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The Book of the Hopi » (Reprint)

Book cover image of The Book of the Hopi by Frank Waters

Authors: Frank Waters
ISBN-13: 9780140045277, ISBN-10: 0140045279
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Date Published: June 1977
Edition: Reprint

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Author Biography: Frank Waters

Book Synopsis

In this strange and wonderful book, thirty elders of the ancient Hopi tribe of Northern Arizona -- a people who regard themselves as the first inhabitants of America -- freely reveal the Hopi worldview for the first time in written form. The Hopi kept this view a secret for countless centuries, and anthropologists have long struggled to understand it. Now they record their myths and legends, and the meaning of their religious rituals and ceremonies, as a gift to future generations. Here is a reassertion of a rhythm of life we have disastrously tried to ignore and instincts we have tragically repressed; and a reminder that we must attune ourselves to the need for inner change if we are to avert a cataclysmic rupture between our minds and hearts.

Table of Contents

Forewordv
Introductionix
Part 1The Myths: Creation of the Four Worlds
1.Tokpela: The First World3
2.Tokpa: The Second World12
3.Kuskurza: The Third World17
4.Tuwaqachi: The Fourth World21
5.Commentary: The Symbol of the Emergence23
Part 2The Legends: Migrations of the Clans
1.The Four Migrations31
2.North to the Back Door37
3.The Badger and the Sacred Spruce47
4.Migrations of the Bird Clans54
5.Wenima and the Short Rainbow59
6.The Mysterious Red City of the South67
7.The Journey of the Twins72
8.The Snake and Lizard Clans87
9.The Bow and Arrowshaft Clans90
10.The Coyote-Swallow Race at Sikyatki97
11.The Ancient Record103
12.The Founding of Oraibi109
13.Commentary: The Hopi Clan113
Part 3The Mystery Plays: The Ceremonial Cycle
1.Elemental Symbols125
2.Wuwuchim137
3.Soyal154
4.The Kachina Night Dances165
5.Powamu174
6.The Road of Life189
7.Niman Kachina198
8.The Flute Ceremony210
9.The Snake-Antelope Ceremony218
10.Lakon, Marawu, and Owaqlt231
11.The Ya Ya Ceremony239
Part 4The History: The Lost White Brother
1.The Coming of the Castillas251
2.The Destruction of Awatovi258
3.Arrival of the Americans270
4.Westward March of Empire278
5.The Betrayal of Lololma286
6.A Test of Prophecy293
7.The Split at Oraibi301
8.The Imprisonment of Yukioma307
9.The Indian Reorganization Act314
10.The Flag Still Flies322
11.Recommendations and Prophecies329
Hopi Alphabet339
Glossary340

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