Hopi Indians
The Hopi Indians are believed to have originated in the area of Mexico in approximately 500 B.C. or so. The Hopi Indians lived in the southwest of America in the area of where Arizona is today. These Native Americans are also well known for many things and one of the most important things is their farming. The Hopi Indians were able to grow many things in the desert lands of Arizona, which is not a very conducive environment for farming.
They invented unique ways to irrigate their crops in the dry desert and they were able to grow things such as corn, cotton, beans, squash, and tobacco. The Hopi were also extremely skilled in arts such as weaving, embroidering things such as belts and blankets and dyeing different clothes and hides. The Hopi Indians were and still are very well known for their beautifully woven blue blankets. They also crafted many different ceramics and wove many baskets and all these things became great trade equity for their tribes throughout their history.
The Hopi Indians are also a very spiritual people and large part of their time was devoted to rituals to help bring rain and for the growth of their crops, this is where the well known Native American rain dance comes from. Originally the Hopi people had no idea of a Great Spirit or God, but most of their beliefs were more primitive, worshipping the spirits of things such as animals and trees. The greatest gods to the Hopi tribes are all natures’ powers, such as Mother Earth and the god of the sky. The Earth, to the Hopi people has always existed, and their mythology states that people were made from the Earth, coming from a hole in the ground (The Grand Canyon). They also believed that when people died their spirit went back into the Earth, and into the underworld. There are still many Hopi Indian tribes residing in the Southwest of the United States and on the Hopi reservations many of their traditions and cultural importance carries on. Even in a lot of the artwork from the southwest is full of Hopi symbolism and Hopi Indian influence.