Petroglyphs

Saturday was not an image rich-day, although I got some nice photos of petroglyphs. The Hopi, however, discourage images of their villages, not for religious reasons only, but because an American photographer around the turn of the last century came in, took photos, and commercialized them without permission.

This is a so-called museum rock where potshards are gathered. Archeologists hate them, but they show the evolution of Anasazi and Hopi pottery over the centuries.

Gary explains to Sharon how sage ash is used to make corn products more nutritionally rich

This shrine is to fertility in the corn fields, the two sticks in the center are left to right male and female and the seedpod at right is the hoped for product.

Despite a wet winter, spring brought drought. Gary tends fields for his mother and daughter, but this year they  are barren. He found a single ear of corn which he gave us. We will dry it over this winter and plant in the spring.

But we did go through some villages with Gary Tso, our guide. Gary, who is half Navajo and half Hopi and was married to a Hopi woman, and is a fount of knowledge about the people, the culture, the history, and the crafts of the Hopi. He led us when we were last here five years ago and we were pleased to find him available on short notice today.

It was an enjoyable day and we did pick up some curios and gifts, both for ourselves and for friends and family. I’ll try to do a “swag shot” in daylight tomorrow, when we will spend some time on the other side of the border, in Navajo.

A highlight of the day was time spent with Janice and Joe Day. We met Joe last time, when he helped us orient ourselves to the customs for those outsiders attending a ceremonial dance. Originally from Ohio, Joe is, by right of marriage, one of very few European-Americans living in Hopi. I did not buy a knife and sheath they had, in favor of an exquisitely decorated seedpod and a small kachina.