Harry C. James - Pages from Hopi History

MUCH OF THE INFORMATION which I have included in this book came from old Hopi friends as we sat around countless campfires in Tusayan or on the edge of the Oraibi mesa at sunset time with the wide sweep of the Painted Desert below and the purple-black silhouette of the Mountains of the Kachinas against the far western horizon. Not until night was almost upon us and the skimming nighthawks pierced the silence with their shrill cries would our silence be broken. Then the stories would start and continue on and on until the wide arch of the sky would be powdered with stars.

Still more of their traditional history I learned while on walks with Tewaquaptewa of Old Oraibi into the Grand Canyon, and when we visited the Pacific Ocean, that mother of rains, where we scattered cornmeal and pollen upon the waves breaking over the wet sands.

More stories came from Hopi friends as we climbed together in the San Jacinto Mountains of California to gain views of and make prayers to that same mother of rains for good rains for all people. After dinner these friends would pull our big cottonwood log drum before the fireplace and our log cabin would echo with one Hopi song after another before our long talks began.

It was nearly always the desire of these Hopi friends that their names should not be used if I ever wrote and published the things they told me. To be singled out from the Hopi community is contrary to the Hopi way of life. With reluctance I have deferred to their wishes, but I am deeply indebted to all of them.

Among the many Hopi of a later generation to whom I am indebted are Hubert Honanie, Fred Kabotie, Jim Kewanytewa, Pierce Kewanytewa, Anthony and Poli Numkema, Peter Nuvamsa, Myron Polequaptewa, Willard Sakiestewa, and Don Talayestewa.

I have also profited very richly from long friendship with the late Frederick Webb Hodge, who knew and understood the American Indian as few, if any other, authorities have. He knew the Hopi well and was particularly devoted to them.

Charles Fletcher Lummis, Edward S. Curtis, Jesse Walter Fewkes, and more recently, Walter V. Woehlke all deceased were generous in sharing with me the benefit of their extensive knowledge of the Hopi.

Even with all the information I have obtained from these many friends and from the innumerable published sources mentioned in the text and the bibliography, this book would have been impossible without the encouragement and assistance of the Museum of Northern Arizona the late Harold S. Colton, its Founder and longtime President, Edward B. Danson, Director, Barton Wright, Curator, Katharine Bartlett, Curator of History and Librarian.

John G. Babbitt, Lynn R. Bailey, William Brandon, Glen Dawson, Charles Di Peso, Martha Dyck (daughter of H. R. Voth), Michael Harrison, Byron Harvey III, Barclay Kamb, Edwin McKee, Don Perceval, Carl Sharsmith, Edward H. Spicer, and Mischa Titiev all have been most considerate in answering my many inquiries.

Various officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in both Phoenix and Washington also have been most helpful. I must thank particularly T. W. Taylor, and William B. Benge of the Washington office, and David M. Brugge, Curator, Hubbell Trading Post, National Historic Site.

The following organizations have my gratitude for their prompt replies to my queries for information within their sphere of interest: The staff of the Banning, California, Public Library; Bethel College Historical Library (Mennonite), Board on Geographic Names, Department of the Interior; University of California Libraries at both Berkeley and Riverside; the Field Museum, Department of Anthropology; the Huntington Library; the National ArchivesGeneral Services Administration; the Riverside, California, City and County Library; the Smithsonian Institution Archives; the Southwest Museum; Ganado Presbyterian Mission; and the Presbyterian Historical Society.

Finally my deep appreciation for the patience and the excellent work of Director Marshall Townsend and the editorial staff of the University of Arizona Press. To them a sincere Kwa Kwa!

HARRY C. JAMES
(Honauwayma; Walking Bear)