Text (preliminary draft only -- absolutely no quotation)
Copyright © 2003 Hartman Lomawaima. All rights reserved
BUENOS DIAS, GOOD DAY, PAY ITAMUNGEM SONWAYTENI
THESE THREE PHRASES OR GREETINGS HAVE
APPROXIMATELY THE SAME MEANING BUT MAY VARY
GREATLY WITH REGARD TO: CONTEXT, WHO IS SPEAKING,
WHO IS THE AUDIENCE, AND IF THIS COMMUNICATION IS
RECORDED, WHO RECORDS OR DOCUMENTS IT.
THIS ISSUE OF VARIATION, UNDERSTANDING, TRANSCRIPTION,
TRANSLATION IS AT THE HEART OF A DOCUMENTARY
RESEARCH PROJECT THAT IS UNDERWAY AT THE ARIZONA
STATE MUSEUM.
BEFORE I CONTINUE, I WISH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE
FOLLOWING FOR THEIR GENEROUS SUPPORT AND
COOPERATION: NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS AND
RECORDS COMMISSION, THE AMERICAN DIVISION OF THE
JESUIT HISTORICAL INSTITUTE, THE HOPI TRIBE AND
CHAIRMAN WAYNE TAYLOR, JR. AND THE HOPI CULTURAL
PRESERVATION OFFICE DIRECTOR, LEIGH KUWANWISIWMA
AND STAFF, MY CO-PI ON THE PROJECT, TOM SHERIDAN,
AND OUR PROJECT STAFF
SINCE 1975, THE ARIZONA STATE MUSEUM HAS BEEN
COLLECTING AND MICROFILMING SPANISH COLONIAL
DOCUMENTS THAT DATE FROM THE EARLIEST
EXPLORATIONS INTO THE NORTHERN REACHES OF NEW
SPAIN TO THE TIME OF MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE. NEARLY
ONE MILLION PAGES OF DOCUMENTS ON MICROFILM FORM
THE DOCUMENTARY RELATIONS OF THE SOUTHWEST FILES
(DRSW). THE MUSEUM AND DRSW HAS PUBLISHED TWO
DOCUMENTARY HISTORIES: RARAMURI, A TARAHUMARA
COLONIAL CHRONICLE 1607-1791, BY SHERIDAN AND
NAYLOR. EMPIRE OF SAND, THE SERI INDIANS AND THE
STRUGGLE FOR SPANISH SONORA, 1645-1803, EDITED BY
SHERIDAN.
THE HOPI DOCUMENTARY PROJECT FOLLOWS A SIMILAR
METHODOLOGY AS THE TWO PREVIOUS WORKS--
TRANSLATING & TRANSCRIBING ARCHAIC SPANISH INTO
MODERN SPANISH; MODERN SPANISH INTO ENGLISH.
IN THIS PROJECT WE GO ONE STEP FURTHER, ENGLISH INTO
HOPI WITH COMMENTARY ABOUT THE TRANSLATED
DOCUMENTS BY HOPI COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
THIS EXTRA STEP IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A HOPI DICTIONARY AND SYLABARY
THAT TOOK NEARLY TWO DECADES TO COMPLETE. THE
DICTIONARY HAS MORE THAN 30,000 ENTRIES. SOME OF THE
PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS SCHOLARSHIP ARE ON THE
PANEL TODAY
THE HOPI DOCUMENTARY HISTORY PROJECT HAS ITS
BEGINNINGS IN 1541 WHEN CORONADO DISPATCHED DON
PEDRO DE TOVAR TO TUSAYAN, A PROVINCE OF SEVEN
PUEBLOS SIMILAR TO ONES VISITED IN THE PROVINCE OF
SUNI, OR ZUNI AS IT IS CALLED TODAY. TWENTY YEARS
LATER, PEDRO DE CASTANEDA DE NAJERA DOCUMENTED
THIS FIRST WINTERTIME EXCHANGE BETWEEN SPANIARDS
AND HOPIS. THERE WOULD BE MORE EXCHANGES,
CAMPAIGNS, CONVERSIONS, AND REBELIONS TO DOCUMENT.
IN THE DRSW FILES, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED 171 DOCUMENTS
THAT CONTAIN THE TERMS TUSAYAN, MOQUI, MOQUENOS,
MOHOCE AND OTHERS THAT REFER TO THE HOPI PEOPLE.
