He was Masauwu, Spirit of Death, the Owner of Fire and Master of the Upper World, assigned to this place by Tawa because he had no other place for him.
Masauwu looked at the catbird, saying, "You, why are you here?"
The catbird said, "I was sent from down below to see whose footsteps are heard in the sky."
Masauwu said, "Yes, now you know that the footsteps are mine. Are you not afraid?"
"No," the catbird answered, "for I am only a bird fashioned out of clay just recently. I don't know enough yet to fear anything. I came because the Lower World is infested with evil, and there are many good people who would like to come here to live. Down below, the rain does not fall, the springs do not flow, the corn dries up in the fields, and there are numerous persons who do not respect the virtues of life. The people of good heart ask your permission to enter the Upper World and build their villages here."
Masauwu said, "You see how it is in this place. There is no light, only a grayness here. There is no warmth, and I must build fires to make my crops grow. But there is land and water. If the people wish to come, let them come."
The catbird left Masauwu and returned to the opening through which he had passed. He went down to where the chiefs and the medicine men were waiting. They asked him, "Did you arrive there and find the one who walks in the sky?"
The catbird answered, "Yes, I found the person who lives there. He is Masauwu, Spirit of Death, Owner of Fire and Master of the Upper World. His face is terrifying to see. But I spoke with him. He said: ‘You see how it is. There is no light here and no warmth. But there is plenty of land and water, so if the people want to come, let them come."
Hearing this, the chief of the Fire People spoke. He said, "Masauwu is our spirit. We are the ones to whom he sent the secret of fire. He is our relative. Therefore we are willing to go." Others said, "Yes, let all of us who wish to escape from evil go there. The Fire People can lead us and speak for us to Masauwu. Let us prepare for the journey."
It was agreed, then, but the chiefs and medicine men looked upward, saying, "How shall we ever reach the sipapuni [or sipapu], the doorway in the sky?"
While they were thinking about this problem, Gogyeng Sowuhti, Spider Grandmother, appeared in the plaza with her young grandsons, the warrior gods Pokanghoya and Polongahoya. She said, "We are here. We will help you pass through the sipapuni." She sent the young warrior gods to find chipmunk, the planter. Soon they returned bringing the chipmunk with them. Spider Grandmother said to the chipmunk, "It is you who have been chosen to make a path for the people into the sky. For this you will always be remembered." And she explained what had to be done.
The chipmunk planted a sunflower seed in the center of the plaza. By the power of singing the people made it grow. If they stopped to catch their breath, the sunflower stopped growing, and Spider Grandmother called out, "Sing! Sing!" As soon as they started to sing again, the sunflower continued growing. In time the sunflower stalk reached toward the sky, but just as it was about to pass through the sipapuni it bent over from the weight of its blossom.
Spider Grandmother said, "Let us try again," This time the chipmunk planted a spruce seed and gave the people a song to sing. They sang the spruce tree into the sky, but when it had finished growing it was not tall enough. So now the chipmunk planted a pine seed, and by the power of singing they made it grow tall. But the pine, also, failed to reach the sipapuni. Once more the chipmunk planted. This time it was a bamboo. The people sang hard and made the bamboo grow straight and tall. Each time they stopped to catch their breath and growing stopped and a joint formed on the bamboo stalk. And when they resumed singing the bamboo grew again. Spider Grandmother went back and forth exhorting the people to sing the bamboo into the sky. Thus it went on. The people began to fear that they did not have breath enough to do what was required of them. But finally Spider Grandmother called out, "It is done! The bamboo has passed through the sipapuni!"
