Enduring Awatovi: Uncovering Hopi Life and Work on the Mesa (Teaching with Historic Places)

National Park Service

This lesson is part of the National Park Service’s Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) program.

In the silent pre-dawn hours, Sun-Watcher slipped from his bed and quietly left the Hopi pueblo. He went to the edge of the Arizona mesa and settled down to wait for sunrise. For many years, Sun-Watcher kept track of the seasonal movement of the sun on the horizon. As the sun rose that morning, he saw that it reached the farthest point on its southern journey: the winter solstice arrived. Sun-Watcher returned to the pueblo to announce that it was time for a ceremony to summon spirits to bring rain to nourish the village's crops. At the Awatovi pueblo on Antelope Mesa, Hopis celebrated this ceremony for over 500 years.

Though Awatovi is no longer occupied, the ceremony continues to set the rhythm for Hopi agriculture. For the Hopis, the movements of the sun, the appearance of the rain, and the growth of crops still depend on the people's correct and active participation in the regular cycle of life. For students of the past, enduring Hopi traditions and American archeological research reveal much about this important place. Use this lesson plan to learn more about Hopi life and culture. (Click on the image for the full lesson plan.)

Essential Question

What does the Awatovi pueblo reveal about the history of the Hopi nation?

Objective

1. To explain elements of Hopi culture practiced at Awatovi many centuries ago and those that remain important today;
2. To illustrate the four methods by which Awatovi Hopis and Hopis today farm an apparently unproductive land with such success;
3. To describe how archeology can illuminate the lives of people whose past has not been preserved in written records;
4. To document evidence of historic farming techniques in the students' own state or region.

Background

Time Period: Pre-contact to the present
Topics: The lesson can be used for U.S. history lessons, multicultural studies, social studies, geography lessons, and agriculture and anthropology.

Grade Level

Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

Subject

Literacy and Language Arts, Social Studies

Lesson Duration

90 Minutes

Full Lesson Plan