The Hopi's were originally a nomadic tribe that traveled in search of food and water. They settled in Southwestern US (northeastern Arizona). To protect themselves from the desert climate, they found caves to live in. They learned to eat new foods in order to survive. They gathered seeds and wild plants such as acorn, pinyon, nuts, grass seeds, mesquite, beans, and yucca fruit. They ate the flesh of cactus plants, and used the shells to store liquid. The desert also provided rabbits, snakes, lizards, and insects for them to catch and eat.
They made houses out of stone, clay, and mud. They looked as if they were an outgrowth of the mountains that they were built into. The villages were made of clusters of box-shaped, flat-roofed dwellings often piled five or more stories high. Their houses had no doors. The entrance was on the roof, with a ladder nearby to gain access. In times of trouble, the ladders were pulled up.
The Hopi's found a way to live in harmony with nature. They did not take things for granted. Most everything was considered holy. The mountains were the houses of the Gods. Lakes an rivers were also sacred. They developed their own farming techniques that enabled them to farm on dry land. They also grew cotton to weave clothes.
The Hopi's were also coal miners. They would dig deep with their picks and would bring up as much as 450 pounds of coal a day. This was used for cooking, heating, and firing pottery.
Each Hopi village was lead by a village chief. The chief was called a "Kikmongwi" (leader of the house). The chief was elected by a village council made up of leaders representing the village. The leaders served as advisors to the chief. The chief had to be a man belonging to the Bear clan. He had to be intelligent, kind, generous, and even-tempered. He also had to be a good farmer, reliable, and cooperative. Most of all, he was a religious leader that planned, prepared, and supervised ceremonies. The chief held his position for life. The Hopi's had no formal laws telling people how to behave or how to be punished. The head of the household reprimanded people who did wrong. In keeping with their philosophy of harmony and balance, the people maintained internal harmony by behaving well and having a good, generous heart.
Everyone played an important role in Hopi society. The men in the family were responsible for hunting, farming, and bringing home food. Unmarried men helped their fathers with the hunting or farming. The men made tools for cooking and hunting. They made wooden bows and arrows, shields, and other weapons. Once they married, they were responsible to work at their wife's land. Men also helped with weaving cotton to make clothes and blankets. They also crafted jewelry from stones and shells. The women were responsible for the household work. They prepared the food and cooked it. The women made "piki" food on a special cooking stone called "piki." This bread was a thin cornmeal cooked over the fire stone with cottonseed oil. The women were also responsible for the children. They took care of them from birth through adulthood.
The children were very precious to the family. They were treated with great affection. When they turned two years old, the family would start to discipline them and teach them the tradition of the clan. All the adults were responsible for teaching the children the Hopi values.
The Hopi reservation was established in 1882, but until the beginning of the twentieth century, the people were practically independent of governmental authority. However, when governmental supervision finally came, it resulted in more and more interference. Gradually, they began to abandon the old way of order. In 1906, not a maid at the East Mesa kept her hair in the picturesque squash-blossom whorls indicative of the unmarried state.