The road to the Upper World was finished, and the people rested. Spider Grandmother spoke, telling of things to come. She said: "The journey will be long and difficult. When we reach the Upper World, that will be only a beginning. Things there are not like things here. You will discover new ways of doing things. During the journey you must try to discover the meaning of life and learn to distinguish good from evil. Tawa did not intend for you to live in the midst of chaos and dissension. Only those of good heart may depart from the Third World. The powakas and all who perform wicked deeds must stay behind. As we go up the bamboo to the Upper World, see that no one carries evil medicine in his belt. See that no powakas go with us. Leave your pots and grinding stones behind. Up above, you will make more of these things. Carry nothing that has to be held in your hands, for you will need your hands for climbing. When we have arrived in the Upper World I will tell you more about what is expected of you. Meanwhile, remember this: In the Upper World you must learn to be true humans." Then Spider Grandmother sent the people home to prepare for the journey, which would begin in four days.
The people prepared, and on the fourth day they gathered at the foot of the bamboo. The chiefs stood in front--the village chief, the crier chief, the singer chief and the war chief. Behind them the people stood waiting for the journey to begin. Spider Grandmother arrived with the boy warrior gods, Pokanghoya and Polongahoya. Pokanghoya, the elder, carried lightning arrows in his right hand and a thunderboard in his left. Polongahoya, the younger, carried a buckskin ball in his left hand, and in his right hand he held a nahoydadatsia playing stick. Spider Grandmother went up the bamboo first, followed by the boy warrior gods. The people moved toward the bamboo to begin their climb. But now the chief of the Fire People protested, saying, "Wait. We are the ones who are entitled to go first, for Masauwu is our special benefactor. We shall take the lead." The others deferred to the Fire People. After the Fire People began their ascent, whoever could get to the bamboo took his turn. The mockingbird fluttered around the bamboo, calling out, "Pashumayani! Pashumayani! Be careful! Be careful!" This is the way the people departed from the Lower World. They moved slowly upward, and in time the entire bamboo stalk was covered with human bodies.
As the first climbers emerged through the sipapuni and stepped into the Upper World, Yawpa the mockingbird stood at Spider Grandmother's side and sorted them out. "You shall be a Hope and speak the Hopi language," he said to one. "You shall be a Navajo and speak the Navajo language," he said to another. "You shall be an Apache and speak the Apache language," he said to a third. He assigned every person to a tribe and a language, and to each tribe he gave a direction to go in its migrations. He named the Paiutes, the Zunis, the Supais, the Pimas, the Utes, the Comanches, the Sioux, and the White Men. The people began to make camp near the sipapuni. There were a great many of them. The chiefs discussed things and said, "Surely all the people of good heart have now arrived," But more were still coming up. The chiefs said, "All those who chose to depart from evil are here. Therefore, let no more come through the sipapuni." The village chief went to the opening and called down, "You who are still climbing, turn and go back. It is because of you that we chose to leave and come to the Upper World. Do not follow us. You are not wanted here."
But the climbers persisted, saying that they also wanted to be in the Upper World. So the warrior gods, Pokanghoya and Polongahoya, grasped the bamboo stalk and pulled its roots from the ground. They shook it and those clinging to it fell back into the Lower World like seeds falling from ripe grass. The chiefs said, "Now we are secure from the evil ones. Let us make camp." The people camped near the sipapuni and rested.
Pokanghoya and Polongahoya looked around at the vast Upper World. Pokanghoya said, "Everything has a sameness. something needs to be done." Polongahoya answered, "Yes, see how it is out there. The ground is soft. It is nothing but mud." So they took their buckskin ball and their playing sticks and began to play nahoydadatsia, following the ball wherever it went, running all the time. Wherever their feet touched the soft earth it became hard. They gathered the mud into great mounds and turned them into mountains. Wherever they passed, grass, and trees came into being. They raced far to the north, and in an instant they created Tokonave, meaning Black Mountain, which in later times the White Men called Navajo Mountain. From there they ran far to the south, chasing their ball all the while, and created Neuvatikyao, which the White Men later named San Francisco Peaks. They went eastward then, making hills, mountains, and mesas everywhere. They arrived at Muyovi, which the White Men came to call the Rio Grande, and near where the Zunis now live they created salt beds, and they also made salt beds at other places. When at last they had done enough things of this kind they returned to the sipapuni.
