[Illustration:  Figure 2.—­Walpi.

—­Photo by Bortell.]

More than two centuries ago, these Tewas came from the Rio Grande region, by invitation of the Walpi, to help them defend this village (See Figure 2) from their Navajo, Apache, and Piute enemies.  They were given a place on the mesa-top to build their village, at the head of the main trail, which it was their business to guard, and fields were allotted them in the valley below.

They are a superior people, intelligent, friendly, reliable, and so closely resemble the Hopi that they can not be told apart.

The two peoples have intermarried freely, and it is hard to think of the Tewas otherwise than as “one kind of Hopi.”  However, they are of a distinctly different linguistic stock, speaking a Tewa language brought from the Rio Grande, while the Hopi speak a dialect of the Shoshonean.

It is an interesting fact that all Tewas speak Hopi as well as Tewa, whereas the Hopi have never learned the Tewa language.  The Hopi have a legend accounting for this: 

“When the Hano first came, the Walpi said to them, ’Let us spit in your mouths and you will learn our tongue,’ and to this the Hano consented.  When the Hano came up and built on the mesa, they said to the Walpi, ‘Let us spit in your mouths and you will learn our tongue,’ but the Walpi would not listen to this, saying it would make them vomit.  This is the reason why all the Hano can speak Hopi, and none of the Hopi can talk Hano."[10]

[Footnote 10:  Mindeleff, Cosmos, Traditional History of Tusayan (After A.M.  Stephen):  Bureau American Ethnology, vol. 8, p. 36, 1887.]

=Man’s Work=

The work of the men must now be accounted for lest the impression be gained that the industry of the women leaves the males idle and carefree.

It is but fair to the men to say that first of all they carry the community government on their shoulders, and the still more weighty affairs of religion.  They are depended upon to keep the seasonal and other ceremonies going throughout the year, and the Hopi ceremonial calendar has its major event for each of the twelve months, for all of which elaborate preparation must be made, including the manufacture and repair of costumes and other paraphernalia and much practicing and rehearsing in the kivas.  Someone has said much of the Hopi man’s time is taken up with “getting ready for dances, having dances, and getting over dances.”  Yes, a big waste of time surely to you and me, but to the Hopi community—­men, women, and children alike—­absolutely essential to their well-being.  There could be no health, happiness, prosperity, not even an assurance of crops without these ceremonies.