Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to Hopi Land in Arizona and witness the Bean Dance, Powamuya. February is known as the purification month, which is a time when the people ready themselves to accept the spirits back into their lives. The Bean Dance is the culmination of the ceremonial sprouting of the beans and a call to prepare the people for the planting season. The Kachinas, or Katsina’s, are called to come and prepare the village.
As I stood on the roof of a stone house in the middle of the third mesa village, Hotevilla, I couldn’t help but be caught up in the mystery of the dance. I watched as 50 or so Katsinas emerged from the depths of one of the kivas and danced slowly and methodically through the passageways of the village. The pace was a very deliberate, slow, and mesmerizing pace. Each of the Katsinas were caricatures of different spirits dressed and acting the part of their characters. There were the spirits of Gods, priests, mortals, spirits of different elements such as storms and clouds, and the clowns. I noticed that some of the clown Katsinas were dressed in white man’s clothes (Bahanas) with peculiar (funny) masks. There is an element of awe and mystique in the dances. American Culture in general has lost a sense of mystery and symbolism and is the worst for it.
In many ways the Kiva is an entry point to learning mysteries for the Hopi. It is representative of the great spirit world that coexists with our own world (what we erroneously call the “real world”). The spirit world may be hidden from us, but it is more intimately experienced by the Hopis. And not exclusively by the Hopis but at one time by all native Americans. The kiva is a connection to the mystery of existence and creation. It is symbolic of a gateway, maybe even a veil for entry into the spirit world. The Kiva is underground because the first humans emerged from underground through a portal from a dimension that connects this world to a parallel world. To access the kiva you descend down a ladder through a hole in the roof; descending into the dark place to learn of things hidden from the world or to conduct the ceremonies that keep the chaotic forces at bay. One of the purposes of the kiva is create a sacred place where the keepers of the covenant and the initiates are taught the purpose and mission of the Hopi people. The Hopis believe that their ceremonies, dances and ordinances serve to keep the world in balance. I liken that to the idea that a few righteous people can prevent the destruction of an entire city while they are living in it.
At the culmination of the dance, young boys and girls about the age of 8 to 12 are brought down into the kiva by the Kachinas. They pass through the opening, down into the darkness of the kiva, and are exposed to a mystery. They have been taught their whole lives that mysterious things go on inside the kiva, but they must wait until they are initiated to participate. They don’t know what to expect. They are nervous and a little afraid of what is going to happen to them. You can see it in their faces as they are escorted to the kiva.
Before the dance we were invited to a feast with a Hopi family. We were welcomed as family and ate the traditional meal that included bean sprouts and bean soup. It was delicious. I found the Hopi people to be open and genuine. A little like children, but only in the sense that their was no awkwardness, no judgement, guile or defensiveness on their part. It was so refreshing to talk with them because they did not have the habit of sizing you up, or guarding their speech, which the white folks tend to do on meeting strangers. I could sense no guile whatsoever, they accept you as you are. Perhaps this attitude was unique with that family, but we did visit with several other families and I came away with the same impression. Nevertheless, the Hopi’s are a closed society with secrets that they keep to themselves. They have learned not to fully trust the bahana (Non native American) because they have been deceived so many times by them. It may have been that I was under the protection of a bahana brother who had been helping the Hopi people for 20 years, and because they trusted and honored him, they trusted me.
The Hopis are not an ideal society, they have their problems. They are poor, some living in stone pueblos that may have structural elements that are a thousand years old. Many roofs are in a state of disrepair and many do not have electricity, running water, or bathrooms. They have their family and clan squabbles, but I felt they were closer to being a Zion society than we Bahanas are. There is some desire for material acquisition, but not on the scale of the rampant possessiveness and exclusivity that plagues our American culture. Their lives are much simpler then ours, but in many ways, and in ways that count, they are a wiser and more prosperous society.
I have come to believe that the Hopi’s are one of many tribes in North America that are descended from a remnant group of believing Lehites. They are a unique tribe that has been protected because of the promises made to Lehi and Nephi, and I believe, because they remain apart from the American culture that has swamped most other tribes. There is a curious sermon that Moroni preserved of his Father given to a righteous gathering of saints. Curious to me because there appears to have been a righteous group living among the Nephites just before they were completely destroyed.
“And now I, Mormon, speak unto you, my beloved brethren; …I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter in to the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven.” (Moroni 7:2-3)
Mormon isn’t talking to the general population of Nephites who are degenerate, wicked, and unrepentant, as he describes his people. He is talking to a group of people that are a covenant people, who have accepted Christ and have received some spiritual assurances (hope) that they will enter into the rest of the Lord. What happened to these people when the Nephites were utterly destroyed?
I believe that these people were led off by the Lord into safety before the final conflict that resulted in the extinction of the Nephites. The Hopi myth teaches them that they are an ancient people who were guided by one of their spirit leaders or Gods (Masau’u) to leave a land devastated by war and conflict over 1500 years ago. They buried their weapons of war and traveled for 400 years until they came to the three mesas in Arizona over a thousand years ago. There they made a covenant to remain until the end of the current cycle of history we are in.
