THE HOPI INDIANS

by Harry C. James ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 1956

A useful survey of Hopi Indian life in the past and the present covers its many aspects from legend and ceremony to corn growing. If Mr. James is not a follower of the Benedict-Boaz school of cultural anthropology, which attempts to study a tribe on its own terms rather than ours, he is at least a careful, patient observer and comparer. He begins with a vivid description of the red and blue country around Flagstaff and the Hopi-Navajo reservation, and within this orientation laments the government mismanagement that did so much to disrupt the Hopis and to rob us of a fascinating part of America. This is further clarified by an account of first Hopi contacts with the whites and the unfortunate sequences of battles and massacres that contrasted so sharply with the Hopi instinct for peace. Today these Mesa Indians are regaining some of their lost ways. Comparing the old with the new- there are descriptions of the dances, arts and crafts, growth from childhood, play, courtship, the community social system and so forth. A fair introduction, but in its value judgments, one that does little to set the Hopi up as an entity within themselves rather than a people different from us.

Pub Date: March 15, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Caxton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION