The Hopiof the Southwest Desert

The Southwest Desert page 2Hopi Crops page 3Homes page 4Hopi Clothes page 5Did You Know? page 6 Glossary page 7

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Table of Contents

The Southwest Desert In the Southwest Desert the land is flat except for occasional flat topped mesas. Mesas are pieces of land that come several hundred above the desert floor. The sides of the mesas are rocky and steep. There are cactuses and animals that live near the mesas. Some of the animals are lynxes, cougars, antelopes and birds. In the southwest desert it does not rain a lot. There are some Native American tribes one is the Hopi.

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The Southwest Desert

There many mesas in the southwest desert

Hopi Crops The Hopi grew lots of vegetables and fruits. The men planted and harvested the crops. Some of the crops they grew were corn, beans, squash, peaches and apricots. They grew a lot of corn. The women would grind blue and white corn into cornmeal. They used cornmeal to make bread.

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The Hopi mostly eat corn

The Hopi also eat peaches and squash

Homes Hopi homes are called pueblos. The oldest Hopi village is called Orabi. It was started in 1050. It has been lived in continuously. Most Hopi villages are on three mesas. Some village are in the valleys below the mesas. Pueblos are made of stone and mud. Every pueblo has a few underground chambers called Kivas. Kivas are a place to gather to talk and to take part in ancient ceremonies. Pueblo means village in Spanish. The first pueblos had only one family living in them. Then villages became more frequent so they built apartment like houses to protect themselves against attacks.

4Pueblos are built togetherPueblos used to be built farther apart

Hopi Clothes Hopi men wore very little clothing only breechcloths. Women wore short dresses called mantas. The dress fastened over the right shoulder and left the left shoulder bare. Men and women both wore deerskin moccasins. Women painted the moccasins white and wrapped them around their legs for special occasions. Men wore cloth headbands around their foreheads. Their clothes are very colorful. Some of the colors are green, blue and red.

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The Hopi had colorful clothing

Did You Know?• Nobody knows where the Hopi came from.• The Hopi’s ancestors are called Anasazi.• Hopi means good, peaceful or wise.• Hopi choose to tend their crops rather than go to war.• The Hopi lead the first white man to the Grand canyon.• The Navajo killed many Hopi people in a war.

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The Hopi had many ceremonies

The Hopi live in a very small area

GlossaryApartment: A set of rooms to live in usually on one floor.

Harvest: A gathering of crops that are ripe.

Headband: A strip of cloth worn around the head to soak up sweat or to keep hair out of the face.

Native: Someone born in a particular place.

Navajo: One of a group of American Indians that live primarily in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.

Village: A small group of houses that make up a community. A village is usually smaller than a town.

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