Aside from the generally glorious weather, one of the most enjoyable aspects of our little adventure here in Arizona has been the close contact with Indigenous peoples.

Navaho, Hopi, Pina, Pascua Yaqui, Pueblo of Zuni, AK-Chin, Havasupai, and many others are an almost daily contact. I’m sure many of you have never heard of most of these. They didn’t make the cut for John Wayne, the Lone Ranger, or F Troop TV shows. And, for the most part, we’ve tried to erase them literally and figuratively from history.

But that’s a topic for another day.

There are twenty-two federally recognized Indian Tribal entities in Arizona. Of course, one must understand the history behind how many are here and how many originated back East—another topic.

We attended the World Hoop Dance Championships at the Heard Museum in Phoenix several weeks ago. (I wrote about it here.) The Heard offers a great perspective on the Indigenous Culture and sponsors several exhibitions.  The most recent one was for native carvers of the Katsina dolls made by the Hopi people.

The dolls represent knowledge about Kachina and its influence on life.

A kachina (/kəˈtʃiːnə/; Hopi: katsina [kaˈtsʲina], plural katsinim [kaˈtsʲinim]) is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo people, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the United States. In the Pueblo cultures, kachina rites are practiced by the Hopi, Hopi-Tewa and Zuni peoples and certain Keresan tribes, as well as in most Pueblo tribes in New Mexico. (Wikipedia)

The level of artistry in these pieces, many of which are carved from a single piece of cottonwood, is amazing. But what I found most fascinating was the story behind every element within the piece.

We purchased one of the dolls, called TOH-TSA and the atist explained the story behind each mark. The story element that caught my eye was the squiggly lines representing how the HOPI plant their crops.  

Instead of planting in symmetric lines, they plant their crops in a random order with intersecting rows and both straight and curved furrows. They do this to confuse the clouds so they will remain over the crops longer and provide more rain. Being a desert, anything one can do to encourage more rain is helpful.

Whether or not the clouds become confused and provide the deluge necessary for successful crops is uncertain. But it does make for an interesting story.

Coming from Rhode Island, where we are surrounded by the legacy of the indigenous people who once flourished in the area, right up to the Pilgrim invasion, we often are oblivious to the stories. The names remain, Narragansett, Wampanoag, Quonochontaug if not the people who bestowed the name. The contact is much more limited there.

But here in Arizona one is surrounded by it and I, for one, have found it quite intriguing.