Spider Grandmother asked them, "Where have you boys been?"
They said, "We have been playing. We have made the Upper World good to look at. See what we have done."
But the light in the Upper World was a grayness and it was not possible to see very far, so what they had done was not clearly visible.
Pokanghoya said, "We need light in this place."
Polongahoya said, "Yes, and we need warmth also."
Spider Grandmother agreed, saying "It is true, light and warmth are needed."
She assembled the chiefs and the medicine men. She said, "Let us do something now to bring light and warmth to this place." She told the people what to do. They brought out many things that they had carried from the Lower World. They took a piece of buckskin and cut it in the shape of a disk, which they then fastened over a large wooden ring. They painted it with white clay and speckled it with black. When they were finished, they laid the buckskin disk on a kwatskiavu cloth and sang, as Spider Grandmother instructed them. Four chiefs took hold of the kwatskiavu cloth at the corners, and with a fast movement they lifted it and sent the disk soaring into the sky. By the power of singing they kept it moving upward until it disappeared from sight. But after a while they saw a light on the eastern horizon, and the buckskin disk rose from beyond the edge of things and moved slowly overhead.
Now the people could see a little better, but it was not yet light enough, and the earth still was not warm enough to grow corn. Spider Grandmother said, "Let us try again." They made another disk in the same way, but it was larger, and this time they painted it with egg yolks and sprinkled it with golden-colored pollen. They painted a face on the golden disk in black and red, and all around its edges they fastened corn silk. They attached an abalone shell to the forehead, and their work was finished. As before, the disk was placed on the kwatskiavu cloth. Four strong men grasped the corners, and with a quick lifting motion they sent the disk sailing into the sky. The people sang the disk upward until it disappeared. But after a while there was a bright glow on the horizon in the east, and a moment later the disk appeared there, shining brightly land making the whole land visible. Now the people could see the mountains and the other things created by the boy warrior gods. The disk also cast warmth on the earth. The people were glad, for now they had a moon and a sun.
The sun moved across the sky toward the West, rays of light and warmth spreading out from its corn silk edges. When the sun went down over the horizon the light faded, but the moon arose about this time and so there was not total darkness while the sun slept. The people were tired from their efforts and they rested now, but they forgot to put away all the things they had brought out to make their two sky disks. In the still of the night, Coyote came prowling among these things, examining them and turning them over out of curiosity. He discovered nothing that was edible or in any way useful to him, and in irritation he took a handful of small objects and hurled them into the air. These objects soon began to sparkle in the sky. And so the people now had many stars as will as their sun and moon. Coyote also picked up the paintpots, whose colors had been used to decorate the sun and moon, and threw then in all directions. The paint splattered against the rocks and buttes, marking them with the colors they have had ever since. These things Coyote did, and the people acknowledged that Coyote was responsible.
At the end of four days the people were ready to leave the place of the sipapuni and begin the next stage of their journey. Then, suddenly, the son of the kikmongwi, or village chief, fell sick and died. They buried him not far from the sipapuni and put stones over his grave. The kikmongwi grieved. He said, "There must be a sorcerer among us." And he instructed the people to find the one with the evil heart who had killed his son. The people looked about them. They examined each other's faces. They looked for the small black spot on the end of the nose that would identify a sorcerer, but found nothing. The kikmongwi said, "Look closely to see if anyone brought medicine from below in his belt." But they could not find anyone with medicine in his belt. The kikmongwi said, "Nevertheless, we shall discover the one with the evil heart." He made a ball of cornmeal and threw it into the air, saying, "May the ball of meal fall on the evil one." It fell on the head of a young woman, the very last person who had come through the sipapuni. The chief said, "Ah, then it is you."
She said, "Yes, I am the one."
The people said, "Why have you come? For all the powakas were instructed to stay below."
She answered, "That is so. But I did not wish to stay there any more. I want to be in the Upper World."
The kikmongwi took hold of her to throw her back through the opening into the Lower World, but the woman said, "Wait, do not throw me back. Your son is not dead. He lives on."
