Collective Endeavor, Agriculture Required That Term Paper

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The transition from hunting and gathering to sedentary cultivation demanded a whole restructuring of the society and enhanced the need for solidarity. Farming requires division of labor as well as gender role differentiation ("Hopi Agriculture: Introduction").

However, Sekaquaptewa describes a more egalitarian division of labor, at least regarding the corn harvest (Udall). Men were entrusted with the performance of the Snake Dance; women with heading matrilineal clans. Children also fully participated in the communal activity of corn cultivation by scaring away crows or chasing rodents (Udall). Knowledge that the survival of the community and its children depended on a successful harvest provided the firm foundation for Hopi community organization.

After contact, Hopi agriculture grew more diverse. Squash, beans, melons, and even orchards became as much a part of Hopi agricultural life as corn. In spite of the increased crop diversity the connection between agricultural bounty and rain remained central to Hopi culture and ritual. Rain sustained the community whether their central crop was corn or whether squash and beans were incorporated into the cultivated landscape. Eating for subsistence meant that tending the land always held supreme social and spiritual significance.

Communal irrigation and cultivation projects were carried out in an organized manner and under the guidance of chiefs.

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Elders and chiefs served symbolic roles as figureheads, proxies for the spirit world. Their selection and supply of corn reflected their social standing. Interestingly, in times of great scarcity families often struggled on their own; the sense of communalism conveniently vanished out of self-interest in modern times (Udall). Being custodians of the land for millennia, the Hopi developed a highly sophisticated means of working with the unique conditions of their semi-arid landscape. Terracing the fields for efficient irrigation and cataloging seasonal fluctuations enabled the Hopi to survive through times of scarcity.

Therefore, the veneration of agriculture and the rains that sustain it is a core shared value among the Hopi. Corn solidifies Hopi identity and communal spirit. Agriculture enforces the human social order as well as the hierarchical order of the cosmos. Through the labor of agriculture, Hopi commune with each other as well as with the gods. Clouds embodied ancestors who watched over the clans from the Sky above, and kachinas served as everyday reminders to keep Hopi traditions alive through successive generations......

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