Tag: Hopi history

Historians have their books

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Hopi, Hopi authors, Hopi books, Hopi history, Hopi scholarship, Uncategorized1 Comment
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My library. A mix of books on the Hopi, Indian education, American sport studies, Southwest Indian studies, American Indian studies, American West, and Native American history (broadly).

Over the years I have amassed a large collection of books on the Hopi. My bookcases give evidence of this obsession.

Even as I write, I am looking at these books, and they are looking back at me. Some are on Hopi religious ceremonies, language, and history. Two of them I wrote.

Still others are biographical accounts, written during a bygone time in American history.  Regardless of topic or genre, they are a reminder of those who came before and after me.

A canon that I have contributed to and have grown to appreciate. A foundation that I have built on, but that has also shaped and built me.

Carpenters have their saws and chisels.

Historians?

Well, we have our books.

Revisiting the Hopi Boarding School Experience at Sherman Institute and the Process of Making Research Meaningful to Community

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn AIS at Illinois, American Indian Studies, Hopi, Hopi authors, Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, Hopi education, Hopi history, Hopi scholarship, Indian boarding schools, Indigenous Education, NAU Applied Indigenous Studies, Sherman Institute, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Screenshot 2018-10-27 11.11.31

Hopi interview on C-SPAN

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn C-SPAN, Hopi history, Organization of American HistoriansLeave a comment

Picture 7In April of this year, Susan Bundock, C-SPAN’s American History TV Producer, interviewed me at the 2013 Organization of American Historians conference in San Francisco, CA. At the end of June, the interview aired on national television and streamed on-line. Bundock asked me a number of questions about Hopi and Native American history. She also asked about my family history, and the American Indian Studies Program, and Department of History, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The interview is just over 20 minutes long, and can be viewed at the following address: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/312267-6

Hopi and other Native understandings of Rainbow Bridge

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Hopi history, Hopi migration, Hopi oral history, Hopi videos, Rainbow Bridge National Monument3 Comments

When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time fishing and water skiing on Lake Powell. While having fun on the lake, one of the places that we used to visit was Rainbow Bridge National Monument in southern Utah.

On YouTube, I came across an interesting video of Hopi oral histories of the bridge. In 2009, the U.S. National Park Service conducted the interviews to mark the Monument’s 100 year anniversary. The Hopis in the video include Wilton Kooyahoema (Hotevilla), Floyd Lomakuyvaya (Shungopavi), and Rod Duwala (Oraivi).

Members of the Navajo, Kaibab Paiute, San Juan Paiute, and White Mesa Ute nations were also interviewed for this project. I have posted their segments below.

Education beyond the Mesas temporarily available for FREE download

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Announcements, Hopi authors, Hopi education, Hopi history, Hopi scholarship, Sherman InstituteLeave a comment

I am pleased to announce that Education beyond the Mesas: Hopi Students at Sherman Institute, 1902-1929 (University of Nebraska Press, 2010) is temporarily available for free download through Project MUSE.

It has always been my desire that people on and off the Hopi Reservation will have access to my research, and the University of Nebraska Press’s decision to allow my book to be featured on Project MUSE, is a major step in that direction.

However, free access to Education beyond the Mesas via Project MUSE will only last until January 2012. See the Project MUSE website for more details.

To download Education beyond the Mesas, please click on the above image or visit the following link: http://beta.muse.jhu.edu/books/9780803234444

Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert

San Francisco, Alcatraz Island, and nineteen Hopi leaders

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Hopi history, Hopi photographyLeave a comment
San Francisco - Photograph by Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert

A few weeks ago I traveled with my family to San Francisco for my sister-in-law’s wedding. We stayed in a house that overlooked the San Francisco Bay. Below are other photographs that I took of that trip. The last photograph is of Alcatraz Island. When I took this photo, I was reminded of an important and difficult time in Hopi history.

In November 1894, Hopi leaders at Orayvi refused to accept U.S. government policies, including the forced removal of Hopi children to government-run schools. Consequently, officials arrested 19 of these leaders and shortly thereafter transferred the Hopi prisoners to Alcatraz Island.

Separated from their families and village community, they remained on the Island from January 1895 to September of the same year. Although I wrote briefly about this topic in Education beyond the Mesas, historian Wendy Holliday has written much more on the Hopi prisoners in a two-part essay entitled “Hopi History: The Story of the Alcatraz Prisoners.”

For those interested in learning more about the Hopi leaders who were imprisoned on Alcatraz Island, you can access both parts of this article by clicking on the following links:http://www.nps.gov/archive/alcatraz/tours/hopi/hopi-h1.htm and http://www.nps.gov/archive/alcatraz/tours/hopi/hopi-h2.htm

Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert

Sailboat on the San Francisco Bay - Photograph by Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert
Alcatraz Island - Photograph by Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert

Providing Hopi tours since 1540

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Hopi history, Hopi tourismLeave a comment

If you are thinking about visiting the Hopi Reservation, I would encourage you to go with a reputable Hopi tour company.  One of these companies is Hopi Tours, which is led by Hopi anthropologist Micah Loma’omvaya.  As I read about Hopi Tours on-line, I learned that the company has been giving tours on Hopi lands since 1540!

Of course, this was the year that Spanish conquistador Pedro de Tovar and a small group of soldiers, a few Zuni guides, and a Franciscan priest, came across the Hopi people on Antelope Mesa. After a bloody fight, and a “tour” of the villages on First Mesa, the Hopis promptly directed the Spaniards to go west toward the Grand Canyon. The Hopis did not want these “tourists” sticking around.

Today, tourism plays a very important economic role on the Hopi Reservation and it provides Hopis with opportunities to share their culture with visitors.  For more information about upcoming tours, including a special book tour on Hopi Summer by Carolyn O’Bagy Davis, please download the following brochures: Hopi Tours 2011 Brochure Rates / Book Tours Hopi Summer 2011

Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert

Hopi Youth Return to Mesa Verde – A film by Hopi Footprints of the Ancestors

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn American Indian Studies, Hopi films, Hopi history, Hopi language, Hopi youth1 Comment

A few weeks ago I passed along an announcement on my blog about 4 Hopi film screenings at the Museum of Northern Arizona. One of these films was Hopi Youth Return to Mesa Verde. This film examines a group of Hopis who traveled to a Hopi migration settlement called Mesa Verde in Colorado. As you watch the film, take note of the similarities that the youth bring up between Hopi ancestral ways and the practices of today’s Hopi people. Their remarks on the continuity of Hopi culture is an important theme in the film.

Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert

Hopi Code Talker Rex Pooyouma

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn American Indian Studies, Hopi history, Hopis in Military2 Comments

Today, as we consider the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, I want to take a moment and remember Hopis who served their village communities and the United States in World War II. One of these individuals was Rex Pooyouma from the village of Hotevilla on Third Mesa. During the War, Mr. Pooyouma served in the Native American Code Talker Communications Network. He was one of at least 10 Hopi code talkers who used their language to transmit critical messages that saved the lives of countless people and helped to end the War.

In November 1945, Mr. Pooyouma received an honorable discharge from the military at the rank of Private First Class.  He was a decorated soldier and earned several medals, including the American Campaign Medal, the Philippine Liberation Medal, and a Bronze Star. In October of this year, Mr. Pooyouma, the last known surviving Hopi code talker, passed away at the age of 93. He will always be remembered as a hero among our people and one who ventured beyond the Hopi mesas to serve his community and nation.

For more information on Mr. Pooyouma’s involvement in World War II and his role as a Hopi code talker, please visit the following website: http://nhonews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=12971

Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert