When the harvest is gathered, taken up the mesa, and put into the
granary, man's interest in it ceases, except in the matter of eating a
large share. Never was a Hopi who was not hungry. Much of the woman's
time is taken up in grinding corn and baking bread. The water-carrying
falls to her, and this duty might give rise to a suspicion that she
has the larger share of the burdens, if the Hopi were not compelled to
be frugal in the use of water. Besides the duties mentioned, she may
also add that of potter, basket maker, house builder, and sometimes
carver of dolls and maker of moccasins. Then the children must be
cared for, but everyone takes a hand at that, including the children
themselves. If it were not for the numerous ceremonies, woman's work
in Hopiland would be much easier. Grinding, baking, water-carrying,
and the bother and hurry of preparation for various events continue
with painful iteration. The Hopi housewife can give full condolence to
her white sister who has borne the burdens of a church festival, and
the plaint that "woman's work is never done" would sound familiar to
her ears. Still, rarely is she heard to bewail her lot, and it may be
depended on that no maidens bloom in idleness about her house.
But the men also follow crafts, and of these, carding, spinning,
dyeing, and weaving are exclusively man's work in contrast with the
Navaho, among whom such matters are woman's work. His also is the task
of wood-gathering, which takes him far afield, since there is hardly
a growing thing in the neighborhood worth collecting for fuel. Coal
there is in the ground in plenty, but the Hopi make less use of it
than did their ancestors, and the householder sets out from time to
time with a burro or two for the distant mesas, where the stunted
cedars grow, to lay in wood for cooking. Each year the cedars get
farther away, so that at some future time the Hopi may have to make
use of the neglected coal.
A Hopi is in a fair way to become a great man among his kin when he
owns horses and a wagon. In consequence of such wealth, he usually
shows his pride by the airs he assumes over his less fortunate
tribesmen, and justly, too, because hauling supplies for the schools
and traders brings in the silver dollars that replenish the larder
with white man's food. Ponies are cheap, and twenty can exist as well
as one on the semi-starvation of the desert, so a Hopi teamster often
takes along his whole herd when on a freighting trip, to make sure of
arriving at his journey's end, and a look at his horses will prove him
a wise man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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