Hopi Indian Use of Native Plants
The Traditional Native American Way of Using Wild Plants
Nov 29, 2008
The Hopi Indian tribe were the first people to inhabit the Four Corners region of the South Western United States after the post-Chacoan period; the Four Corners region is comprised of the land which merges at the corner of four principal states, those of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Many Indian tribes such as the Navajo, Apache and Ute came after the Hopi.
Prior to the emergence of the Hopi Indians, the land was occupied by the Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi); the Ancestral Puebloans occupied the Four Corners region up until about A.D. 1150. They then dispersed to many regions including the San Juan Basin and the Zuni Mountains. It is believed that drought and the Ancestral Puebloans failure to successfully use the fragile, desert land were factors in their desertion of the area.
How the Hopi Successfully Farmed the Four Corners Region
The area of land which the Hopi occupy today is located on three main mesas in the far north-eastern corner of Arizona, close to the merging of the Four Corners state lines; the mesas are known as First, Second and Third Hopi Mesas. Rainfall averages at less than eight inches per year; however, the Hopi to the present day, have been successful in growing corn in this area.
Hopi Indians were successful in growing corn and other crops, despite a lack of rain fall, due to trapped water in the sandstone, underlying the mesas; the water was trapped in wet years by shale and clay sheets beneath the sandstone, which subsequently formed springs and was slowly released to the earth's surface at the edge of the mesas.
The Hopi planted many crops in sand over underground reservoirs of water, which maintained a reliable source of water for the plants. Specialized varieties of corn, with long roots adapted to the environment, were grown and today are commonly known as Hopi corn. Frugal storing of corn in successful years ensured that the Hopi Indians always had a food source in less successful years.
The Variety of Crops Grown by the Hopi Indians
The Hopi Indian tribe had traditionally been farmers in the first instance; the traditional Hopi crop was corn but other crops grown included beans, cotton, squash and gourds. The cultivated plants of watermelons, lima beans, chile peppers, onions and peach trees were later introduced with the arrival of the Spanish.
Hopi Indian Use of Wild Plants
The Hopi Indians never saw wild plants as weeds and encouraged the growth of wild plants within the growth of their crops and gardens. Native plants included Wild Potato, Bee Plant, Bee-Balm (Monarda menthaefolia), Wild Tobacco (Nicotiana spp.), Amaranth and Wild Dock (Rumex hymenosepalus). Today, traditional Hopi farmers still maintain this practice.
The Hopi Indians were also known to have gathered wild Yucca fruits, nuts, seeds, Cactus fruits and Spring greens for use. It is estimated that over one hundred species of native plants were collected for use as food and medicine by the Hopi. Native plants were also used to dye wool in blankets and to weave baskets; cotton was used for clothing. Other Hopi Indian use of native plants included hunting and farming implements and flute and rhythm instrument making.
Evidence of Native Plant Use by the Hopi Indians
Much of the evidence of how Hopi Indians used native plants has been obtained by the work of ethnobotanists over the years with the Hopi Indian tribe; most knowledge has been orally obtained due to the lack of a written Hopi language until recent times. However, archaeobotany (the analysis of plant parts which are found at archaeological sites), has provided much evidence in the Four Corners region of how many native people used particular plants.
References:
Dunmire, William W., Tierney, Gail 1997 Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners Sante Fe, USA: Museum of New Mexico Press
For Related Reading:
Pueblo Indian Use of Native Plants
Pueblo Indian Crops and Gardens
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