AmericaQuest is an interactive expedition developed by Classroom Connect. For four weeks a team of scientists and explorers will work to unravel the mysteries surrounding an ancient Pueblo indian tribe. Follow along here for daily reports on the Quest.

It's no mystery to me

A Hopi bride passes piki bread to the groom's mother. Once the piki bread is brought into the home of the groom's mother, the bride will be officially accepted into the family

By Christine Suina

March 30, 2000
Web posted at: 3:35 a.m. EST (0835 GMT)

Yesterday I was welcomed into a Hopi home ... and put to work!

As I passed boxes of "piki bread," baskets of Pueblo oven bread, and hundreds of cakes along the human chain of people, a Hopi woman asked, "So, how long have you known Micah?"

"Actually I just met him yesterday," I answered.

She chuckled, "And you're already working in the kitchen, huh?"

We'd been invited to attend the Hopi engagement ceremony of Micah Loma'omvaya and his wife-to-be, Pauletta. This was a traditional Hopi engagement ceremony, the first step in the two- or three-year-long Hopi marriage process.

I had just met Micah and his family on Friday evening but was immediately treated like one of the family. You see, just as Cochiti people are Pueblo so are the Hopi. (We both believe ourselves to be descendants of the Anasazi), I know how much work is required for ceremonies and feasts like this. I didn't hesitate. I jumped right in to help prepare food for the next day. It felt just like home, with women buzzing around like bees. To an outsider it may look like chaos, but everyone has a job to do and knows how to do it. The job at hand was preparing food to feed Pauletta's huge family clan in return for their gifts.

Pauletta's clan brought food to feed Micah's clan, which was their way of showing how much they valued him. The more food, the more they value Micah as a future son-in-law. I had never seen so much food in one big room. Over 450 cakes and pies, 70 laundry baskets of bread, countless boxes of "piki bread," paper-thin, flaky bread made with blue corn flour, made the house look like a bakery.

For the last four weeks, we've explored why the Anasazi, my ancestors, left their settlements up north so long ago. For the Pueblo people, this isn't an important question. But if we must answer, we don't believe that our civilization "collapsed" or even "abandoned" those ancient sites.

Those places are still alive with the spirits of my forebears. Their children and grandchildren simply migrated at different times for different reasons. But we never disappeared. If you could have heard the chatter in the kitchen as I prepared food alongside five other Pueblo women, some of us speaking English, others Hopi, you'd know for sure we never disappeared!

It is difficult for an outsider to understand another's culture, but the truth is Pueblo life isn't much different from the life that you all know. Yes, Pueblos are very traditional and still carry on ceremonies that are hundreds of years old. These ceremonies are an important part of who we are and how we view the world around us. Even if you never fully understand them, you should respect them.

This young boy was covered in mud by the groom's paternal aunts. This tradition dates back to the time of the Anasazi and is still an important part of Hopi life today

Life has changed for us, though. We're Americans like you are. When we need food we jump in our cars and drive to the grocery store. We go to the malls, to the movies in Albuquerque, and work in factories and offices. We go to church on Sundays. We watch probably too much TV like you do, eat junk food sometimes, and listen to 'N Sync.

Pueblo life isn't all about the past. It's about the future. It's about changing with the times while maintaining the core of who we are. Our ancestors, the Anasazi, passed on to us great traditions and a culture that has survived hundreds of years. We know all about our past, where we came from, and why we moved. It's no mystery to us! We may have moved a few hundreds of miles away but we are very much still a part of those who survived and lived in Mesa Verde and other places now in ruins.

I am here and proud to be Cochiti Pueblo. Come visit me sometime!

Maintain,

Christine

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