Hopi

The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation at the border of Arizona and California.

The 2010 U.S. census states that about 19,338 US citizens self-identify as being Hopi.

The Hopi language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan language family.

The primary meaning of the word ''Hopi'' is "behaving one, one who is mannered, civilized, peaceable, polite, who adheres to the Hopi Way." Some sources contrast this to other warring tribes that subsist on plunder. ''Hopi'' is a concept deeply rooted in the culture's religion, spirituality, and its view of morality and ethics. To be Hopi is to strive toward this concept, which involves a state of total reverence for all things, peace with these things, and life in accordance with the instructions of Maasaw, the Creator or Caretaker of Earth. The Hopi observe their religious ceremonies for the benefit of the entire world.

Hopi organize themselves into matrilineal clans. Children are born into the clan of their mother. Clans extend across all villages. Children are named by the women of the father's clan. After the child is introduced to the Sun, the women of the paternal clan gather, and name the child in honor of the father's clan. Children can be given over 40 names. The village members decide the common name. Current practice is to use a non-Hopi or English name or the parent's chosen Hopi name. A person may also change the name upon initiation to traditional religious societies, or a major life event.

The Hopi understand their land to be sacred and understand their role as caretakers of the land that they inherited from their ancestors. Agriculture is significant to their lifeways and economy. Precontact architecture reflects early Hopi society and perceptions of home and family. Many Hopi homes share traits of neighbor Pueblos. Early communal structures, especially Pueblo Great Houses, include living rooms, storage rooms, and religious sanctuaries, called kivas. Each of these rooms allowed for specific activities.

The Hopi encountered Spaniards in the 16th century, and are historically referred to as Pueblo people, because they lived in villages (''pueblos'' in the Spanish language). The Hopi are thought to be descended from the Ancestral Pueblo people (Hopi: ''Hisatsinom''), who constructed large apartment-house complexes and had an advanced culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. It is thought that Hopi people descend from those Ancestral Puebloan settlements along the Mogollon Rim of northern Arizona.

Hopi villages are now located atop mesas in northern Arizona. The Hopi originally settled near the foot of the mesas but in the course of the 17th century moved to the mesa tops for protection from the Utes, Apaches, and Spanish.

On December 16, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur passed an executive order creating an Indian reservation for the Hopi. It was smaller than the surrounding land that was annexed by the Navajo Reservation, which is the largest reservation in the country.

As of 2005 the Hopi Reservation is entirely surrounded by the much larger Navajo Reservation. As the result of land disputes from 1940 to 1970 or earlier, the two nations used to share the government designated ''Navajo–Hopi Joint Use Area'', but this continued to be a source of conflict. The partition of this area, commonly known as Big Mountain, by Acts of Congress in 1974 and 1996, but as of 2008 has also resulted in long-term controversy.

On October 24, 1936, the Hopi Tribe ratified its constitution, creating a unicameral government where all powers are vested in a Tribal Council. The powers of the executive branch (chairman and vice chairman) and judicial branch, are limited. The traditional powers and authority of the Hopi Villages were preserved in the 1936 Constitution. Provided by Wikipedia