The kikmongwi replied, "No, the spirit has gone from his body, which is buried under the stones."
The woman said, "Yes, his body is under the stones, but even so he is not truly dead, for he lives on down below."
The kikmongwi answered, "How can such a thing be? For his body is cold."
The women said, "Look through the sipapuni and see for yourself."
The kikmongwi looked down. He saw his son playing nahoydadatsia with other children in the village in the Lower World. He said, "Yes, I see that it is so. I see him there. My son lives on. Nevertheless there is no place in the Upper World for a powaka. You must return to the Lower World."
The woman pleaded, saying, "Let me stay here. Should things ever go badly I will use my powers to help the people."
There was a discussion. People argued about the matter. At last they decided. One of the old men said, "Let her stay in the Upper World. It is true that she a powaka. But she has already contaminated the place by her presence. Good and evil are everywhere. From the beginning to the end of time good and evil must struggle against each other. So let the woman stay. But she may not go with us. After we have gone on she may go wherever she wishes."
So that was the way it was settled.
The time was drawing near for the people to leave the sipapuni behind. Yawpa the mockingbird said, "There is something still to be done--the selection of the corn." The people gathered around while the mockingbird placed many ears of corn on the ground. One ear was yellow, one was white, one was red, one was gray, some were speckled, one was a stubby ear with blue kernels, and one was not quite corn but merely kwakwi grass with seeds at the top. The mockingbird said, "Each of these ears brings with it a way of life. The one who chooses the yellow ear will have a life full of enjoyment and prosperity, but his span of life will be small. The short ear with the blue kernels will bring a life full of work and hardship, but the years will be many." The mockingbird described the life that went with each ear, and then he told the people to choose. Even while he was talking the people were deciding. The leader of the Navajos reached out quickly and took the yellow ear that would bring a short life but much enjoyment and prosperity. The Sioux took the white corn. The Supais chose the ear speckled with yellow, the Comanches took the red, and the Utes took the flint corn. The leader of the Apaches, seeing only two kinds of corn remaining chose the longest. It was the kwakwi grass with the seeds on top. Only the Hopis had not chosen. The ear that was left was the stubby ear of blue corn. So the leader of the Hopis picked it up, saying, "We were slow in choosing. Therefore we must take the smallest ear of all. We shall have a life a hardship, but it will be a long-lasting life. Other tribes may perish, but we, the Hopis, will survive all adversities." Thus the Hopis became the people of the short blue corn.
Gogyeng Sowuhti, Spider Grandmother, said, "There is still one more thing to be done." She went to the sipapuni and covered it with water, so that it resembled an ordinary pond. To see it, one would not know it to be the place through which the people had emerged from the world below. Spider Grandmother said, "Here at the sipapuni the tribes will separate. We are ready to begin our journeys. When the sun rises tomorrow we shall leave."
The people slept, and when the next glow of the rising sun became visible the exodus began. Those who called themselves Paiutes, Apaches and Navajos departed, each taking the direction assigned to them by the mockingbird. Then the Zunis, the Supais, the Pimas, the Utes went out. There remained only the Bahanas, or White People, and the Hopis. As the Bahanas gathered their possessions and prepared to go, the leader of the Hopis saw that the sorceress was still there in the camp, He said to her, "Why do you remain here? Go somewhere, find your own way, for we intend to leave all evil behind."
The chief of the Bahanas said, "Let the powaka come with us. Even though she is evil she has great knowledge. We do not fear her. Her knowledge will be useful to the people." Then the Bahanas trailed out of the camping place and went toward the south, the powaka following them.
The leader of the Hopis said, "Because the powaka has gone with the Bahanas, they will grow strong. They will learn evil as well as good, and they will have secrets that are not known to us. Therefore, whenever we meet with the Bahanas let us listen with caution to what they say. Let us stand apart from their ways. However, it is said that in some distant time a certain Bahanas whose name is not yet known will arrive among us from the direction of the rising sun, bringing friendship, harmony and good fortune to our people. When the time comes, he will appear. Let us watch for him. Let the dead be buried with their faces toward the east so that they will meet him when he approaches."
