To outsiders, it's not obvious why, with the whole Southwest to pick from, the Hopi should have chosen to live on three barren and unprepossessing fingers of rock, poking from the southern flanks of Black Mesa in the depths of northeast Arizona. There are two simple answers. The first is that while Black Mesa has no perennial streams, its subterranean rocks are tilted at just the correct angle to deliver a tiny but dependable trickle of water, and that the "black" in its name comes from the coal that gives the Hopi limitless reserves of fuel. The second is that the Hopi used to farm and hunt across a much wider area, and have only been restricted to their mesa-top villages by the encroachment of their Navajo neighbors. While the Hopi are celebrated for their skill at " dry farming ," managing to preserve enough precious liquid to grow corn, beans and squash on hand-tilled terraces, this precarious and difficult way of life has nonetheless been forced upon them.
By their very survival, not to mention the persistence of their ancient beliefs and ceremonies, the Hopi have long been a source of fascination to outsiders. While visitors are welcome, the Hopi have no desire - or need, as the tribe has finally begun to earn considerable amounts from mineral leases - to turn themselves into a tourist attraction. Although stores and galleries on the reservation provide plenty of opportunity to buy crafts such as pottery, basketwork, silver overlay jewelry and hand-carved kachina dolls, tourists who arrive in the hope of extensive sight-seeing - let alone spiritual revelations - are likely to leave disappointed, and quite possibly dismayed by what they perceive as conspicuous poverty.
More about Hopi Mesas:
Visiting the Hopi Mesas
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