WE WILL VERY LIKELY TREAT ABOUT A QUARTER OF THIS
LIST OF 171 IN THIS PROJECT. WE HOPE THAT THE PROJECT
WILL INSPIRE HOPI HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND ENTERING
COLLEGE STUDENTS TO CONSIDER ACQUIRING EXPERIENCE IN
DOCUMENTARY AND ARCHIVAL RESEARCH.
THE HOPI CULTURAL PRESERVATION AND THE ARIZONA STATE
MUSEUM ARE REACHING OUT TO HOPI YOUTH IN THIS AND A
VARIETY OF OTHER WAYS.
THE PROJECT CAME ABOUT AS ONE OF
MUTUAL INTEREST TO THE HOPI TRIBE AND TO RESEARCHERS AT THE
MUSEUM. IN 1992 THE HOPI GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP WAS
INVITED BY THE SPANISH GOVERNEMENT TO ATTEND
FESTIVITIES IN ASSOCIATION WITH EXPO, A WORLD’S FAIR
HELD IN SPAIN. THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT GAVE THE
HOPI GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS COPIES OF ARCHIVAL
MATERIALS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS. BUT THEY FOUND
THEM IMPOSSIBLE TO READ OR COMPREHEND. IT IS NOT
KNOWN WHETHER OR NOT HOPIS WERE EVER LITERATE IN
CASTILLIAN SPANISH. WHAT IS KNOWN IS THAT TODAY,
NONE OF US ARE LITERATE IN CASTILLIAN SPANISH.
MOREOVER, WE ARE NOW ONLY BECOMING LITERATE IN HOPI.
IN 1998 THE HOPI DICTIONARY WAS PUBLISHED AND ITS
AUTHORS WERE SEARCHING FOR RELEVANT APPLICATIONS
OF THIS IMPORTANT PIECE OF SCHOLARSHIP. IN 1999 THE
MUSEUM WAS COMPLETED ITS ON-LINE FINDING AID TO
THE DRSW FILES. THE HOPI DOCUMENTARY PROJECT
CAME TOGETHER IN SEPTEMBER 2000.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED THUS FAR? SOME OF THE
DOCUMENTS ARE ETHNOGRAPHIC IN NATURE. THEY OFFER
GLIMPSES OF PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS. FOR EXAMPLE,
POPULATION ESTIMATES 5,000 TO 50,000. DETAILED
INFORMATION ABOUT ARCHITECTURE; IN SOME INSTANCES
DESCRIPTIONS OF 7 STORY SKYSCRAPERS FITTED WITHIN A
PLANNED LAYOUT. CULTIVATED LANDS AND HIGH CROP
YIELDS FOOD STORAGE AND FOOD PROCESSING HAIR STYLES
OF MEN AND WOMEN. THE PEOPLES’ GOOD HEALTH. AN
ABUNDANCE OF WOVEN CLOTH OR TEXTILES WHICH HELD
GREAT VALUE FOR HOPIS AND FOR SPANIARDS, BECAME THE
CURRENCY OF THE TIME. ABUNDANT WILD GAME AND
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. GOOD FISHING ESPECIALLY IN
RIO DEL NORTE, NOW RIO GRANDE SALT LAKES AND SALT
DEPOSITS AS SOURCES FOR FOOD SEASONING AND CURING
OF MEATS. BEEKEEPING AND WHITE HONEY. VEGETATION
INCLUDING FOODSOURCES SUCH AS GRAPES, OAKS, ACORNS,
PINES NUTS, CASTILLIAN PLUMS AND PINONS. DESCRIPTIONS
OF POLITICAL ORGANIZATION MOST OFTEN CHARACTERIZED
AS FREE AND DISORDERLY. NATIVE RELIGIONS WERE
INTERPRETED AS IDOLATROUS WITH OFFERINGS MADE TO
THE DEVIL. NUMEROUS REFERENCES TO THOSE DASTARDLY
APACHES. AND ONE THAT I AM ESPECIALLY FOND OF IS THE
TERM SANTIAGO!! AS A CRY BEFORE ONE MAKES AN
ATTACK OR A CALCULATED LEAP. TODAY, AMERICAN
PARATROOPERS AND MAYBE EVEN SPANISH PARATROOPERS
OFFER THE CRY GERONIMO!! BEFORE LEAPING OUT OF THE
BELLIES OF AIRPLANES.
