[net.roots] The Hopi and non-aggression

andrews@ubc-cs.UUCP (Jamie Andrews) (03/18/86)

In article <2c7e4342.7005@apollo.uucp> nazgul@apollo.UUCP (Kee Hinckley) writes:
>Hmmm.  There have been some cultures that were very non-aggressive.  The
>Hopi come to mind, but I may be wrong.  Does anyone offhand know what the
>status of women in such cultures is?

     You hit the jackpot here!  The Hopi are one of the cultures I am most
interested in.

     The traditional Hopi have a matrilineal, matrilocal clan structure, which
is to say that you belong to your mother's clan (Bear clan, Fire clan, etc.)
and stay in your mother's clan house.  Women, usually the oldest in the house,
are the heads of the clans, and control domestic affairs.  Since the Hopi
migrate only infrequently, this means that the women have considerable say in
the community.

     However, men are the only ones allowed into the various religious
societies, which take care of most of the ritual life of the village.  Men
are also the people usually in the position equivalent to mayor of a village
of clan houses.

     The theory that I subscribe to about the origin of the Hopi's non-
aggressiveness is that they chose to live in such an arid and hostile
environment (the Black Mesa area of Arizona) that they had to form a highly
cooperative society to survive.  However, I feel that the political power
afforded to women in this society is more a consequence of their putting a
high value on cooperation and domesticity than a result of it.

     You are right that the traditional Hopi culture raises many interesting
questions about masculine/feminine roles and aggression, more than I can
talk about here.  Reading a book on Hopi legends (my university library has
several) would give you a good introduction to their way of life.

     BTW, I read an article recently which, if I remember correctly, seemed
to indicate that the US DND was trying to take over the Black Mesa area to
turn it into a military base.  Does anyone have more information about this?
I would like to contribute to the cause of the Hopi if I can.

--Jamie.
...!ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision!ubc-cs!andrews
"You *must* say the *number*"