| Traditional
High Cultures |
|
| Oral and Written
Traditions and Rock Art as the Histories of Both Ancient and Living Peoples,
Especially of the Americas before the Arrival of Europeans |
Oral Tradition, Language,
and Archaeology in Mutual Support -- Southwestern USA and Northern Mexico |
| Abstract of session as a whole. The session co-chairs are Lynn S. Teague (Tucson) and Hartman Lomawaima (Hopi). Sessions scheduled for 23 June, 9:00 to 11:00 and 11:30 to 1:00 |
When we learn how to "read" or interpret oral traditions in the light of the cultures which created them, and to "read" the testimony of archaeology, there is much more consistency between these two kinds of information. Learning how to "read" oral traditions also in the best cases leads to finding mutual supports among them, strengthening the case for the validity of each. This session focuses on O'odham and Hopi (& Zuni?) oral traditions, along with those of some of their neighbors, and on the archaeological Hohokam, Hopi, and Zuni and some of their neighbors. |
| Prehistory and the Traditons of the O'odham and Hopi by Lynn S. Teague 1993, retired, Arizona State Museum This paper is not part of the tentative program of this WAC5 session |
The oral traditions of the O'odham and the Hopi are consistent with other forms of evidence available from archaeology, and converge on a dating of the end of the Hohokam civilization to exactly 1359 CE. This date was arrived at because interpretations available from oral traditions pinpointed the significance of what was available from archaeology. An O'odham list of conquered towns matched those known by archaeologists to be of the same dates, excluding even bigger ones of other dates, giving confidence the oral traditions are accurate. In return, once the archaeological match to the oral traditions had been identified in the ground, tree-ring dating could make the date precise, adding information which oral traditions did not supply. Neither kind of evidence alone could do nearly as much as the combination of them together. This paper was published in KIVA vol.58 no.4, 1993, pp.435-45. This paper is a real role-model for co-operation across fields. It is a true joy to read, in its calm step-by-step supportiveness towards all sources of information, and its careful and sane use of those sources. Should be required reading for specialists in many fields. Email Lynn Teague |
| Reconstructing the O'odham and Pee Posh Past: Tradition, History, and Archaeology by Lynn S. Teague, retired, Arizona State Museum |
The history of the O'odham and Pee Posh of the Sonoran Desert in the late pre-contact and early contact periods will be assessed through comparison of evidence provided by archaeology, oral tradition, and historical accounts from the period in which these people first encountered Europeans. For a more meaningful assessment, this comparison will take into account a broad region encompassing much of what is now the borderland between the United States and Mexico. Significant diversity in the region in late prehistory will be shown to underlie the patterns observed historically. Email Lynn Teague |
| Language As Testimony of Prehistoric Culture Contact among Hopi, Zuni, and Piman by David Shaul, Venito Garcia Library and Archives, Tohono O’odham Nation |
Evidence of prehistoric cultural contact is often drawn from language data. Used as ethnic markers, languages in the same geographic region tend to show little in the way of borrowing. They may, however, show similarities in language structure (sound system, grammar) due to language borrowing. This paper examines the testimony of lexical (vocabulary) vs. nonlexical information for protohistoric contact in Arizona, concentrating on three historically adjacent languages (Hopi, Zuni, Piman). Email David Shaul Text of paper |
| The Uto-Aztecan Presence in the U.S. Southwest: The Evidence from Language by Jane H. Hill, University of Arizona |
Techniques of linguistic paleontology suggest that the Uto-Aztecans, possibly appearing in the Southwest as migrants from the south, were among the first maize cultivators in the region. Loan words within the maize-cultivation complex from a very early stage of Uto-Aztecan, probably Proto-Northern Uto-Aztecan, can be identified in Kiowa-Tanoan languages. That Uto-Aztecans continue to be extremely important in major cultural developments in Southwestern prehistory is attested in several later layers of loan materials, including evidence for language contact with Yuman, probably within the Hohokam formation, and especially including loan material associated with ritual. Ritual loan material includes the formation of ideas about the Horned Serpent and material associated with the Kachina Cult, involving both Piman and Hopi exchanging linguistic material with the Keresan languages and Zuni. |
| Exploring Communications from the Past in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona -- Comparing Hohokam rock art iconography and ceramic designs by Todd Bostwick, City Archaeologist, Pueblo Grande Museum, Arizona |