AS A MUSEUM PROFESSIONAL OF 20 OR MORE YEARS, IT IS
IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO GIVE A PRESENTATION WITHOUT
PROPS OR EXHIBITS. THE TEXTILES AND GARMENTS
WRITTEN ABOUT OVER AND OVER IN THE DOCUMENTS ARE
A CONTINUING TRADITION THAT BEGAN WELL BEFORE THE
SPANISH COLONIAL PERIOD.
MANTA, KWEWA, ATUUI, WEKO KWEWA, HOOMA
SOME OF THE WRITERS SHOW A GROWING
UNDERSTANDING OF LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES AMONG THE
PEOPLE WITH WHOM THEY DEVELOPED POLITICAL,
MILITARY AND MISSIONARY RELATIONS. THEY TRIED VERY
HARD TO LEARN AND RECORD NATIVE PLACE NAMES AND
COMMUNITY NAMES. BUT BECAUSE LAND, PEOPLE, NATURAL
RESOURCES AND JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE WAS
CLAIMED UNDER REQUERIMIENTO THEY OVERLAYED THEIR
OWN TERMS AS PART OF THE CLAIM. REQUERIMIENTO WAS
A FORMAL DECREE CLAIMING TITLE AND CONTROL OVER
NEWLY DISCOVERED LANDS. IN THE AMERICAS IT
ANNOUNCED THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE POPE IN
ROME OVER ALL NATIONS; THE DONATION OF THE
ISLANDS AND MAINLANDS OF THE AMERICAS BY THE POPE
TO THE SPANISH CROWN; THE ABSOLUTE MORAL
OBLIGATION OF THE INDIANS TO ACCEPT THE AUTHORITY
OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE SPANISH
CROWN; AND THE RIGHT OF SPANIARDS TO WAGE WAR
AGAINST AND ENSLAVE THE INDIANS IF THEY DID NOT
SUBMIT. AS AN INSTRUMENT OF CONQUEST, IT WAS
SUPPOSED TO BE READ TO INDIANS BEFORE BATTLE,
THEREBY PLACING THE BLAME ON THE INDIANS IF THEY
RESISTED. SURVIVORS OF CONFLICTS WERE SUBJECT TO THE
CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS.
RESIST THEY DID.
THE 1598 TRIAL AT THE PUEBLO OF ACOMA WAS THE RESULT OF
SUCH RESISTENCE. A DOCUMENT FROM THE DRSW READS
IN PART: IN THE LAWSUIT BETWEEN PARTIES, ONE BEING THE
REAL JUSTICIA AND THE OTHER BING THE INDIANS OF THE
PUEBLOS AND FORTRESS OF ACOMA [REPRESENTED BY]
CAPTAIN ALONSO GOMEZ MONTESINOS, THEIR DEFENDER, FOR
HAVING TREACHEROUSLY MURDERED DON JUAN DE ZALDIVAR
ONATE, OF THIS EXPEDITON; FELIPE DE ESCALANTE, CAPTAIN
OF [THE EXPEDITION]; CAPTIAN DIEGO NUNEZ AND EIGHT
SOLDIERS; AND TWO SERVANTS, AS WELL AS OTHER CRIMES;
AND FURTHERMORE, REITERATING THAT WHEN VICENTE DE
ZALDIVAR MENDOZA, MY SARGENTO MAYOR WHO I SENT IN
MY PLACE TO [ACOMA], CALLED THEM TO PEACE, THEY NOT
ONLY DID NOT SURRENDER, BUT MET HIM WITH WARFARE;
THIS BEING EVIDENT.
I FIND, IN VIEW OF THE AUTOS AND MERITS OF THIS
PROCEEDING AND ITS RESULTING [VERDICT OF] GUILT, THAT I
AM OBLIGED TO CONDEMN AND DO CONDEMN ALL THE MALE
AND FEMALE INDIANS OF THE AFOREMENTIONED PUEBLO
WHO ARE PRISONERS, [AS FOLLOWS]:
THE INDIAN MEN OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OR MORE ARE TO
HAVE ONE FOOT CUT OFF AND TWENTY YEARS OF PERSONAL
SERVICE. THE INDIAN MEN OF LESS THAN TWENTY-FIVE
YEARS DOWN TO TWELVE [YEARS OF AGE], I LIKEWISE
CONDEMN TO TWENTY YEARS OF PERSONAL SERVICE. THE
INDIAN WOMEN OF TWELVE YEARS OR MORE, I LIKEWISE
CONDEMN TO TWENTY YEARS OF PERSONAL SERVICE.
