English, Hopi, Tewa, Oh My!

 (Painting by Dan Namingha, a Hopi-Tewa artist, via cornell.edu)

Around these parts, the word "Hopi" is uttered thousands of times a day. We are all gearing up for the Hopi festival (and it's all very exciting!) and seeing a lot of wonderful art come in. Part of the Hopi festival, though, is another culture that many of you may not know about: the Tewa. Part of the Tewa tribe was relocated from their Rio Grande locations after the Pueblo Revolts (1680-96) and now lives in Hopi in the pueblo of Hano. Though, over the years, they have become quite integrated into Hopi culture (and there has been room for tons of exchange), they speak a different language (many are trilingual--speaking Hopi, Tewa, and English, but maintainging a strict separation of the languages).

There will be a strong Tewa presence at the 77th annual Hopi festival, and we thought that it would be useful for you guys to know about them. Here are a bunch of different links to give you more information on the intriguing Tewa culture.

1. This is the Tewa origin myth. The story of their creation dictates the order of their internal society. It's also a really interesting story on its own!
2. This is a general overview of the Tewa, including their regional concentrations and a brief history.
3. This is Edward S. Curtis's ethnography of the Arizona Tewa.  It is quite extensive, but also very intriguing and talks a lot about the secretive nature of the Tewa, and how many of their tales will be "buried with the last of its devotees" (Curtis). p.s... there are really great pictures of Tewa settlements in this one.
4. Here is a resource for the Tewa language, which many of the elders are making great efforts to preserve. 


I hope that, as you scan through all of the links, you find yourself as enthralled as all of us in the HP office are with the color, beauty and the richness of the Tewa culture. You can look forward to learning more and seeing their art at the Hopi Festival!

Happy Wednesday,

Love,
The Interns.