A variety of human, animal, and geometric images were used in the arts and crafts of the Hohokam Culture of the Sonoran Desert more than 500 years ago. This paper reviews what is known about those designs and discusses current theories about their meanings and purposes, including their possible spiritual significance. It is proposed that Hohokam rock art represents a form of ancient story-telling, as well as a means of communicating information about the landscape within which it was located. The paper compares the rock art of the Hohokam with their pottery designs and carved jewelry in an effort to better understand the overall repertoire of images that were used in ancient times in the Sonoran Desert. Possible relationships with other cultures, including those in Mesoamerica, are considered. Compare his recent 2002 book Landscapes of the Spirits. Hohokam Rock Art at South Mountain Park. University of Arizona Press |
| Hopi Historical Narratives and the Archaeological Record by Peter Whiteley [This speaker will unfortunately be unable to make a presentation at WAC5] |
Hopi narratives of the past have been recorded for more than a century. Earlier attempts to read them into the archaeological record proved controversial. This paper inquires into Hopi archiving of salient historical information in a variety of traditional genres - ritual performances, traditional narratives, and place-names - to assess their historicity and their salience to interpretations of the archaeological record. |
Using Cognitive Semantics to Relate Mesa Verde Archaeology to Modern Pueblo Languages by Scott G. Ortman, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center |
This paper presents a new method for associating protolanguages with archaeological complexes. The approach is grounded in cognitive linguistics research which indicates that conceptual metaphor is the common denominator of material culture and language. Previous studies have shown that metaphors of ancestral speech communities are embedded in the documented languages of their descendants. My own research shows that cognitive linguistic theory can also be used to identify visual or practical metaphors in the archaeological record. Thus, we can relate protolanguages to archaeological complexes by comparing the specific metaphors expressed in the archaeological record and in potentially-related languages. I use this method here to show that the archaeological record of the Mesa Verde region expresses container metaphors embedded in Proto-Tewa but not in other Pueblo language families. This suggests the Mesa Verde complex was created by speakers of a Tanoan language. |
The Hopi Documentary History Project, A Progress
Report |
For nearly three decades, the Arizona State Museum has collected and maintained an archive of Spanish colonial documents on microfilm (see http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/drsw/index.html for information about the archive). In 1999 representatives of the Hopi Tribal government and Hopi Cultural Preservation Office began discussions with museum staff and curators about a collaboration that would have as its primary goal, a publication of Hopi history based on primary documents in the collection. Archival documents are being translated/transcribed to English and from English to Hopi using a syllabary developed by Emory Sekaquaptewa at the University of Arizona. The project, which has received generous support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, is now in its third year. Museum curators, Tom Sheridan and Hartman Lomawaima, are co-directors of the project. Hartman will give a brief overview of the project and current status. |
| Bringing Hopi Traditional Knowledge Into The
Theory and Practice of Archaeology by Wesley Bernardini, Assistant Professor, University |
This paper presents a new approach for evaluating links between modern and ancient Southwestern groups based on information preserved in Hopi traditional knowledge. Rather than comparing prehistoric culture areas (e.g., "Salado," "Mimbres") to modern tribes, attention is focused on the small, residentially mobile, and socially diverse groups that are basal units of migration and identity in Hopi migration traditions and historic Hopi populations. Some archaeologically testable hypotheses about prehistoric population movement derived from Hopi traditional knowledge are tested and confirmed with evidence from ceramic compositional analysis and rock art data, revealing that small groups coalesced and fragmented frequently throughout the late prehistoric period. The cultural variability resulting from this dynamic process is often masked by categories such as tribes and archaeological culture areas, accounting for much of the difficulty in tracing demographic connections between them. The use of oral tradition to guide archaeological research toward appropriate prehistoric social units, in addition to and sometimes instead of traditional archaeological cultural taxonomies, is argued to be an important step in improving assessments of cultural affiliation. Email Wesley Bernardini |
| Ritual Songs as Oral Tradition by Emory Sekaquaptewa, Professor of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, and by Dorothy Washburn, Visiting Scholar, Arizona State Museum, Tucson, AZ |