Masau’u (together with Spider Grandmother) gave them sets of stone tablets. Some of these tablets contain the title and deed to the Lands they were to inhabit and protect until Masau’u would return. There were strong instructions and serious warnings given and the people covenanted to keep the ceremonies and ordinances alive. The tablets are said to contain a description of the land in its entirety and delineate it’s dimensions all the way to the sea. There was a small tablet given to the Fire Clan which had a corner broken off and given to Pahan, the Elder White Brother who was to migrate toward the setting sun and wait there until he heard the cries of distress from the younger brother, or the Hopi themselves. He would come to their aid at the last moment and purify the land. He would prove his identity by fitting the two pieces of the tablet together. Pahaqna, is another name for the white brother. The name is associated with the plumed serpent Kukulkan of the Maya, and Quetzalcoatl of the Aztec. Some Hopi do not believe that Pahan is white, but Hopi.
The covenant that was given to the Hopi was that if they will keep the land pure, continue with the ceremonies and ordinances exactly and precisely as given to them they will ultimately be protected and will not be moved from their land. There are evidences that the American Southwest topography reveals a sacredness and specialness that corroborates the Hopi myth of a covenant land.
Randy Ripplinger has spent years investigating and researching the sacred nature of the Indian lands in the four corners region of the U.S. I listened to an astounding presentation on the uncanny connection that Hopi myth and legend has with the lands of the Southwest. The sacredness of the land is written in the geography of the land. Gary A. David writes in the Orion Zone, that the Hopi lands are a mirror of the stars and constellations in the sky. Of special importance is the Constellation Orion. The three mesas are precisely located and in an exact mirror image of the belt of Orion. Major ancient cities of the Anasazi located at Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly , and other sites correspond as an exact mirror image to the relative locations of the other stars of the constellation Orion.
Why Orion? What is so important about Orion? It is one of the most prominent constellations in the sky and represents the great spirit Masauu to the Hopis. He is the one who guided them on their migration, brought them to the Three Mesas, and made the covenant with them. Orion is the great God Osiris to the Egyptians, which is a corruption of the role of Christ. To the Babylonians Orion is the great hunter Nimrod, the founder of the city, who attempted to become god challenging the Almighty to a contest to determine who was the Savior of the earth. To the Hopi, Orion is a symbol that things in heaven are a map of things on the earth. As believers in the prophesies of Joseph Smith, we learn that all things testify of Christ, both on the earth and in the heavens (Moses 6:63). The lands of the Hopi attest to that truth. As it is in Heaven so it is on Earth. The stars and the constellations tell a story, there is no such thing as coincidence.
There is a lot more to this story, but if you are interested, Randy Ripplinger will be giving a 2 hour presentation on March 21st, 3 pm to 5 pm at the Hurricane, Utah Civic Center as part of the Doctrine of Christ Conference.
I also want to bring your attention to an effort to help the Hopis with some badly needed maintenance on their homes. Many Hopis are living in stone homes that were originally built a thousand years ago. Although many alterations have been made using modern materials, many of their homes are in badly need of repair. A team of volunteers is making preparations to return to the third mesa in April to replace one roof, repair 2 other roofs, replace a floor with tile, build a staircase, and other repairs. A GoFundMe project has been created to raise $10,000 for materials. Here is the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/hopi-help
If the Hopi’s are a remnant of Lehi, then they are part of what the Lord directed us to pay attention when He said, “Seek to recover the lost sheep remnant of this land and of Israel and no longer forsake them. Bring them unto me and teach them of my ways, to walk in them.” (Teachings and Commandments 158:11) This effort to help them with repairs is part of an ongoing effort to gain their trust, only with the motivation to befriend and help them.
Hopi mythology is really cool.
http://www.templestudy.com/2008/02/06/the-hopi-nakwach-the-symbol-of-brotherhood/
Hopi tradition supplements this account by relating that Tovar and his men were conducted to Oraibi. They were met by all the clan chiefs at Tawtoma, as prescribed by prophecy, where four lines of sacred meal were drawn. The Bear Clan leader stepped up to the barrier and extended his hand, palm up, to the leader of the white men. If he was indeed the true Pahána, the Hopis knew he would extend his own hand, palm down, and clasp the Bear Clan leader’s hand to form the nakwách, the ancient symbol of brotherhood. Tovar instead curtly commanded one of his men to drop a gift into the Bear chief’s hand, believing that the Indian wanted a present of some kind. Instantly all the Hopi chiefs knew that Pahána had forgotten the ancient agreement made between their peoples at the time of their separation. Nevertheless, the Spaniards were escorted up to Oraibi, fed and quartered, and the agreement explained to them. It was understood that when the two were finally reconciled, each would correct the other’s laws and faults; they would live side by side and share in common all the riches of the land and join their faiths in one religion that would establish the truth of life in a spirit of universal brotherhood. The Spaniards did not understand, and having found no gold, they soon departed
Hugh Nibley interpreted this story in his own way:
In 1540 when Pedro de Tovar came up to Bear Chief, who was standing to greet him on the rise at Old Oraibi, the chief reached out his hand to establish the visitor’s identity by offering him the sacred handclasp, the nachwach-was he really the promised White Brother? Naturally, the Spaniard, who had come looking for gold and nothing else, thought he was asking for money and placed a gold coin in his hand. Have you any signs or tokens? asked the chief. Yes, I have money, replied the visitor. From that moment the Hopis knew it was not the one they were looking for, and to this day they have never been converted to Christianity.