In my earlier blog review of The Spanish Frontier in North America, I listed James F. Brooks as one of the premier historians of the Southwest borderlands. When I heard about his new book Mesa of Sorrows about the Awat'ovi Massacre on Arizona's Antelope Mesa in 1700, I rushed to read it. Brooks' examination of this atrocity committed against the Hopi community by fellow Hopi Indians belongs in the same category as Karl Jacoby's Shadows at Dawn (previously reviewed) concerning the history of violence and Native Americans in the Southwest. It is intriguing that many Hopis would not claim the land and have attempted to forget these tragic events at Awat'ovi over three centuries ago. The word Hopi translates into "The Peaceful People," but after reading Mesa of Sorrows, this name seems very contradictory. Based on his excellent use of historical and archaeological records and Hopi oral traditions, Brooks argues that the massacre occurred as a result of tensions among the Hopi- between those who had converted to Catholicism of the Spanish Franciscans (under coercion) and others who felt that Awat'ovi had fallen into koyaanisqatsi (moral chaos and corruption) and forgotten the old ways. The massacre was the climax of the Pahaana prophecy, the Hopi cycle of destruction, resurrection, and renewal to purge the social order of all evil. The Franciscan missionaries were forced out of the Southwest along with the rest of the Spanish settlers during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 by Indians led by Po'pay (or Popé), allowing many Hopis to return to their old traditions. However, the friars returned to Awat'ovi in 1700 following the Spanish reconquest of New Mexico, creation tension between Hopi Catholic converts and those who practiced traditional religion, culminating in the slaughter of men, women, and children that fall. The fact that the Hopi did not consider themselves as belonging to the same tribe, but rather by village (Walpi, Oraibi) contributed to the tragic event. Brooks' argument of upheaval and renewal at Awat'ovi is convincing not only because of his sources but also because he draws on other similar examples in history. For example, when Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés led an expedition into Mexico and conquered the Aztecs in 1519-20, the Aztecs conjoined the story of the feathered serpent deity Quetzalcoatl with the cataclysmic arrival of the Europeans. During the early 20th century, a schism emerged between Hopi Indians opposed to the allotment policies of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs who did not want their children to be exposed to white culture and those who believed in acculturation. The Pahaana prophecy seemed to be back again as a severe drought struck the Hopi in 1902-03 during this turbulent period with the U.S. government. In 1906 the "Oraibi split" occurred, dividing the village between the pavansinom (Indians conciliatory to white reforms) and the sukavungsinom (Hopis hostile to Anglo culture). Overall, Mesa of Sorrows adds to our understanding of the history of the Hopi Indians and the American Southwest. It is academic in style and can be repetitive in places, but it examines a very important event: historical memory and how we remember events, even tragic ones. This theme runs across all cultures in the world. Brooks, James F. Mesa of Sorrows: A History of the Awat'ovi Massacre. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2016.
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CategoriesAuthorTom Schmidt lives in Prescott Valley, AZ. Archives
October 2018
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