One of the elders of the Fire People said, "When such a person arrives, how shall we know for certain that he is the one we are expecting? What if a powaka comes, saying, I am the one you are waiting for?' He will take advantage of us and abuse us. He will destroy our way of life and give us cruelty instead of harmony."
Thereupon he took a small flat piece of stone and carved a picture of a man on it. Around the figure he made designs. And when he had finished carving this tablet he broke it into two parts. The part containing the head of the figure he handed to the chief of the Fire People, saying, "Let the Bahanas carry this piece. Let them hold it in trust for the White Brother who will come to us."
So the chief of the Fire People sent the fragment of the stone tablet to the Bahanas, who were still moving slowly southward. The messenger gave it to the leader of the Bahanas, saying, "On a certain day, at a certain place, a Bahana whose name is not yet known will come to us from the east, bringing harmony and good fortune to the Hopis. We must be certain of his identity. When the special Bahana comes, let him bring this fragment of stone with him. We will match it with the other portion. If the two parts fit together and the broken tablet becomes whole again, then we will recognize him as the person we are expecting."
The leader of the Bahanas accepted the fragment of the stone tablet, and the messenger returned to the sipapuni, saying, "It is done."
Now, when the Fire People claimed the right to leave the Lower World first, the others had deferred to them. The migrations were about to begin, and the Hopis addressed themselves to the Fire People this way: "We are going to the place where our destiny awaits us. Because you are Masauwu's relatives, and because it is he who granted permission for us to come here, it is you who will take the lead and guide us. Direct us to do what is necessary and we shall follow."
But the Fire People did not accept. Their chief said, "No, we also are strangers here. If we take you to some place that is not good you will blame us. If the journey seems too long you will say, ‘The Fire People don't know what they are doing.' If we are attacked by enemies you will say, ‘The Fire People were careless. See what they have done to us.' If the corn dries up in the fields you will say that we are at fault. Therefore we don't care to lead. Choose whomever you wish for your leaders. We shall be responsible only for ourselves."
And so the Hopis selected other persons to lead them on the journey.
Gogyeng Sowuhti, Spider Grandmother, spoke. She said, "Remember the sipapuni, for you will not see it again. You will go on long migrations. You will build villages and abandon them for new migrations. Wherever you stop to rest, leave your marks on the rocks and cliffs so that others will know who was there before them. Tawa, the Sun Spirit will watch over you. Do not forget him. There are other gods here as well. There is Masauwu, the Spirit of Death, who sent fire to the Lower World. This is his land, and so people must always be in the presence of death. If you see Masauwu's face you will recognize him though you have never seen him before. If you see a flame of fire moving in the night, that is Masauwu's breath. Speak well of him but avoid him. If he touches you the breath of life will depart from your body and go down to Maski, the Land of the Dead, from which it can never return. There is also Muyingwa, the spirit who germinates and makes things fertile. When you see him you will recognize him, for his body is made entirely of maize. These is Huruing Wuhti, the Hard-Substances Woman who owns all shells, corals and metals. Also living here is Balolokong, the Great Water Serpent who controls the springs and brings rain. All such things you have to know. You will learn about the forces of nature in your travels. The stars, the sun, the clouds and fires in the night will show you which directions to take. But the short blue corn that you chose at the sipapuni also will be your guide. If you reach a certain place and your corn does not grow, or it grows and does not mature, you will know that you have gone too far. Return the way you have come, build another village and begin again. In time you will find the land that is meant for you. But never forget that you came from the Lower World for a purpose. When you build your kivas, place a small sipapuni there in the floor to remind you where you come from and what you are looking for. Compos songs to sing in your ceremonies that will remind you how the sun and moon were made, and how the people parted from one another. Only those who forget why they came to this world will lose their way. They will disappear in the wilderness and be forgotten."