Oral tradition is often thought of as limited to stories told by native
individuals about their real and cosmic past. In this paper we show how
ritual songs are full of information about the Hopi system of beliefs
and practices. From a database of 125 songs spanning the 20th century,
we show how the main principles of the Hopi way of life are metaphorically
reiterated in song. We then show how these ideals are similarly expressed
in designs on the 16th century kiva murals at the site of Awatovi, on
some yellow and polychrome wares almost certainly made by ancestors of modern Hopi, and even in part on some black-on-white wares of some of their ancestors among the Anasazi. The continuity in life principles seen in song and image from these earliest ceramic wares in the 8th century AD to the present shows how the Hopi are carriers of a very ancient puebloan tradition of rainfall-dependent, corn-based agriculture. |
| Braided Histories in Pueblo Rock Art, Murals, and Pottery by Kelley Hays-Gilpin, Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University |
Traditional Hopi histories recorded for over a century, and stories still told day, reveal millennia of interactions and migrations among distant villages and people who spoke different languages. In their own view, Hopi history is not a history of one people, but a series of histories of clans who came together to become Hopi. Studying style, iconography, and technology of rock art together with murals and pottery supports the Hopi view, and can help complement traditional histories. In this case study, I examine the archaeology of 15th century Hopi settlements at Sikyatki, Awat’ovi, and Kawayka and explore relationships with Rio Grande pueblos via cross-media comparison and traditional histories. Email Kelley Hays-Gilpin |
| Hopi Textiles and Basketry as Archives of Traditional
Histories by Laurie Webster, Visiting Scholar, University of Arizona, USA, and
Micah Loma'omvaya, Anthropological Consultant, |
Traditional baskets and ritual clothing serve multiple roles in contemporary Hopi society. They are essential components of katsina and social dances, and are given as gifts to mark births, initiations, weddings, and other important life passages of Hopi individuals. Their use and manufacture reinforce the cultural identity of both the maker and user as Hopi. For archaeologists, textile and basketry assemblages and mural depictions of ceremonial attire offer critical lines of evidence linking modern Hopi people with ancestral cultural groups. Hopi oral traditions relate the formation of Hopi society as a process of amalgamation, with clans from the northern and southern Southwest coming together at the Hopi Mesas. The archaeological textile and basketry evidence lends support to this pluralistic view, with some historic Hopi styles and techniques descended from ancestral Pueblo traditions on the Colorado Plateau, others derived from Hohokam, Mogollon, Salado, and Sinagua perishable traditions. This presentation offers a closer look at the multiple origins of Hopi textiles and basketry, and interprets these distributions in light of Hopi traditional histories of migration and social integration. See also Webster's 2001 SAA paper |
| Re-Interpreting Oral Histories in Public Places [issues in interpreting both oral tradition and archaeological evidence to the general public] By Veletta Canouts, Ventura Consulting Services, and Research Collaborator, Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education |
Native Americans reaffirm their oral histories every generation. Traditionally, these histories maintained relevance as elements of the natural, cultural, and sacred landscapes were incorporated into the narratives. Today, Native American voices are retelling their histories in public places that often have little or no familiar referents for either tribal members or the general public. Archaeologists have sought to clarify and support Native American oral histories through reference to historical sites. However, they, too have had to re-interpret their findings as new technologies and new paradigms affected earlier explanatory models. The dynamics of these two and other underlying biases in interpretation play out in yet a third public place—the museum. Examples from the American Southwest serve to illustrate the sometimes conflicting and sometimes mutually supportive interpretive roles of Native American museums and natural history museums. [Veletta Canouts is a ceramics scholar who has worked with Ron Bishop at the Smithsonian for 20 years on materials sources for early Hopi yellow wares (with of course big implications for comparison with Hopi oral traditions regarding migrations), and who was for 2 years director of the Gila River Indian Community's cultural center] |
| Discussant Peter Nabokov, American Indian Studies and
World Arts and Cultures, |
See his recent 2002 book Forest of Time. American Indian Ways of History (can be ordered from Cambridge University Press, 1-800-872-7423) Email Peter Nabokov |