TWO INDIANS FROM THE PROVINCE OF MOQUI [HOPI] WHO
WERE PRESENT AND FOUGHT IN THE AFOREMENTIONED
PUEBLO OF ACOMA AND WERE APPREHENDED, I SENTENCE
TO HAVE THEIR RIGHT HANDS CUT OFF AND TO BE SET FREE,
SO THAT THEY MAY MAKE KNOWN IN THEIR LAND THE
PUNISHMENT GIVEN THEM.
NATIVE ORAL HISTORICAL ACOUNTS OF THE TRIAL AND
PUNISHMENT AT ACOMA AND OTHER VILLAGES CONTINUE
TO BE RE-TOLD TODAY. THE YEAR 1598, MARKED THE
BEGINNING OF PREPARATION AMONG THE PROVINCES OF
NORTHERN NEW SPAIN THAT WOULD LEAD TO AN ALL-OUT
REBELLION KNOWN TODAY AS THE PUEBLO REVOLT OF
1680.
MY COLLEAGUE AND CO-PI, TOM SHERIDAN OBSERVES
THAT THE SPANISH COLONIAL DOCUMENTARY RECORD,
LIKE THE RECORDS OF ANY IMPERIAL POWER, SQUINTS AT
THE LIVES OF NATIVE PEOPLES. SOLDIERS AND
MISSIONARIES WERE NOT PRIVY TO WHOLE DOMAINS OF
NATIVE CULTURE, SUCH AS RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES OR
HEALING PRACTICES. HE GOES ON TO SAY THAT SPANIARDS
VIEWED EVENTS AND PEOPLE THROUGH A MYOPIC LENS
CLOUDED BY THEIR OWN PREJUDICES AND
PRECONCEPTIONS.
THE DOCUMENTS DO OFFER DESCRIPTIONS OF CEREMONIES
AND OTHER TRADITIONS. THEY OFFER NAMES OF POLITICAL
LEADERS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO THE WRITERS
VIEWED AS IMPORTANT TO IDENTIFY. THE DOCUMENTS
INDICATE THAT AFTER A HALF CENTURY OF SPANISH AND
MISSIONARY PRESENCE, THE INDIANS COMMEMORATED THE
COMINGS AND GOINGS OF SPANIARDS AND THEIR MEXICAN
COMPANY AS, IN PART, RELIGIOUS PROCESSIONALS THAT
WAS ACKNOWLEDGED WITH "PINOLE" OR SACRED
CORNMEAL, HOOMA. HOOMA THROUGHOUT HOPI HISTORY
TO THE PRESENT CAN BE COMPARED TO THE TAG LINE TO THE
TELEVISION COMMERCIAL FOR THE AMERICAN EXPRESS
CARD. WE NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT. OFFERING
PRAYERS AND BLESSINGS WITH "PINOLE" OR SACRED
CORNMEAL IS A DAILY OCCURANCE.
THE HOPI TRIBAL GOVERNMENT TODAY SEEKS TO GLEAN
INFORMATION FROM THE DOCUMENTS ON A WIDE VARIETY
OF SUBJECTS INCLUDING HOPI TRADING NETWORKS AND
TRAIL SYSTEMS, HOPI CULTURAL AFFILIATION WITH OTHER
TRIBAL GROUPS, HOPI TRIBAL RESISTENCE AND
SOVEREIGNTY, AND THE SPANISH PERCEPTION OF HOPI
LAND OCCUPATION AT CONTACT.
HOPI PEOPLE THAT WE HAVE TALKED WITH THUS FAR WANT
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW THE SPANISH EMPIRE
FUNCTIONED AND WHY IT WAS UNABLE TO RECONQUER
AND REINCORPORATE THE HOPI INTO THE IMPERIAL
SYSTEM AFTER THE PUEBLO REVOLT OF 1680. THEY ARE
ALSO INTERESTED IN KNOWING IF THESE DOCUMENTS
SUPPORT HOPI HISTORY AS DOCUMENTED IN HOPI ORAL
TRADITION. THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN.
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