Hopi Indians and other Religions

The Hopi Indians, with their traditions, beliefs, and stories are the perfect illustration for the tension that exists in the relationship between people’s understanding of myth and history. John D. Loftin, in his article “A Hopi-Anglo Discourse on Myth and History” discusses this relationship and multiple aspects of the Hopi religion and how they conflict with Western society, as well as how they can work together. Within this article and within the Hopi religion, there are many ideas that correspond to ideas within other religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism.

One such idea concerns changes within the Hopi tradition that follow changes within the surrounding Western culture. Loftin describes modern-day Hopi Indians as very well adjusted with Western society. They drive cars, enjoy shopping, attend school, and have all the necessities of modern engineering. However, the Hopi have not sacrificed their identity in that they continue to uphold many of their traditions and rituals. The Hopi have stayed true to their message and to their ancient mythical understandings of the world. This can be compared to changes within the contemporary Christian Church. In today’s society there is a lot of emphasis on music, technology, and entertainment. Thus, in an attempt to stay relevant to society, churches are beginning to expand their music programs- much of their worship music is becoming similar to something you would hear at a rock concert. They are incorporating videos, interviews, and movie clips into the sermons. Pastors are trying to make their presentations of the message more appealing to today’s youth and to keep their attention. All of these changes within the Hopi and the Christian religions are not to change the message, but rather how it is presented. They may be changing the package, but by no means are they changing the content.

The article describes an incident at a Hopi Symposium in 1980 in which the differing views of a Western Hopi scholar and a young Hopi Indian became quite visible. The scholar, Fred Eggan, was presenting facts about the obtaining of corn horticulture from Mexico by the Hopi when the Indian youth stood up to present the Hopi myth and ask Eggan if he was saying that the tradition is false. The young Hopi was raised to believe that his people had acquired the corn from the underworld, which Eggan counteracted by asking how corn could grow in such a dark place. The dialogue that went on between these two men is an example of differing worldviews causing strife between history and myth. How can one both confirm and refute such myths? The myth could of course be interpreted as referring to South America as the underworld, due to its geographic location, which has the opposite climate of North America- the world of the Hopi people. Thus myth and history can agree with each other in this interpretation. One can also interpret the myth as representing the Hopi’s closeness to mother earth and symbolizing the earth as the “origin, nature, and destiny” of the people. This interpretation is purely mythical and therefore in no way interferes with history.

In the same way, Judaism and Christianity both conflict with history on some levels, but their myths can exist together with history just as the two interpretations above allowed for peace within the relationship of Hopi myth and Western history. The scriptures of the Jewish religion, the Torah, describe the creation of the world, the fall of mankind, the exodus of their ancestors, and countless accounts of failure and restoration of the Jews. One of the stories within these texts is the story of Jonah and the whale. In this story, Jonah refuses to obey God when he asks Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh and he runs away from God by taking a boat headed towards Tarshish. During the journey, God sends a whale to swallow Jonah, in which Jonah resides for three days until being spit out onto the land. Jonah then preaches to the people but has a bad attitude. Taken literally and historically, this story is just another item of skepticism within the Western world. Thus, the focus should not be on whether or not Jonah survived in the belly of a whale for three days but instead on the message behind the story. This message is one that shows “the love and forgiveness of God contrasted with the human failing of Jonah.” Therefore, just as the Hopi myth may not be meant to be taken historically, this myth within Judaism may simply be meant as a fable for learning.

However, the Hopi do not accept history as truth when it contradicts their myths. Just as myth is false when examined through the lens of history, the opposite is true as well. Myth and history must be put in two separate categories, they do not prove nor disprove each other. Both are true in relation to themselves and what they mean to the people that study them. Thus, when historical facts seem to make a Hopi myth false, the Hopi simply disregard history and put it into another category like one would separate abstract art from logic. It seems that a portrait of a person should look like the person, and not like a bull or a random array of colors. However, the artist paints the person how he sees the person, not how society tells him to see the person. An even more drastic comparison to this Hopi philosophy would be that of Hinduism. Hindus do not put much focus on their creation or where they come from, but rather on who they are now and what they do spiritually. The Hindus seem to completely disregard the Western idea of history and deem it unimportant and unworthy of bother.

Another point within the article concerns the coming of age within Hopi tradition. When the Hopi people are still children, they are taught many of the Hopi myths. They learn of a character known as the trickster, which is a coyote. Stories about this character as well as many other stories, such as the emergence myth, are taught to the children as literally true. When the children come of age, they are engaged in a ceremony during which the elders teach the children that the stories are not literally true, but instead are told to get across a message and to teach the children various lessons. They also make the distinction between tall tales, such as the coyote stories, and myths, such as the emergence story. During this ceremony the children are also taught that the Kachinas they have seen dancing are not gods, but instead they are the children’s own male relatives. It is during this ceremony that the children are introduced to critical thinking. In the same way, teachers of Christianity tell children old testament stories, such as the Jonah myth, to teach them lessons and introduce them to who God is. They also include such tall tales as the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, which are literally false but incorporate the gospel message of truth. However, Christians seem to rarely get beyond the literal state of thinking because there is not much focus on the abstract within many churches. There are, however, ceremonies celebrating the coming of age, such as confirmation, which is preceded by much teaching about the faith. Also, in Judaism, the coming of age is called the bar-mitzvah (or bat-mitzvah for girls) and this is preceded by much more education and training than a Christian confirmation. Children meet one-on-one with the rabbi and are expected to memorize parts of the Torah.

The Kachina dancers present another similarity between Christians and the Hopi. The dancers are actually elders within the tribe but are thought of as embodying the spiritual. Whereas children believe them to be gods, they are really more so presentational symbols like the Eucharist in Christianity. During the time of communion within Christianity, bread and wine are taken to remind Christians of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The elements of bread and wine symbolize the flesh and blood of Christ, and although they are not the actual flesh and blood, it is thought that Christ is present with those engaging in communion during that time. Also, the Kachina dolls are thought to be simultaneously human and Kachina, profane and sacred. In the same way, Jesus Christ was declared by the council of Nicea in 325 AD as being fully God and fully man, two essences in one being.

There are many worthy comparisons, parallels, and similarities within many of today’s world religions. More specifically, the ideas within the Hopi religion correspond to many ideas within other religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Hinduism. Examples of such ideas include the westernization of religion without the sacrifice of message, the tension that exists between myth and history, the choice between taking something literally versus taking it figuratively, and the coming of age ritual within the religious tradition.