* * *
I would ask that you keep something in mind. The Hopi elders, and the Hopis generally, are a very quiet and private people. They do not discuss tribal matters with others not of the tribe or clan--and they do not, as a rule, go "outside" for assistance. I am told that the Hopi, at this time, are at silence concerning many of the matters addressed in these articles. Additionally, there is concern about new-agers and false shaman-types coming to their land to perform various rituals, which only serve to distract and upset the balance of those natives living on the land.
If you feel you can genuinely assist in some manner, please do so with reverence, foresight, care, and a deep respect for the Hopi way of life. Also, pray on their behalf--for all our relations.
--Rick Martin
* * *
THE PALE PROPHET
The Hopi Snake Priest
THE SNAKE PRIEST of the Hopi stood near the edge of Ancient Walpai and, with folded arms, surveyed the desert below.
"Thank you for the Condor feather. You say you got it from the Great Zoo? For us it is a bird of legend."
"It is that for all the tribes of the American Indian people," I told him.
Behind him the old fortress upon the mesa top made a background for his figure, beautifully clothed in his native costume. His skin, light for that of many red-skinned people, was as innocent of hair as the cheek of a young child. That fact, with this beardless people, proved that he had no blood of White Man.
For a moment we continued to stand in silence. To speak too soon or abruptly would prove only that one had little breeding in the quiet ceremonious world of the Red Man. So I continued to stare at the ancient mud-brick city, already old when the Aztec monarch first heard of White Man's coming.
"You wrote to me in your letter that you wished to speak to me of the Pale God? Of those days now, few men remember."
"That I have learned. Yet I would put those days in a book for reading so that young Red Men will remember the Ancients, the heritage of all you people."
He sighed and glanced back at the Pueblo.
"Perhaps in your book you will write of my people; of their kindness, their old traditions, their peaceful ways and their love of beauty. We belong here on the desert."
"It is a wild land," I murmured.
"It is our land, and without it, life would not be worth living."
"Ah, yes. The desert has a strange fascination."
"It is easy out here to believe in the Fire God," he said, pushing back his long hair, raven-blue as the wing of a wild bird, and held from the eyes by a scarlet head-band. "Look at those mountainous shafts of red rock, torn and shattered and twisted upward. Here is a strange sort of soul-magic; a land of weird fascination."
"A never-never land of beauty?"
"I said it was easy to believe in the Fire God. See how he crushed and mauled the mountains? Then twisted them up.
"Even the water holes, cool and turquois, are not always filled with good water. You can tell by looking for the animal skeletons."
"And the heat-waves paint strange pictures for the thirsty? Yes, I too know the desert."
"You should not have come to us in summer. It is not the time to speak of the Ancients, but there are some hints that I can give you. It is well that you move among the Nations. Ask the High Priest in winter. Perhaps he will not turn his back upon you, if he believes that you are honest and do not come to make fun of these stories. And when you yourself walk the Broad Land, remember that He was here before you. Learn to see His sign when it is carved in the canyons. Learn to know His name when you hear it spoken.
"Above all remember that He loved this beauty; for it must have gripped His heart with talon fingers when, alone in the immensity, He watched the sunrise or the sunset. Remember this when the sun-god is painting, and you go forth to speak to the people of Tah-co-pah, the Healer.
"Speak of this when you talk to the people and they will open their hearts to you when they see that your path of life is not crooked, but open and filled with beauty. They will speak and send you away with a blessing: ‘May the Great Spririt walk with you down a life path of beauty even as I say it now in our ancient language: Lolomi, forever, Lolomi.
"Speak of this and you speak of the Prophet.
"Speak like this and you will hear of the Prophet."
[Editor's note: The Pale Prophet was that one known as Jesus/Esu/Immanuel/Jmmanuel. This story is reprinted from the book titled, AND HE WALKED THE AMERICAS, written by L. Taylor Hansen. We would like to thank Amherst Press, and particularly, Marjorie Palmer, for kindly granting permission to reprint.]
